This week we observe the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s hammer stroke heard ’round the world.
Reformation
Book Review: Erasmus and the Age of Reformation, by Johan Huizinga
Summary: An elegantly written biography of Desiderius Erasmus describing his life, thought and character as a scholar who hoped to awaken “good learning” and to bring about a purified Catholic church, and the tensions resulting from being caught between Reformers and Catholic hierarchy.
Book Response: The Courage to Be Protestant, by David F. Wells
Overall I appreciate that instead of attempting to summarize and update fifteen years of intense writing (including five Eerdmans publications); Wells delivered the essence of his work. But I wished from the beginning that he included a limited number of footnotes and/or recommendations for further reading beyond references to his previous titles.
How should Christians approach catechism?
Getting back to basics. A consideration of The Heidelberg Catechism.
Book Review: The Pastor as Public Theologian
In The Pastor as Public Theologian: Reclaiming a Lost Vision, Kevin J. Vanhoozer and Owen Strachan contend that at the heart of the pastoral calling is a vision of doing theology with the people of God, pointing them to what God is doing in and through the Christ, and how they may participate in that work.