Luther – RCS

«Enchiridion or Martin Luther’s Small Catechism Retold for Today’s Children»: A New Look through the Lens of Tradition

Olga Anatolyevna Starkovskaya PhD in Philology, associate рrofessor, Higher School of Printing and Media Technologies, Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design (per. Dzhambula, 13, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191180)
starkovskaya@mail.ru

Starkovskaya O. F. «Enchiridion or Martin Luther’s Small Catechism Retold for Today’s Children»: A New Look through the Lens of Tradition, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2024, vol. 13, pp. 446–463.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2024-13-446-463

Language: Russian

The article is a brief historical review of Russian-language catechisms of various Christian denominations repertoire published from the 18th to the 21st centuries, as well as short bibliological analysis of Martin Luther’s «Short Catechism» new edition retold and commented by Z. A. Lurie («Enchiridion or the Short Catechism of Martin Luther, retold for modern children»). The author notes the timeliness and relevance of this publication, as well as the lack of similar children’s publications both in the Imperial Russia and the Post-Soviet period. Particular attention is paid to the illustrative and printing design as well as didactic features of the publication. Among the undoubted merits of the book is the brilliant implementation, within the framework of the presented project, of the complex task to combine the traditions of preparing the catechism literature, adopted back in the days of Martin Luther, with modern approaches to creating books for children and publishing practice. As a result of this long and painstaking collaboration between the author of the retelling and the illustrators, this unique publication appeared that can serve not only as a textbook on the basics of the Christian faith for children, but also as a fascinating family reading and a didactic manual for Sunday school teachers.

Key words: catechism, short catechism, Luther, Lutheranism, catechesis, edition for children, children’s book, Christianity

URL: https://rcs-almanac.ru/starkovskaya-2024-en/

«Simul iustus et peccator» — «At once justified and sinner»

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Rainer Stahl Retired general secretary of Martin-Luther-Bund (Habichtstrasse 14 A, Erlangen, Germany, D-91056)
rainer.stahl.1@gmx.de

Stahl R. «Simul iustus et peccator», Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2024, vol. 13, pp. 34–47.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2024-13-34-47

Language: Russian

This paper was originally written as a meditation about the text of Exodus 32:7–14 which was the scriptural basis for the sermon on Sunday «Rogate» on May 5th, 2024. During the work two painful challenges came into my view, which the church in Germany affects since years. Firstly, in the Eastern part of Germany, the possible cooperation of church officials with the security of the former German Democratic Republic, with the so called «Staatssicherheit». Secondly, in the last time the important labor about the possible sexual misuse of children and youngsters. It was a deep spiritual insight for me that the critique of God about Israel, which our Bible text shows, may offer help for dealing with these two challenges. The article covern several issues in turn: the textual problems of Exodus 32:7–14, the way of writing of this text in connection with the history of theology in Old Judah, the surface of the Bible text and finally the main themes which could be stressed on the basis of this Bible text. The last include: the question of pictures for God, the image of bull as the wrong possibility, intercession as the correct way dealing with God, the work about the relation to the security of the German Democratic Republic and the confession of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Key words: Martin Luther, Exodus, ethics, old Judah, Germany, ressurection

URL: https://rcs-almanac.ru/stahl-2024-en/

The Written Text between Ancient and Reformation-Era Proclamations

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Robert Kolb professor emeritus, Concordia seminary in St. Louis (Seminary Place, 801, Saint Louis, USA, MO 63105)
kolbr@csl.edu

Κοlb R. The Written Text between Ancient and Reformation-Era Proclamations, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2023, vol. 12, pp. 112–127.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2023-12-112-127

