The Lutheran History Podcast

We welcome back Pastor Scott Henrich, a WELS pastor serving in Knoxville, Tennessee.  His experiences reading historic Lutheran sermons inspired him to research Lutheranism's homiletical heritage in a way that may challenge some contemporary assumptions about the historic perception of Lutheran preaching. ( See TLHP 39 ) You can contact him here: scottwhenrich@gmail.com Today he offers furthe...

Heather R. Darsie lives in the United States. She has a Bachelor of Arts in German Languages and Literature, and a Juris Doctorate. During her time at university, she had the privilege of studying in Costa Rica and France, with visits to Germany and other countries. Ms. Darsie first became interested in the Renaissance time period when she read a biography about Elizabeth I of England. She found E...

Image: Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach the Younger " Wittenberg Uses of Law and Gospel" Our guest today Dr. Robert A. Kolb is a professor emeritus of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.  See the emeritus faculty page at Concordia Lutheran Seminary: Kolb retired in 2009 after 16 years of distinguished service as missions professor of Systematic Theology and Concordia Luth...

Image:  Wittenberg c. 1530 from the host's personal collection. In May 1536 several prominent Reformed reformers traveled to Wittenberg to confess their understanding of what is received in the sacrament of Holy Communion and who receives it.  Luther, Melancthon, and other Lutheran reformers readily signed on in agreement concerning this contentious doctrine.  This was seen as a significant b...

In this episode, translator Michael Holmen takes us through J. W. F. Höfling's How the Lutheran Church is Constituted (Grundsätze evangelisch-lutherischer Kirchenverfassung). In his book Höfling describes how the Lutheran church should be constituted according to the principles given in the Lutheran Confessions and in Martin Luther's writings. Höfling sees the teachings of church and min...

Image: Carl and Gottlieb Damler.  These brothers immigrated to Manitowoc County, WI from the principality of Lippe-Detmold in the early 1850s.  Although confirmed Reformed, they worshiped first in a union congregation, but then joined the Lutheran church under the leadership of Pastor Koehler.  Carl is the host's g-g-g-grandfather. Our returning guest, Pastor Peter Prange, provides a detailed...

Image: Right wing of the Altar Triptych in St. Peter und Paul, Weimar by Cranach - Lutheran princes of the House of Wettin in worship Worship of the triune God has always stood at the center of the Christian life. That was certainly the case during the sixteenth-century Reformation as well. Yet amid tremendous social and theological upheaval, the church had to renew its understanding of what it me...

Image: The Account of How Two Men of the Augustinian Order Were Martyred in Brussels in Brabant for the Sake of the Gospel (Erfurt, 1523) Five hundred years ago, on July 1, 1523, two observant Augustinian monks from Antwerp, Hendrik Voes and Jan van den Esschen, were degraded, condemned, and burned at the stake by Roman Catholic authorities in the Grand Plaza of Brussels, today an UNESCO World Her...

Image:Johann Gerhard In this episode, our guest Rev. Caauwe gives a detailed overview of various forms of Lutheran devotional piety developed in the 16th and 17th centuries as well as a discussion on how that devotional heritage has been transferred through the generations. Many thanks to my wonderful supporters! Support the show Confessional Languages Scholarship The Wauwatosa Diary (book) Youtub...

(Image: Synodical Conference founders from Lutherans in All Lands, 1896) Dr. C.F.W. Walther worked tirelessly to realize his dream of a Lutheran Zion in North America that would combine and coordinate ministry efforts of faithful Lutherans in the United States and Canada to proclaim the gospel primarily in German, English, and Norwegian. He took center stage in the history of the doctrine and prac...

Listen to this tribute to Alaska's Lutheran history as I prepare to say goodbye to the wonderful 49th state with deep and unique Lutheran roots! Many thanks to my wonderful supporters! Support the show Confessional Languages Scholarship The Wauwatosa Diary (book) Youtube ( even more behind-the-scenes videos available for certain patron tiers) Facebook Website Interview Request Form  email: th...

"For Midwestern Lutheran synods, the 20th century was especially dramatic and even traumatic. ..In his article, Dr. Braun describes some of the tensions within two predominantly Midwestern Lutheran bodies, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) and The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), as these Lutherans struggled to adapt to change without sacrificing eternal truths and treasur...

