Reformation

Petra Bosse-Huber, Serge Fornerod, Thies Gundlach, Gottfried Locher Editors

RefoRmationLegacy and Future

RefoRmationLegacy and future

Copyright © 2015 WCC Publications. all rights reserved. except for brief quotations in notices or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: publications@wcc-coe.org.

WCC Publications is the book publishing programme of the World Council of Churches. Founded in 1948, the WCC promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. A global fellowship, the WCC brings together 345 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in 110 countries and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church.

Opinions expressed in WCC Publications are those of the authors.

Scripture quotations are from the new Revised Standard Version Bible.

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World Council of Churches150 route de ferney, P.o. Box 21001211 Geneva 2, Switzerlandwww.oikoumene.org

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Contents

Preface xi

Acknowlegments xv

Contributors xvii

Part One: Introducing the Reformation Jubilee 1 1. “Who am i to Stand in God’s Way?” opening Sermon 3 Michel Müller

2. the Reformation: Remembering for our future 8 Gottfried Locher

3. Why are We Gathered together? 13 Nikolaus Schneider

Part Two: Biblical Studies 19 4. Romans 3:21-31 21 Karen Georgia Thompson

5. John 3:1-15 25 Margot Kässmann

6. matthew 5:13-16 34 Klara Tarr Cselovszky

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Contents

Part Three: Theological Legacy of the Reformation 37 7. the Reformation’s Legacy 39 Rowan Williams

8. an exclusive faith: the fourfold “alone” of Reformation theology 50 Ulrich H. J. Körtner

9. the Swiss Contribution to the Reformation movement 67 Peter Opitz

10. Protestantism and Postconfessionalism in Korea 77 Jong Wha Park

11. The Legacy of the Reformation and Its Significance for the ecumenical movement today 86 Olav Fykse Tveit

Part Four: Themes and Impact of the Reformation 99 A. Church History 101 12. earlier Reformations and Reformation: Pierre Valdo, John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Girolamo Savonarola 103 Fulvio Ferrario

13. Breaking away or emerging from the middle ages? 108 Volker Leppin

14. Humanism, Reformation, enlightenment: Connections and Divisions 114 Christine Christ-von Wedel

15. new media and new networks: the Reformation and the Printed Book 123 Martin Wallraff

16. the Princes’ Reformation and the People’s Reformation 129 Athina Lexutt

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Contents

17. Reformation, Radical Reformation, anabaptists, and the Peasants’ War: Reformation between intolerance and Revolution 147 Walter Fleischmann-Bisten

18. Reformation Jubilee and Confessionalization 159 Erik A. de Boer

19. Pietism: a Second Reformation? 164 Martin Hirzel

B. Social History 173 20. impact of the Reformation on Women’s Lives: Strasbourg in the 16th Century 175 Anne-Marie Heitz Muller

21. Reformation Jubilees: a Protestant Construction 183 Marianne Carbonnier-Burkard

22. Caricature and Satire in the age of Reformation and Confessions 197 Frédéric Elsig

23. Reformation and Democracy: Subsidiarity and the Priesthood of all Believers 208 Martin Sallmann

C. Dogmatics 217 24. The “Unintended” Reformation? Reflections on the Reformation, individualism, and the Secular age 218 Christophe Chalamet

25. Calvin’s economic ethics: Capitalist, Socialist, or Something else entirely? 224 François Dermange

26. Reformation and Politics: Between Prophetic Voice and Blind obedience 230 Douwe Visser

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Contents

D. Ecumenism 237 27. Luther’s Dispute with His Catholic opponents: the example of Purgatory 238 Wolfgang Thoenissen

28. a Dialogue that turned into a monologue: Correspondence between theologians from tübingen and the Patriarch Jeremias ii of Constantinople, 1573–1581 252 Viorel Mehedinţu

29. Reform or Reformation? the Councils of trent, Vatican i, and Vatican ii 266 Johanna Rahner

Part Five: The Churches and the Reformation Jubilee 273 30. in the Beginning there Was freedom 275 Thies Gundlach

31. Challenges and opportunities of the Jubilee: a Lutheran Perspective 286 Anne Burghardt

32. the Reformation Jubilee and Christianity in China 292 Aiming Wang

33. Commemorating the Reformation from an ecumenical Perspective 299 Kurt Cardinal Koch

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Contents

Part Six: Evaluating the Jubilee Conference 307 34. a Polyphony of Protestant Voices 309 Michael Bünker

