Category Archives: Lutheranism

Did the Whole Church Get the Identity and Theology of the Eucharist Wrong?

Posted on May 27, 2012 by

For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but just as our Savior Jesus Christ, being incarnate through the work of God, took flesh and blood for our salvation, so too we have been taught … Continue reading →

Posted in Church History, Eucharist, Historical Theology, Justin Martyr, Lord's Supper, Lutheranism, Theology | 10 Comments

Lutheranism in a Nutshell

Posted on July 12, 2010 by

If you want your ideological movement to really take off, one great way to do it is to boil it down for popular consumption. Now if you’re an ideological purist (which I tend to be), you know that there’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Calvinism, Lutheranism, Theology | 17 Comments

A Quick and Dirty Argument for Infant Baptism

Posted on September 17, 2009 by

1. Infants inherit original sin and thus need salvation. 2. Throughout the history of the church several means have been proposed by which the work of salvation can be applied to infants: baptism, salvation for (elect?) infants who die, a gift … Continue reading →

Posted in Lutheranism, Systematic Theology, Theology | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Luther, the Jews, and the Holocaust

Posted on February 13, 2008 by

We live in a post-Holocaust world. One of the consequences of this is that many people think that anything that even smells like anti-Semitism must in fact be anti-Semitism. We are right to express serious concern over the seeds of … Continue reading →

Posted in Church History, Lutheranism, Martin Luther, Theology, Worldviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Presbyterians and Household Baptisms

Posted on November 15, 2007 by

Having recently listened to a debate on infant baptism between James White and Gregg Strawbridge, I was revived in my frustration with Reformed theologians who continue to appeal the examples of household baptisms in defense of paedobaptism. When I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Covenant Theology, Exegesis, Lutheranism, New Testament Exegesis | Tagged , , , , | 51 Comments

Martin Luther Reading Group in Louisville, KY

Posted on August 23, 2007 by

For those of you who live in the Louisville, KY area, I will be co-leading a Martin Luther reading group hosted by Concordia Lutheran Church. Anyone is invited to attend: Lutheran, non-Lutheran, believer, unbeliever. We will be reading selected portions … Continue reading →

Posted in A Few of My Favorite Things, Church History, Lutheranism, Martin Luther, Theology | 5 Comments

Absolution and the Necessity of the Church

Posted on July 27, 2007 by

To most Protestants the Lutheran practice of public confession and absolution is either considered weird, unbiblical, too Catholic, or dangerous (or perhaps a combination of the above), but as I’ve asked various Lutheran pastors about the purpose of confession and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecclesiology, Lutheranism, Practical Theology | 3 Comments

There’s Humor in Theology 19

Posted on June 27, 2007 by

“Some one sent to know whether it was permissible to use warm water in baptism? The Doctor replied: ‘Tell the blockhead that water, warm or cold, is water’” (Martin Luther, Table Talk: 154).

Posted in Church History, Lutheranism, Martin Luther, There's Humor in Theology | 1 Comment