justification

Theological Ambassador Part II – France

By Scott Keith –

A Recap

The Reformation was firmly ensconced in the German lands and began to move to other countries. It even reached France. In 1534, Melanchthon was invited to France to defend the Lutheran position to King Francis, who seemed to favor the Reformation. Melanchthon responded that he would do what was within his power for the sake of true religion (CR: 2, 739). Melanchthon expressed a fond willingness to accept the invitation, though John Fredrick, his elector, refused to grant him leave to go. The refusal of permission to travel did not stop Melanchthon from keeping up correspondences with interested parties in France.

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Work, Work, Work

By Scott Keith –

Early Days at Wittenberg

Contrary to popular opinion, Melanchthon never served as a parish pastor. Unlike Luther, he was not known as a preacher. But as John Schofield points out in his work Philip Melanchthon and the English Reformation, his 1519 Bachelor of Divinity degree earned at Wittenberg and his appointment to the faculty at the University of Wittenberg made him the first ordained professor of Greek in Germany.

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Try Not to Judge This Blog

By Bob Hiller –

Your Bible is bursting at the seams with metaphors aimed at delivering God’s love for you in Christ to your ears and hearts. The language of forgiveness, reconciliation, redemption, and liberation are just a few of the big themes that the Holy Spirit has chosen to convey everything God has done for you through the blood of God’s Son. We in the Lutheran camp tend to have a reputation of overemphasizing one particular way of talking about the Gospel: the legal metaphor. The technical language (for you who want to show off at the water cooler on Monday) is forensic justification.

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