35. Why We Celebrate the Jubilee 312 Ibrahim Wushishi

36. free evangelical Churches and the Jubilee 316 Frank Fornaçon

37. anabaptist and mennonite Churches and the Reformation Jubilee 325 Hanspeter Jecker

Afterword 331 Martin Schindehütte

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Preface

When did the Reformation take place? and what is it about, exactly? Prot-estant churches traditionally celebrate Reformation Sunday around 31 oc-tober. in fact, the tradition goes that, on this day in 1517, martin Luther, a young German friar and theology professor, posted 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. the theses criticized the practice of indulgences, which enabled believers to buy a piece of their salvation with some coins. this invitation to a debate among theologians marked the begin-ning of a conflict among different theological perspectives that were plainly irreconcilable. over a very short period of time, thanks to political support and the extensive use of the printing press, a large segment of the Roman Catholic Church changed its practice and some of its thinking at that time. this movement proliferated throughout europe at such a high speed that Luther’s arguments against indulgences could not possibly be the sole cause.

in 2017, the Protestant churches born of this movement commemorate the fifth centennial of the Reformation. But what exactly will happen in 2017? Why celebrate this event, which seems so distinct from the situations that churches face today and from the spiritual concerns of our contemporaries,

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Preface

even if we admit that it thoroughly changed the history of europe and is of worldwide historical importance? Did the Reformation not also cause sig-nificant disorder, some of it violent? What, concretely, do we want to com-memorate and celebrate? What does this Reformation consist of? to what extent can it affect today’s church and world?

the evangelical Church in Germany (eKD), stemming from the Lu-theran Reformation, and the federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (fSPC), originating from the Reformation initiated by Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin, decided in 2012 to set an example of the unity of Protestantism by organizing a joint preparation congress for the Reformation Jubilee 2017. in taking this step, fSPC and eKD underscored that through the theological consensus reached in 1973 among Protestant families on the hill of Leuen-berg in Switzerland, known by the name of the “Leuenberg agreement,” the forthcoming celebrations of the Reformation Jubilee have reached a new, pan-Protestant meaning, without which the Protestant churches are no longer comprehensible. By dint of this congress, which was held in Zurich in october 2013, eKD and fSPC sought to take stock of the aforementioned questions right at a time when most churches have started planning their own activities. above all, we wanted to discuss “what we celebrate” and “why we do so” with signatory churches of the Leuenberg agreement, that is, members of the Community of Protestant Churches in europe (CPCe), and partner churches from all over the world. The Reformation is no longer defined in terms of Lu-ther in Germany or those of Calvin or Zwingli in Switzerland alone, whatever decisive importance may be attached to these personalities. the Reformation has to be understood in plural terms and as a european movement whose roots date back to earlier centuries. first and foremost, however, a new light should be cast on it to reflect the current context of global Christianity: We see on the one side secularization and erosion, on the other growth and fun-damentalist tendencies—an increasingly multicultural and pluralistic religious landscape. We also take note of the achievements, the reality, and future of ecumenical dialogues and of global concerns about the future of the earth. thus, for Protestant churches, 2017 will not be or, rather, not only be a matter of remembering what happened and following its traces in history. Rather, it is about reclaiming the message of freedom that Luther and other Reformers rediscovered as we read the Bible anew. We want to reinterpret the discoveries of that era for Christians today. if 2017 is to be a jubilee and celebration, it can only be a celebration of the gospel and of Jesus Christ.

The texts compiled in this volume, therefore, only reflect a part of what constituted the whole wealth of this congress. they are intended to invite and provoke discussion and exchanges among the churches as to what the message of the gospel means for today’s society and how to celebrate it in the

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Preface

best and broadest way in 2017 and beyond. these are the main reason for and the added value of the congress documented in this volume. it thus provides authentic points of reference of international appeal for all those who are preparing for the celebration of the fifth centennial of the Reformation, with neither triumphalism nor misplaced modesty, with neither denominational polemics nor underestimation of the ecumenical challenges.