Language: Russian

The article studies how the movement from oral proclamation to written text and back to oral proclamation for later generations guided the common life of God’s people throughout the Reformation era. The brief overview of publication of Luther sermons is given. The reformer began to publish sermons on catechetical themes by 1519 and this activity was continued. In spring 1521 he made a short explanation in Latin for preachers. Later, being at the Castle Wartburg, he recognized both the essential significance of the proclamation of his call for reform and the inadequate training that the vast majority of parish priests had received in preaching and fashioned his collection of sermons for Christmas and then for Advent. Later postils often found their origin in the notes taken by students on what Luther had actually proclaimed in German from a Wittenberg pulpit. Luther published individual sermons or series of sermons as well, providing further materials for preaching. These sermons treated themes, such as the weapons God provides in fighting Satan in Ephesians 6, or the proper distinction of law and gospel, or the y treated books, such as Genesis or 1 Peter, or chapters from his weekday sermons in Wittenberg’s town church on John’s and Matthew’s gospels. Other Lutherans followed such a practice, developing the genre of postils. Some of them begin with a prayer that summarizes the text, while other offer an outline of the sermon or explain to the listeners how the sermon presents what they already know about the Catechism. A few authors of postils also included instructions for good preaching for those who used their work. There also were collections of sermons were intended to prepare the preacher in special situations, especially for casualia, where in the Middle Ages no sermon had been necessary, including funerals and weddings.

Key words: Luther, postils, catechism, Spangenberg, Mathesius, Menzel

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/en/en-kolb-2023/

Preface to the Latin Edition of the Collected Works of Martin Luther (1545): Introduction, Translation, Сomment

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Rodion Valentinovich Savinov PhD in Philosophy, associate professor, Saint-Petersburg State Academy of Veterinary Medicine (ulitsa Chernigovskaya, 5, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 196084)
savrodion@yandex.ru

Savinov R. V. Preface to the Latin Edition of the Collected Works of Martin Luther (1545): Introduction, Translation, Сomment, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2022, vol. 10, pp. 336–356.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2022-10-336-356

Language: Russian

The material is devoted to the problem of interpreting a number of sources on the history of the Reformation, in particular, Martin Luther’s autobiographical texts. These sources have recently become into researchers’ scopus, because they contain unique information about the personality of the author and his worldview, which allows reconstructing the author’s personality. Martin Luther’s personality is inseparable from his theology, and an attempt is made to show that those texts that are traditionally historical are in fact precisely such ego-documents, and they are significant in their subjective definiteness, which makes it difficult for historical comment on these materials. At the same time, the reconstruction of the context, which is possible on the basis of the historical method, makes it possible to identify the fundamental features of ego-documents, which, on the one hand, differ in the specific ranking of events, but vary by linking them to certain concepts that are significant for the author of this text. One of the most famous ego-documents is Martin Luther’s «Preface» to his own collected works of 1545, where he describes the events preceded the beginning of the Reformation and took place at its first stage (1517–1520). It is shown that the text combines a number of key ideas that determine the nature of material grouping and its assessment. It is concluded that this text, although not an artifact for historiography, is an important source of both theological and historical order.

Key words: Reformation, Theology, Early Modern, Luther, History, Eschatology, Biography

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/en/savinov-2022-en/

Littera scripta manet: a new view on well-known texts

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Mariya Aleksandrovna Polyakova PhD in Pedagogy, assistant professor, Leading Analyst, Russian Academy of Education, Education Development Center (Pogodinskaya st., 8, Moscow, Russia, 119121)
marussia71@yandex.ru

Polyakova M. A. Littera scripta manet: a new view on well-known texts, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2022, vol. 10, pp. 358–367.

doi: 10.24412/2308-0698-2022-10-358-368

Language: Russian

he review provides a critical brief of the monograph Nova schola. Temi e problemi di pedagogia protestante nei primi testi della Riforma (2018) by the Italian researcher of education Luana Salvarani, which, as the tiltle implies, gives an analysis of the first Reformation texts on education and school organization. The author notes, in general, the traditional set of sources involved, but the original interpretation of tje historical material, as well as the rich and metaphorical style of the book.

