LutheranWiki:Questions
From LutheranWiki
What is the purpose of LutheranWiki?
The purpose of LutheranWiki is to create a Lutheran dogmatics which addresses the contemporary American theological situation. Aspects of this situation include the rise of Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism, the continued influence of 20th-Century European academic theology, the growth of post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism, an increasing interest in Eastern Orthodoxy, and the increasing presence of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
What is understood to be Lutheran theology?
The term Lutheran theology is taken by the editors of LutheranWiki to refer primarily to the theology of Martin Luther, and secondarily, to the theology of the Lutheran Confessions.
Is there anything new to be said of the theology of Martin Luther?
In fact, somewhat of a renaissance in Luther studies is presently occuring. Buoyed by the individual studies of European scholars of the latter decades of the 20th Century, many of which remain unavailable in English, but nonetheless have increased interest in a new generation of theologians, publishers in both Germany and the United States are presently preparing to publish heretofore unpublished works of the Reformer.
That being said, many seminal works concerning the theology of Martin Luther appeared in the 20th Century in Europe which did not garner great attention in the United States. These include Erich Seeberg (1888-1945), Luthers Theologie (2 Vols, 1929, 1936), Johannes v. Walter, Die Theologie Luthers (1940), Philip Watson, Let God be God (1947), Emanuel Hirsch (1886-1972), Lutherstudien (2 Vols, 1954), Paul Althaus, Die Theologie Martin Luthers (1962), Gerhard Ebeling (1912-2001), Luther. Einführung in sein Denken (1964), Lennart Pinomaa, (1901- ) Sieg des Glaubens. Grundlinien der Theologie Luthers (1964), Friedrich Gogarten (1887-1967), Luthers Theologie (1967), Rudolf Hermann (1887-1962), Luthers Theologie (1967), Hans Joachim Iwand, Luthers Theologie (1974), Reinhold Weier (1928), Das Theologieverständnes Martin Luthers (1976).
Of late has appeared Oswald Bayer (1939- ), Martin Luthers Theologie. Eine Vergegenwärtigung (3. Aufl. 2007), Johann Anselm Steiger (1967- ), Fünf Zentralthemen der Theologie Luthers und seiner Erben, (2002)
Are there there really areas of Luther's thought that remain unknown?
Luther's response the the anabaptist and sacramentarian movements, his view of Islam, the theology of the Small Catechism and many other subjects, are currently garnering much attention.
What about the Lutheran dogmatics that are already out there?
The two major Lutheran dogmatics used in Lutheran seminaries in the United States are Franz Pieper's (1852-1931) three/four-volume Christian Dogmatics, which first began appearing under the title Christliche Dogmatik in 1917, and Carl Braaten and Robert Jenson's two-volume Christian Dogmatics which appeared in 1984. Pieper's dogmatics addressed chiefly the theological developments within Germany in the 19th century. Braaten and Jenson, while addressing and being greatly influence by the theological developments of the 20th century, appeared already over two decades ago.
Is anyone presently creating such works?
A short list of dogmatics appearing in the 20th Century includes,
in the Reformed tradition: Karl Barth (1886-1968) Church Dogmatics (14 vols) G.C. Berkouwer's (1903-1996) Studies in Dogmatics (14 vols, 1952-76), Richard A. Muller, Post-Reformation Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725 (4 Vols, 2003), Emil Brunner (1889-1966) Dogmatics (3 Vols.????-??), Jürgen Moltmann (1926-) (various titles, ????-??).
