Luther in America

Boisi event

Christine Helmer
md传媒国产剧 College

Date: October 5,聽2017

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Abstract

Searches in the twentieth century for the historical Luther can be seen as a development in viewing Luther from two confessional perspectives. The search for the 鈥淧rotestant Luther鈥 characterizes Luther scholarship in Germany beginning at the turn of the twentieth century, while the search for the 鈥淐atholic Luther鈥 takes the ecumenical spirit of Vatican II as inspiration to see Luther as historically rooted in the Middle Ages. How have American Luther scholars contributed to an emerging understanding of Luther as Catholic theologian who loves philosophy? We will address recent scholarship on Luther in America in order to answer this question.

Speaker Bio

Christine Helmer

Christine Helmer聽is professor of German and religious studies at Northwestern University. She is the 2017-2018 Corcoran Visiting Chair in Christian-Jewish Relations at md传媒国产剧 College. In June 2017, Helmer was awarded an honorary doctorate in theology from the faculty of theology at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Helmer鈥檚 area of research and teaching specialization is Christian theology from historical, systematic, and constructive perspectives. Her work is focused on German intellectual history with primary interest in the theology of Martin Luther, the philosophy and theology of Friedrich Schleiermacher, and the flourishing of scholarship on Luther and on religion in early twentieth-century Germany, known as the Lutherrenaissance. Helmer is the author of many articles and books, including her monograph聽The Trinity and Martin Luther聽(Zabern 1999) and her new book聽Theology and the End of Doctrine聽(Westminster John Knox Press 2014).聽

Event Photos

Boisi event

Christine Helmer, Professor of German and Religious Studies at Northwestern University, spoke at a Boisi luncheon on the American Luther.

Boisi event
Boisi event

Photos by MTS Photography

Event Recap

On Thursday October 5, 2017, the Boisi Center hosted Christine Helmer, a visiting scholar from Northwestern University, for a lunch lecture entitled 鈥淟uther in America.鈥

In her presentation, Helmer outlined the history of American study of Luther today. This included an explanation of the renewed focus on the Catholic Luther, to current studies engaging Luther from modern perspectives.聽

Helmer recalled how the Catholic Luther approach became a new and revealing way to engage Luther. It became a prominent current in Luther scholarship after the work of George Lindbeck, which took an ecumenical and incorporative approach to Luther, reorienting study to focus on Luther鈥檚 Catholicism, including his role as an Augustinian, Catholic friar, trained in theology and heavily indebted to medieval philosophy. 聽

This final trend in scholarship was a main thrust of Helmer鈥檚 presentation and she carefully laid out why this American led effort is important and where it is leading. The main effect of this focus is to take Luther to task for his consistent and often virulent anti-Judaism. Helmer drew attention to the work of Susannah Heschel, who has focused, in her own work, on the Nazi use of Luther as well as how central anti-Jewish sentiment was to his project. Helmer concluded by detailing how studies of Luther that do not take Nazi co-option of Luther and Luther鈥檚 own anti-Judaism into account miss a central and important aspect of Luther鈥檚 theological and historical significance.

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Books

Granquist, Mark.聽Lutherans in America: A New History. Fortress Press, 2015.

Heal, Bridget.聽A Magnificent Faith: Art and Identity in Lutheran Germany. 聽Oxford University Press, 2017.

MacCulloch, Diarmaid.聽The Reformation: A History. 1st Edition. Viking Adult, 2004.

Marty, Martin E.聽October 31, 1517: Martin Luther and the Day That Changed the World. 聽Paraclete Press, 2016.

Roper, Lyndal.聽Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet. Random House, 2017.

Ryrie, Alec.聽Protestants: The Faith That Made the Modern World. Viking, 2017.

Articles

Granquist, Mark A. 鈥淢artin Luther in North America.鈥澛Oxford Research Encyclopedias, November 22, 2016.聽

Helmer, Christine. "The American Luther."听Dialog: A Journal of Theology聽47, no. 2 (2008): 114-124.

鈥撯撯撯. "The Contemporary Constructive Task."听Dialog: A Journal of Theology聽56, no. 3 (2017): 218-222.聽

Keating, Joshua. 鈥淚s the Protestant Work Ethic Real? A New Study Claims It Can Be Measured.鈥澛Slate.com. Accessed August 29, 2017.聽

Other Resources

2003 PBS Documentary聽Martin Luther: The Reluctant Revolutionary.聽

In the News

2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, begun in Germany by a monk named Martin Luther and his 95 Theses. In February聽聽to explore how the anniversary is being commemorated. More locally, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod maintains a聽聽dedicated to Reformation focused events and resources throughout the year.