AboutMartin W. Eldred Expertise I have been a Lutheran Christian for 47 years and a Lutheran pastor for almost 19. I can answer most general questions about Luther, Lutheran History, Lutheran Theology, and a Lutheran approach to Biblical Interpretation. I am ELCA, for those who know what that means, and I tend to be moderate theologically. I hope that I can converse with those that are either more conservative or liberal than I, and especially with those who are really just seeking.
Experience Pastors are "generalists" and generally have a working knowledge on many subjects. We are also used to working with a variety of answers from a variety of people. I teach a great deal, especially in the area ofthe New Testament. I particulalry enjoy the Pauline literature.
Organizations I have been a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, an international gathering of biblical scholars and teachers, since the late 1980s.
Publications I have written a few book reviews for the journal, "Lutheran Quarterly."
Education/Credentials I have a B.A. from Pacific Lutheran University in Religion (Biblical Studies)and a Master of Divinity from Wartburg Theological Seminary.
Question Iam a catholic religious,doing my Bph in kottayan,india.I am so much interested in lutheranism.I try to read more lutheran books than catholic.I just want to know how you talk about the authority of the pope and the justification by faith alonde .After you sent this I will keep on asking the related dquestions.
thank you
Answer Jain:
Thank you for your question. As I answer, I will also try and give you a brief outline of the basics of Lutheran history and theology.
Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic monk, priest, and Doctor of Theology in sixteenth century Germany. The Reformation, as it is now called, started by Luther's honest and pious efforts at calling attention to some needs for reform from within the church. What he had not calculated was the extent of the political and traditional minefield in which he was entering. The eventual break with Rome, therefore, was in Luther's mind, was a necessary evil given the human realities of the day. Many early Lutheran theologians saw themselves less as a separate church or denomination and more as a reforming movement of the church that would eventually reunite with Rome. One way to say it is that since Luther was the first successful break from Rome, the apple didn't fall to far from the tree, so to speak.
A major part of that break came over how we are connected to God in a saving way, or justification. Part of Luther's journey of faith was a seeking to find peace with a God who seemed to demand so much from humans. Luther was aware that God's law set the bar high, that we were supposed to keep these commands in order to be able to obtain God's acceptance. What he also saw was that keeping these laws was beyond difficult, it was impossible. Through his anquish and search he came across the famous verse in Romans 1:17, "The righteous shall live by faith" This was a breakthrough sort of moment, and Luther began to see that how he had been taught was different from what he saw in Scripture. As he further read in Romans he saw that all humans were sinners (Romans 3:23) and that the justification we received comes not from following God's law, but as a free gift from God through Jesus (Romans 3:28). This was the beginning of "the Reformation" as we know it and Luther's goal of enlightening the church once again with this teaching. As I said before, he was naive about how much trouble it would cause.
That being said, Luther and the early Lutheran theologians sought to change as little as possible. Worship was, at first, still called, The Mass with all its liturgical portions. Lutheran worship today still essentially follows that pattern, thus Lutherans and Roman Catholics can attend one another's worship and find most of it to be familiar.
Luther did change the number of sacraments from seven to two- Baptism and Holy Communion-using the formula that a sacrament should be first, instituted and commanded by Christ himself and second, serve as a means of grace, that is Gods forgiveness is given through it.
Luther rejected the view that the office of the Pope constituted anything more than the human leader of the church. He agreed that a "pastor or bishop number one" was necessary for the sake of order and authority, but rejected that that authority also meant that the Pope or any other human had any sort of unique right of interpretation of God's will. For Luther and Lutherans, Scripture and the interpretation of the whole Christian community (past and Present) was the way in which we discerned God's will for us.
Luther and Lutherans gave up praying to saints and the necessity of confessing to a priest as unnecessary, embracing instead a direct, open communication with God through Jesus Christ directly. One radical change was that the believer could pray, and confess sins directly to God through prayer. Individual and corporate confession, often with the pastor leading, was not abandoned, juts not held as the only way.
Another big change was the emphasis on the priesthood of all believers whereby all Christians, not matter their vocation (from the Latin for, calling) are to be seen as equally important and holy before God. A pastor's/priest's call is no more important or holy than the baker's, just different.
I hope that this is helpful, thank you for your question.
