By way of introduction we consider why As Lutheran As It Gets exists and why podcasting is an appropriate platform for theological discussion. Or jump in at ~45m and join in on the conversation between Pr. Riley and Pr. Gillespie as they consider Luther and the radical reformers via Mark Edwards’ classic historic work. As always, we allow the text to lead us to interact with pop culture and other conversation and then find our way back into the text.
Our Text: Luther and the False Brethren (1975)
From 1522 to his death in 1546 Luther clashed with a succession of major evangelical opponents. First there was Karlstadt, then Müntzer, then Zwingli, Oecolampadius, Bucer, and the other sacramentarians, then John Agricola, and finally Kaspar Schwenckfeld and once again the Swiss sacramentarians. For the most part, these opponents accepted the central reformation principles and assumptions that differentiated evangelicals from Catholics.* At the same time, they came to conclusions different from Luther’s on issues such as acceptable ceremonial practice, the real presence in the Lord’s Supper, the separation of secular and spiritual authority, and the relation between law and gospel. As it happened, they were able to convince a large number of evangelicals to accept their positions, and, consequently, they posed a major challenge to Luther’s version of the gospel message and to his authority within the reformation movement.
There are several ways in which controversies between evangelicals and Catholics differed strikingly from controversies among evangelicals. In controversies between evangelicals and Catholics, Luther usually made an effort not to attach his name to the beliefs he espoused when challenged by other evangelicals, he occasionally supplemented his theological arguments with claims about himself and his special role in the reformation movement. In controversies between evangelicals and Catholics, each side accused the other of satanic motivation and exchanged the vilest personal abuse; in controversies among evangelicals, the accusations of demonic possession and the ad hominem abuse tended to come more from Luther than from his opponents. Again and again Luther accused Zwingli, Oecolampadius, Bucer, Agricola, Bullinger, and Schwenckfeld of being false brethren and lying hypocrites, but these men generally acknowledged that Luther was a fellow Christian even though he erred. And although Catholic and evangelical opponents alike attacked Luther’s authority, whereas the Catholics attempted to discredit it entirely, the evangelical opponents rarely asserted that Luther had no legitimate authority, insisting only that Luther, like any other man, could be in error.
Bio on Mark U. Edwards
Other References of Interest:
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