Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 27:1 (Mar 2019)
Article: Lutheran And Reformed Theology In Conversation
Author: Daniel T. Lioy

Conspectus 27:1 (March 2019) p. 192

Lutheran And Reformed Theology In Conversation

Dan Lioy

and

Robert Falconer

Keywords

Lutheranism, Reformed Theology, Scriptural Interpretation, Law and Gospel, Person and Work of Christ, Election, Sanctification, Justification, Sacrament, Worship

About The Authors1

Dan Lioy

PhD, North-West University The Senior Research Manager at the South African Theological Seminary, Dan has a particular research interest in intertextuality, Biblical ethics and spiritual care in professional settings.

Robert Falconer

BTech Arch, NMMU; PhD, SATS. After practicing architecture, Robert left for Kenya for three years as a missionary. He currently works at the South African Theological Seminary as the Masters and Doctoral Research Coordinator.

Abstract

The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation occurred in 2017. That is the same year that a collaborative effort between Robert Kolb and Carl R Trueman was published by Baker. The title of the authors’ work is Between Wittenberg and Geneva. The subtitle provides a clearer indication of the publication’s focus, namely, Lutheran and Reformed theology in Conversation.

Kolb and Trueman are neither the first nor the last specialists to compare Lutheran and Reformed approaches to the classical theological loci. That said, their publication represents a fresh and irenic contribution to the ongoing dialogue between these two confessional traditions. Both theologians, in their respective ways, seek to ground their statements about hermeneutics, the law / gospel dialectic, and the Son’s person and work (among other topics) to the teachings found in the Word. Along the way, both authors, likewise, highlight salient pastoral convictions that arise from their deliberations.

An examination of each chapter within the book surfaces the shared historical and theological legacy between the Lutheran and Reformed communions. Also, while being appropriately self-critical of their own faith traditions, both authors delineate what they

This article: https://www.sats.edu.za/falconer-lioy-lutheran-reformed-theology-conversation

Conspectus 27:1 (March 2019) p. 193

regard as the key differences between the two confessional groups. Moreover, as the dialogue unfolds between Kolb and Trueman, readers discover areas of agreement and disagreement between the Lutheran and Reformed camps and Roman Catholicism (on the one hand) and nonconfessional Protestant groups (on the other hand). ...