Key words: Luther, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, school regulations, education reform, Reformati

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/en/polyakova-2022-en/

The sixth supplication of the Lord’s Prayer: God, the Father, does for us the good

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Rainer Stahl retired general secretary of Martin Luther Bund (Habichtstrasse 14 A, Erlangen, Germany, D-91056)
rainer.stahl.1@gmx.de

Stahl R. The sixth supplication of the Lord’s Prayer: God, the Father, does for us the good, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2019, vol. 8, pp. 86–98.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2020-00022

Language: Russian

Until Advent 1st, 2018, there was a discussion in the Roman-CatholicChurch about the understanding of the sixth supplication of the Lord’sPrayer: What God is doing with us? In the French and in the Italian language they have changed the formulation away from God as tempting usto God as testing, as proving us. Also, the French speaking Lutheran congregation in Moscow did follow this decision. Therefore this paper goesthe following way: we have to understand the difficult dimensions seeingGod as Father and Mother (Pope John Paul I). This was done for a longtime, what the personal names in the Bible show. One important storyof the New Testament is that one of the «lost son» and his relation to hisfather (Luke 15). Against this background we have to question the formulation that God does not lead us into temptation. First we have to understand that God does not tempt us — see: James 1. And important is herethe statement of the Apostle Paul in 1. Corinthians 10: «God is faithful».We as Lutherans have a very clear insight by Martin Luther in his SmallCatechism: «God does not tempt anyone — but we’re asking in that prayerthat God may save us from all bad powers <…> that we may win and get thevictory». Therefore, depsite using the traditional formulation, the Lord’sprayer can be understood it in the reflected way: within our lifetime Goddoes not tempt but does prove us.

Key words: Lord’s Prayer, God as Father and Mother, sixth supplication, temptation, testing, proving, Pope Francis, Martin Luther, Small Catechism

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/en/stahl-2020-en/

Reflection of humanism in Protestant Germany: review on the teaching aid by M.A. Polyakova «Pedagogy of Cinquecento»

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Zinaida Andreevna Lurie PhD in History, assistant lecturer, Faculty of Foreign Languages, St. Petersburg State University (Universitetskaia nab., 7/9, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034)
z.lurie@spbu.ru

Lurie Z.A. Reflection of humanism in Protestant Germany: review on the teaching aid by M.A. Polyakova «Pedagogy of Cinquecento», Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2019, vol. 8, pp. 430–435.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2020-00013

Language: Russian

The review feedbacks on the appearance of a rather valuable teaching aidthat provides a sufficiently complete and comprehensive picture of the educational processes that took place in Europe in the 16th century. M. A. Polyakovaconsiders this period being an integral and specific era by using the conceptof Cinquecento. At the same time, her main focus lies in the teaching practicesand ideals of the Reformation Germany. The writing examines basic modelsof educational institutions, ideal theoretical ideas — pedagogical utopias, andgives portraits of some of the educational leaders of the era. Supplementedwith questions and assignments, as well as lists of recommended literature, theaid can be useful for both specialists and students.

Key words: Erasmus of Rotterdam, Martin Luther, Celio Seconde Curione, school model, school order, utopia

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/lurie-2020-en/

The article by which the church stands or falls

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Barend Kamphuis Doctor, professor emeritus of Systematic Theology, Theological University of the Reformed Churches (Broederweg 15, 8261 GS Kampen, Netherlands)
bkamphuis@tukampen.nl

Kamphuis B. The article by which the church stands or falls, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2019, vol. 8, pp. 72–85.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2020-00003

Language: English

Martin Luther said about the doctrine of justification: «Because ifthis articlestands, the church stands; if this article collapses, the churchcollapses». Later on, this became a sort of proverb, in Lutheran and alsoin Reformed theology: «justificatioest articulus stantis et cadentis ecclesiae», «Justification is the article by which the church stands or falls».In this article I analyse and evaluate this saying. First, I discuss its context. Then I mention some other articles that were important in the history of Christian doctrine. In the third place I highlight the danger of onesidedness. Lastly, I discuss the historicity of doctrine. Luther’s focus onthe doctrine of justification had its context in the specific circumstancesand problems of his time. In other times the church stood or fell by otherarticles. The focus on one article has the danger of one-sidedness: we mustbe aware of other aspects of the gospel, that always has more treasuresthan we can comprehend. It is our task to proclaim the gospel as an answerfor the questions and problems of our time.

