Luther's Reform: Studies on Conversion and the Church

Of the Roman Catholic scholars of the Reformation who have contributed to our understanding of Martin Luther and his theology Jared Wicks is among the very best. In this reprinted collection of essays a new generation of readers will glean fresh insights into the Wittenberg reformer as Wicks places Luther within his proper late-medieval theological context and carefully teases out his unique contributions to understanding the church and justification (conversion). At the same time Wicks situates Luthers theology within present conversations between Lutherans and Roman Catholics and proves again and again the important role that good fair-minded historiography plays in aiding such dialogue. This collection will treat readers to among other things in-depth investigations of Luthers early theology of justification of the connection between the sacraments and faith and of the pastoral consequences for the simul iustus et peccator--all written in a winsome prose with careful attention to the original sources. It is a helpful addition to the library of anyone interested in understanding the now 500-year-old movement of reform within the church catholic and its implications for today. Timothy Wengert Emeritus United Theological Seminary Philadelphia United Lutheran Seminary Jared Wicks SJ gained his doctorate at the University of Munster with the dissertation Man Yearning for Grace: Luthers Early Spiritual Teaching (1969). He brought out the studies of this collection while teaching at Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago and the Gregorian University in Rome. His Luther and His Spiritual Legacy (1982) is a Wipf & Stock reprint of 2016. He served on the world-level Lutheran-Catholic Commission on Unity from 1986 to 2006 and was a drafter of the Lutheran-Catholic Declaration on the Way: Church Ministry and Eucharist (2015). While scholar-in-residence at the Pontifical College Josephinum Columbus Ohio he published a retrospective essay Half a Lifetime with Luther in Theology and Life in Pro Ecclesia (2013).