by Dr. Jack Kilcrease Martin Luther died at 3:00 AM on February 18, 1546. Contrary to the expectations of Luther and many of his colleagues, he did not die in Wittenberg, the location of many of his greatest accomplishments. Rather, he passed away in Eisleben, the town of his birth. Two weeks prior, Luther had… Read More >
Philipp Melanchthon
by Rev. A. Brian Flamme In these blog articles we’ve been learning that the Reformation wasn’t so much about men, nor was it brought about by their will and power. The Reformation was about Christ and it came by the pure preaching of His Word. This Word gives peace. We hear that our warfare with… Read More >
Singing the Reformation
by Jonathan A. Swett One of the central figures of church music during the Reformation period was Martin Luther, who expressed on numerous occasions that, next to theology, he accorded music the highest praise. In contrast to other notable reformers of his day, Luther believed that music was “a gift of God to be nurtured… Read More >
David Chytraeus
by Rev. Christopher Maronde The Formula of Concord is a remarkable, even miraculous document. It did what few documents in the history of the Christian Church have ever done: it brought unity, it brought together a Church, the Lutheran Church, which had been ravaged by dissention and division. The Formula did not paper over division,… Read More >
Luther’s Translation of the Bible
by Rev. Jason Lane Among his many contributions to the church, Luther also transformed and ennobled the German language through his translation of the Bible. In an open letter On Translating (1530), Luther was well aware of his contribution to the language and to the theological discourse of his day. He even taught his… Read More >
The Babylonian Captivity of the Church
by Rev. Aaron Moldenhauer Martin Luther stood before the Holy Roman Emperor at the Diet of Worms in 1521. A stack of Luther’s books stood on the table in front of him. The chair of the meeting asked him if he acknowledged that these books were his, and if he wished to confess his books… Read More >
Albrecht Dürer’s “Adoration of the Magi”
by Deaconess Carolyn Brinkley In 1517 when Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Albrecht Dürer’s magnificent painting, Adoration of the Magi, hung just inside the church mere feet away. Thirteen years earlier Frederick the Wise had commissioned Dürer to paint the masterpiece for the Schlosskirche altar. The… Read More >
Luther’s Flood Prayer
by Rev. Dr. Mark Birkholz One of my seminary professors would often assign us to write prayers on our exams. It was not a worship class, or a class about prayer. He wisely recognized that if we truly understood our theology and knew how to apply it, then we would be able to take what… Read More >
Hymns of the Reformation – “From Heaven Above to Earth I Come”
by Jonathan A. Swett With the vast wealth of hymns available to enhance our celebrations of the Christmas season each year, it is difficult to discern which hymns to select and when to stop selecting! If the church musician of your congregation is anything like me, they will find a way to creatively incorporate as… Read More >
VDMA
by Dr. Jack Kilcrease VDMA is an acronym that stands for the Latin slogan: Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum (“the Word of the Lord remains forever”), which was used throughout the Lutheran Reformation. It originally appears in Isaiah 40:8 and was also used by the Apostle Peter in his first epistle (1 Pt. 1:24-5). Both… Read More >