The Essential Forde: Distinguishing Law and Gospel

by Gerhard O. Forde, Nicholas Hopman (Editor), Mark C. Mattes (Editor)

Overview

No twentieth-century American understood Luther's law-gospel distinction better than Gerhard O. Forde, who was professor of theology at Luther Theological Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Because Forde kept this Lutheran distinction razor sharp, his theological writings are an essential inheritance for us today. This volume, The Essential Forde, aims to provide the essence of Forde's writing centered upon Luther's and Scripture's essential distinction, that is, the distinction between law and gospel. The editors of this volume have chosen some of the most definitive writings of the renowned Gerhad Forde, whose influence continues to grow. The list of works trace the contours of Forde's theological argument. Organized around "Law and Gospel," the selections start off with some historical background on that doctrinal locus, but for the most part express Forde's own views of the law and the gospel, including death and resurrection, the bondage of the will, good works, preaching, and the sacraments. Besides these essential writings, the book will provide a definitive introduction by the editors, which includes a brief biography of Forde, an essay regarding his doctrinal interpretation, and a sketch of the Forde legacy. Also contained in the volume will be a comprehensive bibliography of all of Forde's published works plus work published about him.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506448350
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	07/02/2019
Series:	Lutheran Quarterly Books
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	290
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Gerhard O. Forde, Lutheran theologian and pastor, taught at St. Olaf College, Luther College, and Luther Seminary. In addition to his teaching, he served as a member of the Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogues for twenty years. He authored several books, including Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death and Life (1982), Theology Is for Proclamation (1990), and On Being a Theologian of the Cross: Reflections on Luther's Heidelberg Disputation, 1518 (1997). Three published collections of Forde's essays and sermons have been edited by Mark Mattes and Steven Paulson: A More Radical Gospel:Essays on Eschatology, Authority, Atonement, and Ecumenism (2004), The Preached God: Proclamation in Word and Sacrament (2007), and The Essential Forde (2019). Another collection of sermons, We Preach Christ Crucified: Sermons by Gerhard O. Forde (2016), was edited by his wife, Marianna. Gerhard Forde died on August 9, 2005.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations xiii

Foreword James Arne Nestingen xiv

Introduction 1

Forde's Life Nicholas Hopman 2

Forde's Works: A Guide to The Essential Forde Mark C. Mattes 5

"Forde Lives!" Steven D. Paulson 18

Part I The Law-Gospel Distinction in Modern Lutheranism

The Position of Orthodoxy 37

The Critical Problem: The Place of Law in the Theo-logical System 45

Theodosius Harnack 53

Gospel as the End of the Law 59

Part II Death and Resurrection

The Lutheran View of Sanctification 83

Two Ways of Being a Theologian 101

Part III The Bondage of the Will

The Argument about God 111

Luther and Erasmus 124

Heidelberg Disputation: Thesis 15 127

Part IV Good Works

Heidelberg Disputation: Theses 26-28 133

Luther's "Ethics" 139

Part V Controversies Concerning the Law

Law and Sexual Behavior 149

The Meaning of Satis Est 167

Lex semper accusat? Nineteenth-Century Roots of Our 178

Current Dilemma

Part VI Theological Method

Systematic Theology Is for Proclamation 197

The Preached God 205

Heidelberg Disputation, Theses 19-21 228

Part VII The Ministry

Speaking the Gospel Today 245

Something to Believe: A Theological Perspective on Infant Baptism 257

The Lord's Supper as the Testament of Jesus 271

Bibliographies 277

Index 285

Editorial Reviews

"The editors have produced a helpful sample of significant studies from the pen of the most insightful North American interpreter of Luther in the latter decades of the twentieth century. Readers experience the master of the phrase well-turned on Luther's lathe from a number of Forde's writings. The personal reflections and ruminations of the editors prepare readers for venturing into the depths of Forde's imaginative contemporary translation of the heart of the proclamation of Christ in the works of the Wittenberg Reformer. Here, readers learn how the law kills both nomian and antinomian attempts to turn away from the crucified and risen Christ's freely given gift of new life and what it means to live as a righteous child of God through daily repentance and the forgiveness of sins." —Robert Kolb, professor emeritus, Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis

From the Publisher