the congress was attended by nearly 250 participants coming from 35 countries—professors, church leaders, interested pastors, evangelists, and ecumenical specialists. the global dimension of the Protestant churches thus became apparent and palpable. the texts presented here stem from very dif-ferent authors and contexts. Some have a more academic form, others are rather narrative or descriptive. for many authors, the congress was not held in their native languages. all of this is noticeable in the style of the different contributions. We did not want to unify all these elements, however, which readers may find disruptive and irritating at first. We see the strength and the quality of these contributions precisely in these elements. Rather, they are an indication that a goal of this congress was reached: to gather Protestant voices from all over the world around our common identity today without prejudice, preassigned rules, or standards.

the book follows the intrinsic logic of the congress:

• The first four parts deal with questions about the theological founda-tion and legacy of the Reformation. the analyses revolve around the significance of the discovery of the Reformation for today, on the one hand, which obviously requires an ecumenical and international approach. On the other hand, they update specific themes around which the Reformation historically crystallized. there indeed has been remarkable progress in historical and theological research in recent years, clarifying anew the question of what the Reformation actually generated and how much it was also the fruit of that epoch.

• The fifth part of this volume deals with the opportunities and limita-tions for today with respect to different contexts or dialogue part-ners of the jubilee: What is the commonality between the German and Chinese situations? How can our message be understood from a Roman Catholic or an african perspective?

• finally, this volume contains assessments and retrospectives of the congress, especially from the standpoints of free Churches and the radical wing of the Reformation.

We hope that the variety and richness of these perspectives of 2017 will encourage the readers to undertake their own projects and preparations.

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Acknowledgments

this congress and publication were only successful due to the concrete and active support during the preparations, implementation, and follow-up work of numerous people and institutions. We extend our heartfelt gratitude es-pecially to:

the following in Bern and Hannover: Dine fecht, thomas flügge, ni-cole freimüller, Simone Gawarecki, ann Katrin Hergert, martin Hirzel, Henning Kiene, Kerstin Kipp, michèle Laubscher, Reinhard mawick, Christiane Rohr, michael Schneider, Daniele Waldburger.

the following in Zurich: martin Breitenfeldt, Philippe Dätwyler, Roland Diethelm, Rita famos, the parish council, the pastors and the team of Walter Jucker from the congregation neumünster, the freie Gymnasium Zürich, the community centre Riesbach, nicolas mori, Brigitta Rotach.

the stewards: Joel Baumann, Bettina Birkner, fritz Boller, friedel Goetz, tamara Jenny, Lia Knobel, anna Luedke, Johannes Seyfarth, alexander Stölzle, Jonas Stutz, annina Villiger.

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Acknowledgments

the musicians and artists: elisabeth Berner and the quartet “Berner in fusion,” the yodeling club of ebnat–Kapple with Hansueli Hersche, Hans Hürlemann, the Bismärkli–Schuppel and the Helvetic fidlers, Wal-ter neff, Christian Scheifele, andreas thiel, Hans thomann.

the translators and editors: Suzanne Bollinger, David Dichelle, Dan-iel Dubach, elisabeth Gerber, Peter Glatthart, Christoph Renfer, Pia Schell, Hartmut Lucke, Roland Revet, Hera moon, monique Lopinat, Christine Sutter.

the Swiss Reformation foundation, Dm—échange et mission, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the Reformed Church of the canton of aargau, the Reformed Churches of Bern–Jura– Solothurn, the evangelical-Reformed Church of the canton of St Gal-len, the evangelical Reformed Church of the canton of thurgau, the evangelical-Reformed Church of the canton of Vaud, the Reformed Church of the canton of Zug, the evangelical-Reformed Church of the canton of Zurich, the Office of Culture of Appenzell Outer-Rhodes, the canton and city of Zurich, as well as Zurich tourism.

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Contributors

Michael Bünker: thD; general secretary of the Community of Protestant Churches in europe (CPCe); bishop of the evangelical Church a.B. in austria, Vienna.

Anne Burghardt: mDiv; Secretary for ecumenical Relations, Department for theology and Public Witness, Lutheran World federation, Geneva.

Marianne Carbonnier-Burkard: PhD in history of philosophy; honorary lecturer at the Protestant institute of the faculty of theology in Paris; vice president of the Society for the History of french Protestantism, Paris.

Christophe Chalamet: thD, professor of systematic theology at the theological faculty of the University of Geneva; 2003–2011 professor of history of Protestant theology, fordham University, new York.

Christine Christ-von Wedel: PhD; historian specializing in humanism and the Reformation; president of the Board of mission 21, Basel.

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Contributors

Erik Alexander De Boer: thD; professor of Reformation history at the free University amsterdam and of church history at the University of theology in Kampen; associate professor of patristics at the free State University in Bloemfontein.

