Luther in English: The Influence of His Theology of Law and Gospel on Early English Evangelicals (1525-35)

by Michael S. Whiting

Overview

Recent studies have increasingly downplayed, and in a few cases even wholly denied, the influence of Martin Luther's theology of Law and Gospel on early English evangelicals such as William Tyndale. The impact of a late medieval Augustinian renaissance, Erasmian Humanism, the Reformed tradition, and Lollardy have all but eclipsed the more central role once attributed to Luther. Whiting reexamines these claims with a thorough reevaluation of Luther's theology of Law and Gospel in its historical context spanning twenty-five years, something entirely lacking in all previous studies. Based on extensive research in the primary sources, with acute attention to the larger historical narrative and in dialogue with secondary scholarship, Whiting argues that scholars have often oversimplified Luther's theology of Law and Gospel and have thus wrongly diminished his very significant, even principal, influence upon first-generation evangelicals William Tyndale, John Frith, and Robert Barnes during the English Reformation of the 1520s and 30s.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498271868
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	06/01/2010
Series:	Princeton Theological Monograph Series , #142
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	378
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Michael S. Whiting received his PhD in theology from the University of Wales, Lampeter. He has taught courses on the Reformation and the global history of Christianity as an adjunct professor in the United States and Africa. He is a regular contributor to Reformation and Renaissance Review: Journal of the Society for Reformation Studies.
Michael S. Whiting received his PhD from the University of Wales. He currently serves as director of written content and assistant professor at Dallas Baptist University. He has published and taught internationally in the subject of Christian history.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

List of Abbreviations xv

Introduction: Luther and the English Evangelical Reformers in Retrospect 1

1 "Lex Sola Accusat"? Modern Appraisals of Law, Gospel, and the Tertius Usus Legis in the Theology of Luther 17

2 Law and Gospel in Luther's "Breakthrough" Years and Early Lectures on the Bible (1515-1520) 41

3 Combating Legalism and Lawlessness: Law and Gospel in Luther's Writings of the 1520s 71

4 Law and Gospel in Luther's Later Years and His Dispute with the Antinomians (1530-1540) 124

5 After Lollardy and Humanism: Luther's Writings in England and the Beginnings of "Evangelical" Reformation 146

6 Law and Gospel in the Theology of William Tyndale 170

7 Law and Gospel in the Theology of John Frith 273

8 Law and Gospel in the Theology of Dr. Robert Barnes 309

Conclusion: Reassessing the Influence of Luther's Theology of Law and Gospel on Early English Evangelicals 338

Bibliography 345

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Martin Luther, the theological giant of the sixteenth century, has almost been written out of the English Reformation. Whiting's book restores him to his proper place, not least by showing that Luther's early English interpreters often understood his paradoxical theology better than modern commentators have done. He reminds us of what we should always have known: that a Reformation without Luther is simply unimaginable."
—Alec Ryrie
Durham University

"Whiting's fresh look at the works of three of the most significant inaugurators of the Protestant Reformation in English casts aside the prejudices of the previous generation of scholars and thus opens a new discussion of how the earliest English reformers read and digested Luther's core insights within the framework of his distinction of law and gospel . . . This book will command attention from the coming generation of interpreters of the Reformation in the wider European context and specifically in England."
—Robert Kolb
Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis

"This excellent study shows how Luther's theology of Law and Gospel greatly influenced the work of Tyndale, Frith, and Barnes. It examines the concept of the Tertius Usus Legis and traces its development in Luther's own work. Michael Whiting has produced an extremely comprehensive, persuasive, and well-informed study, a high quality work which amply justifies careful attention."
—George Newlands
University of Glasgow

Editorial Reviews

"Martin Luther, the theological giant of the sixteenth century, has almost been written out of the English Reformation. Whiting's book restores him to his proper place, not least by showing that Luther's early English interpreters often understood his paradoxical theology better than modern commentators have done. He reminds us of what we should always have known: that a Reformation without Luther is simply unimaginable."
—Alec Ryrie
Durham University

"Whiting's fresh look at the works of three of the most significant inaugurators of the Protestant Reformation in English casts aside the prejudices of the previous generation of scholars and thus opens a new discussion of how the earliest English reformers read and digested Luther's core insights within the framework of his distinction of law and gospel . . . This book will command attention from the coming generation of interpreters of the Reformation in the wider European context and specifically in England."
—Robert Kolb
Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis

"This excellent study shows how Luther's theology of Law and Gospel greatly influenced the work of Tyndale, Frith, and Barnes. It examines the concept of the Tertius Usus Legis and traces its development in Luther's own work. Michael Whiting has produced an extremely comprehensive, persuasive, and well-informed study, a high quality work which amply justifies careful attention."
—George Newlands
University of Glasgow

From the Publisher