Luther's Revolution: The Political Dimensions of Martin Luther's Universal Priesthood: 161 (Princeton Theological Monograph)

Description: Luthers universal priesthood is in part a political doctrine that constitutes a revolutionary strain in Luthers thinking--a strain that can only be described as radical. Luthers political understanding of the universal priesthood posed a challenge to the concrete structures of his day which were built upon a cosmological foundation that came under attack as a result of the Protestant Reformation. Thus Luthers universal priesthood was not simply another evangelical concept that dealt with the office of ministry. It also served as the means for reordering the concept of temporal authority and the temporal order. Understood in this way the universal priesthood had a political dimension that must be acknowledged if it is to be fully understood. Endorsements: In Luthers Revolution Montover presents a creative compelling explication of the universal scope of Luthers vision of the priesthood of all believers for in living out their new life in Christ both structures of the church and the world will be transformed. The authors use of Luthers 1520 treatise To the German Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Betterment of the Christian Estate offers a promising model for fruitful engagement of Luthers evangelical theology in the twenty-first century. --Winston D. Persaud author of The Theology of the Cross and Marxs Anthropology Luthers Revolution is a provocative and evocative challenge to those who view Luther as someone who distanced himself from revolutionary politics. Montover offers a compelling and well-documented reading of the political implications of the early Luthers foray into the caste system of the medieval churchs conception of the priesthood. His contention is that Luthers call for the universal priesthood of all believers entails not only an ecclesial reformation but a conscientious yet radical subversion of dominant territorial politics and entitlements of the time. --Vítor Westhelle author of The Scandalous God In this careful analysis of Martin Luthers To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Nathan Montover affirms the traditional scholarly opinion that the doctrine of the universal priesthood has crucial implications for ecclesiology and the doctrine of ministry. However he also demonstrates convincingly that Luther addressed the political realm and temporal authority in strategic ways in light of this doctrine. Luther is therefore presented as a creative political as well as ecclesiastical and theological reformer. --Kurt K. Hendel Bernard Fischer Westberg Distinguished Ministry Professor of Reformation History Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago How was it possible that a man deemed outlaw by the empire and heretic by the papacy could over time become portrayed as a political conservative? Nathan Montover deftly probes the silences in and conventions of Luther research to unveil an alternative figure. Luthers concept of the universal priesthood of all believers based on careful analysis of his writings coheres best with a frontal assault on the popes claims to temporal authority and the dismantling of late medieval political cosmology. Luther emerges from this excellent study as a thoroughly political prophetic and revolutionary Christian engaged in the struggle for liberation drawing radical political consequences from foundational theological claims. --Craig L. Nessan author of Shalom Church and Beyond Maintenance to Mission About the Contributor(s): Nathan Montover serves as Pastor at St. James Lutheran Church in Bettendorf Iowa. He also teaches Religion at Augustana College in Rock Island Illinois and is an Adjunct Instructor of Reformation Studies at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque Iowa.