Image: Reinhold L. Pieper (1850-1920) Isaac Johnson graduated from Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI with a degree in Latin in 2011 and attended Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. During his time at seminary he spent two years studying at the Lutheran theological seminary (Evangelisch-Lutherische Hochschule) in Oberursel, Germany. He was ordained in 2016 and was called to serve Ris...

Image: Three generations of Franks and Kerlers in Greenfield 1889. "I prefer America," one German Lutheran immigrant wrote. Letters of German Lutheran immigrants in 19th century America give under-analyzed perspectives of lay members and their views of church establishment and denominational selection. Many thanks to my wonderful supporters! Support the show Confessional Languages Schola...

Image: Regina, Veronica and Frank Kerler "I prefer America," one German Lutheran immigrant wrote. Letters of German Lutheran immigrants in 19th century America give under-analyzed perspectives of lay members and their views of church establishment and denominational selection. Many thanks to my wonderful supporters! Support the show Confessional Languages Scholarship The Wauwatosa Diary...

In 1929, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) was a small church body serving primarily German immigrants with congregations in twelve states, mostly in the  Midwest; the only “foreign” work was a mission on the Apache reservation in Arizona. By 1961,  WELS was still only in sixteen states, but WELS missionaries were working in Japan and  Central Africa. By 1983, WELS was carrying out m...

In this episode, we welcome back Rev. Nathaniel Biebert to continue his mini-series on lesser-known details of 500th anniversaries of the Reformation. Here, we focus on the 500th anniversary of the "September Testament."  In this case,  almost any detail will be a “detail less often  told.” Most Lutherans familiar with Luther’s life are aware that he translated the New  Testament into Ge...

Today's guest is Pastor Scott Henrich, a WELS pastor serving in Knoxville, Tennessee.  His experiences reading historic Lutheran sermons inspired him to research Lutheranism's homiletical heritage in a way that may challenge some contemporary assumptions about the historic perception of Lutheran preaching. Many thanks to my wonderful supporters! Support the show Confessional Languages Sc...

From his earliest memories to his final legacy, Wyneken’s life story can be told in connection with the catechism.  It is a story of Lutheran catechesis on both sides of the Atlantic.  It is a story of centuries of Lutheran catechesis practices in German lands.  It is a story that highlights the impact of catechesis upon those who immigrated in the 19th century.  Wyneken’s ministry unfolds details...

Image: Albrecht Dürer The Annunciation Today's guest is Dr. Beth Kreitzer was raised in California and has degrees from Stanford and Duke Universities.  Her graduate study in the Program of Religion at Duke focused upon the history of the Church from the patristic era through the early modern period.  Her dissertation, upon the images of Mary in Lutheran sermons of the 16th century, was also...

Image:  The Wartburg Castle taken during my trip there in 2016. In this episode, we continue our series with Pastor Nathaniel Biebert where he digs into the lesser-known details of important milestones in the life of Luther and the Reformation.  Here we look at Luther's "capture" on his way back from the Diet of Worms and his time at the Wartburg Castle.   Many thanks to my wonderfu...

A must-know topic for understanding 19th-century Lutheranism! Order online at www.oup.com/academic with promotion code AAFLYG6 to save 30%! Historians of modern German culture and church history refer to "the Awakening movement" ( die Erweckungsbewegung ) to describe a period in the history of German Protestantism between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the Revolution of 1848....

A must-know topic for understanding 19th-century Lutheranism! Order online at www.oup.com/academic with promotion code AAFLYG6 to save 30%! Historians of modern German culture and church history refer to "the Awakening movement" ( die Erweckungsbewegung ) to describe a period in the history of German Protestantism between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the Revolution of 1848....

James is the pastor of First Lutheran Church of El Cajon, CA where he lives with his wife, Kristan and their two cats. He is a graduate of Concordia University Wisconsin and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. A writer, photographer, and independent historian, James focuses on the history of Chicago Lutheran ministry and black Lutheran ministry, hoping to leverage the lessons of ministry past to help u...

James is the pastor of First Lutheran Church of El Cajon, CA where he lives with his wife, Kristan and their two cats. He is a graduate of Concordia University Wisconsin and Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. A writer, photographer, and independent historian, James focuses on the history of Chicago Lutheran ministry and black Lutheran ministry, hoping to leverage the lessons of ministry past to help u...