Key words: Martin Luther, Calvin, justification, doctrine, the Gospel

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/kamphius-2020-en/

The Formation of the Evangelical Confession in Germany: Melanchthon and religious polemics in the middle of the 16th century

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Natal’ya Aleksandrovna Berezhnaya PhD of History, senior lecturer, Institute of History, Saint-Petersburg State University (Mendeleevskaya liniya, 5, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 199034)
n.berezhnaya@spbu.ru, natalialandi@mail.ru

Berezhnaya N. A. The Formation of the Evangelical Confession in Germany: Melanchthon and religious polemics in the middle of the 16th century, Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2019, vol. 8, pp. 216–253.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2019-00012

Language: Russian

The present article examines the formation of the evangelical denomination in Germany for fifteen years after the death of Martin Luther. The author analyses the relationship and dogmatic disagreements between Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, Melanchthon’s activities as a leader of German Protestants, his attempts to create a new formula of dogma, which was to unite the supporters of the two versions of the Augsburg Confession, unaltered and altered, and the Gnesio-Lutherans. In addition, the author notes the communication of Melanchthon with the princely elite of Protestant Germany. These communications are of interest, since it was the authority of the imperial princes that helped the theologian lead the Evangelical Church. The main subject of internal protestant discussions in the second half of the 1540–1550s were the adiaphora and the Eucharist. The GnesioLutherans accused Melanchthon of «cryptocalvinism» because of the peculiarities of his views on the Eucharist, and also because of his unwillingness to refuse Calvin in response to the proposal to unite the evangelical and reformist confession. However, Luther himself did not require his comrade to renounce his views, that is, he did not consider them an error. GnesioLutheran theologians would have found it difficult to accuse Melanchthon of apostasy if not for his position on the issue of adiaphora and for the support of the Elector Moritz of Saxony.

Key words: Philipp Melanchthon, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Evangelical Church, Gnesio-Lutherans, Reformed tradition, Adiaphora, Eucharist

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/en/berejhnaya-2019-en/

«Instructions of the Visitors to Parishers in Electoral Saxony» by Philip Melanchthon: introductory article and the commented translation of the chapters «On everyday activities in churches» and «On schools»

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Mariya Aleksandrovna Polyakova PhD in Pedagogy, assistant professor, New Russian University (Zapadnaya ul., 9, str. 1, Moscow, Russia, 142181)
marussia71@yandex.ru

Lurie Z. A., Polyakova M. A. «Instructions of the Visitors to Parishers in Electoral Saxony» by Philip Melanchthon: introductory article and the commented translation of the chapters «On everyday activities in churches» and «On schools», Religiya. Tserkov’. Obshchestvo. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po teologii i religii [Religion. Church. Society: Research and publications in the field of theology and religious studies], Saint-Petersburg, 2019, vol. 8, pp. 356–379.

doi: 10.24411/2308-0698-2019-00017

Language: Russian

This publication is the first Russian translation of excerpts from Philip Melanchthon’s «Instructions». The text established the normative order (Ordnung), which should have been followed locally, both in terms of dogma (which covers a significant part of the text: 14 of 18 articles), and of practical aspects of church life (general issues, liturgy, marriage, dispute about free will, the practice of church excommunication and the war with the Turks) and, finally, educational systems. Melanchton addressed his recommendations to evangelical ministers. School education, in accordance with the concept of Melanchthon, is strictly hierarchical and prepares citizens for various ministries. It is based on the study of languages and combines humanistic methods with catechesis. Melanchton divided the children into three classes, which also became the norm for Protestant charters. He also pays great attention to the practical aspects of church life, in particular to the liturgical reform. Melanchthon is quite interested in preaching as a catechetical, educational practice.

Key words: Melanchthon, trivium schools, gymnasiums, cantorship, Luther, Reformation

URL: //rcs-almanac.ru/en/lurie-polyakova-2010-en/