In the Lutheran tradition: Anders Nygren (1890-1978), Gustav Aulen (1879-1978), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Werner Elert (1885-1954), Der christliche Glaube. Grundlinien der lutherischen Dogmatik (1940) Paul Althaus (1888-1966), Paul Tillich (1886-1965) Systematic Theology (1951-64), Gerhard Ebeling (1912-2001), Dogmatik des christlichen Glaubens (3 Vols, 1979), Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928-) Systematic Theology (3 Vols, 1988-94), Helmut Thielicke (1908-1986) Der Evangelische Glaube (3 Vols, 1968-78) Oswald Bayer Theologie. Handbuch Systematischer Theologie 1 (1994), Karl Braaten () Principles of Lutheran Theology (2007)
In the Roman Catholic tradition: Hans Urs von Balthasar, (1905-1988) Karl Rahner (1904-1984), Foundations of Christian Faith, Hans Küng (1928- ) Johann Auer() and Joseph Ratzinger (), Kleine Katholische Dogmatik (9 Vols, 1983), ISBN 3-791-70798-1, Theodor Schneider (), Handbuch der Dogmatik (2 Vols, 2. Aufl., 1995), ISBN 3-491-69024-2, Gerhard L. Müller(), Katholische Dogmatik(2005) ISBN 3-451-28652-1
In the tradition of the Union churches: Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
More recently appearing works: Wilfried Härle () Dogmatik (3. überarb. Aufl. Februar 2007)
An overview of recent trends in Germany: Ch. Henning, K. Lehmkühler (ed.s), Systematische Theologie der Gegenwart in Selbstdarstellungen (Tuebingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1998) -- ISBN 3-8252-2048-6.
Translations of older dogmatics appearing for the first time in English in recent years include: Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) Loci Communes (1992); Martin Chemnitz (1522-1586) Loci Theologici (2 Vols, 1989) Leonhard Hutter, (1563-1616) Compendium locorum theologicorum ex Scripturis Sacris et Libro Concordiae, lateinisch – deutsch – englisch. 2 Teilbde. Doctrina et Pietas Abt. II, Bd. 3. Frommann-Holzboog, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt 2006 (1144 S.) ISBN 3-7728-1872-2, Johann Gerhard (1582-1637) Loci Theologici (2 Vols (of many projected), 2007) Herman Bavinck's (1854-1921), Reformed Dogmatics (3 Vols, 2003-06),
What is the difference between a dogmatics and a sytematic theology?
Why not simply ignore all of these works and preach about Jesus?
If a person is to preach about Jesus, what is he to preach? This is the most basic question of Christian dogmatics: Who is Jesus Christ? The second question, the one that has always lurked behind the first, is: How can it be known? How can knowledge of Jesus be gained?
Popular representations of the relationship of these two questions would develop the history of dogmatics as a confrontation with the first question throughout the first five centuries of Church history (to A.D. 500), and a confrontation with the second question over the last 400 years or so (A.D. 1600-present time), with the thousand years in between being those of little confrontation, one way or another. In fact, both questions have been part and parcel of the first from the very beginning. All who ask whether or not they believe in Jesus, respond, first of all with the question: Who is he? When they are told, they then ask the person doing the telling: How do you know?
Being convinced that the source of knowledge concerning Jesus is valid, the third and final basic question of Christian dogmatics then follows: What does that mean to me? What do I do now that I have been confronted with such knowledge?
In summary, whoever preaches about Jesus Christ, cannot help but enter the field of Christian dogmatics.
Why use a wiki on the internet to create such a work?
There are at least three reasons to do so. The first is the internet itself. Not only has the internet begun to create instant access to works long available only in theological libraries, the ability to instantly search those works has openned up a new vista for theological studies. In the past, the interpretation of the the theology of theologians past was limited to an acquaintence of works available or known to the interpreter. Now, however, search engine allow researchers to probe mass quantities of materials for the slightest reference to a given topic. A second aspect of the internet on theological works such as the creation of a dogmatics is the instant accessability to theologians and students of theology from all different confessions all over the world. By means of e-mail, chat rooms, blogs, and other electronic means, now more than ever, the possibility of communicating with those interested in a given theological topic or theme has never been greater. Still another aspect of the internet, as demonstrated by this page alone, is the ease by which, great amounts of information can be quickly presented and understood. No longer must anyone spend hours in a library tracking down obscure theological facts or ideas. Now, almost with the click of a mouse, such information is directly at hand. This fact alone is enough to undertake the presentation of a dogmatics on the internet.
A second reason to create a dogmatics by means of a wiki on the internet is simply the forum in which it is presented. It is literally world wide. It is not restricted by a classroom door, acceptance at an institution of higher learning, or even the border of a country. It is accessable to anyone who has access to the internet. Its only restriction is the language in which it is written.
A third and final reason to utilize a wiki on the internet in this way is the cost. While there are plans eventually to publish the results of the efforts made here, what is here is already available to read, and use, and discuss, for far less than the cost of a three-hour college or seminary lecture, or the price of a thick volume of theology. Here the only cost is time.