François Dermange: thD; professor of ethics at the theological faculty of the University of Geneva.

Frédéric Elsig: Litt.D.; professor of medieval art history at the Unite of art History of the University of Geneva.

Fulvio Ferrario: thD; professor of systematic theology at the theological faculty of the Waldensian Church, Rome.

Walter Fleischmann-Bisten: thD; historian and theologian; general secretary of the Protestant League in Germany since 1984; director of the institute for Confessional Studies Bensheim.

Frank Fornaçon: pastor of the evangelical free Church Kassel-West “Kirche im Hof ”; member of the Presidium of the Union of evangelical free Churches (Baptists) in Germany (BefG); representative of the association of evangelical free Churches in Germany (Vef) for the Reformation Jubilee, ahnatal.

Thies Gundlach: ThD; vice-president of the Church Office of the evangelical Church in Germany (eKD); head of the department “Priority areas of Church Works,” Hannover.

Anne-Marie Heitz-Muller: thD in Protestant theology, specializing in history of women and Reformation; parish assistant, Strasbourg.

Martin Ernst Hirzel: mDiv, thD; executive secretary for ecumenism and Religious Communities of the federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (fSPC), Bern; till 2006 professor of church history at the theological faculty of the Waldensian Church, Rome.

Hanspeter Jecker: PhD.; lecturer at the theological Seminary Bienenberg; research associate in various research projects regarding anabaptism; member of the Swiss mennonite Conference (anabaptists), Basel.

Margot Kässmann: PhD, Dr h.c.; ambassador of the Council of the evangelical Church in Germany (eKD) for the Reformation Jubilee 2017, Berlin.

Cardinal Kurt Koch: president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Rome.

Ulrich H. J. Körtner: thD; professor of systematic theology at the evangelical-theological faculty of the University of Vienna.

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Contributors

Volker Leppin: thD; professor of church history in tübingen; professor of church history in Jena, 2000–2010.

Athina Lexutt: thD; professor of church history and history of theology at the institute for Protestant theology of the Justus Liebig University Giessen.

Gottfried Wilhelm Locher: PhD; president of the Council of the federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (fSPC), Bern; member of the Presidium of the Community of Protestant Churches in europe (CPCe), Vienna.

Viorel Mehendinţu: thD; archpriest of the Romanian orthodox Church, Stuttgart.

Michel Müller: mDiv; president of the Church Council of the evangelical-Reformed Regional Church of the Canton of Zurich.

Peter Opitz: thD; professor of church and dogmatic history from the Reformation to the Present at the theological faculty of the University of Zurich and the director of the institute for Swiss Reformation Studies, Zurich.

Jong Wha Park: thD, Dr. h.c.; senior pastor at the Kyungdong Presbyterian Church in Seoul; chairperson of the board of directors of the Kukmin Daily Newspaper, Seoul; managing chairperson of the Korean Host Committee of the 10th assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Busan, South Korea until november 2013.

Johanna Rahner: PhD; professor of systematic theology at the institute of Catholic theology of the University of Kassel.

Martin Sallmann: thD; professor of modern church history and modern history of theology as well as confessional studies at the theological faculty of the University of Bern.

Martin Schindehütte: mDiv; since December 2013 retired, before bishop for ecumenism and ministries abroad of the evangelical Church in Germany (eKD), Hannover.

Nikolaus Schneider: Dr h.c.; chairperson of the Council of the evangelical Church in Germany (eKD), Berlin.

Klára Tarr Czelovszky: thD; director of the Department for ecumenical and external Relations of the evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary, Budapest; member of the Presidium of the Community of Protestant Churches in europe (CPCe), Vienna.

Wolfgang Thoenissen: thD; professor of ecumenical theology at the theological faculty Paderborn and presiding director of the Johann adam möhler ecumenical institute, Paderborn.

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Contributors

Karen Georgia A. Thompson: mDiv; minister for ecumenical and interfaith Relations, United Church of Christ, Cleveland, ohio, USa.

Olaf Fykse Tveit: mDiv, thD; general secretary of the World Council of Churches, Geneva.

Douwe Visser: thD; executive secretary for theology and Communion, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Hannover.

Martin Wallraff: thD; professor of church history and history of theology at the University of Basel.

Aiming Wang: mDiv., thD, Dr. h.c.; full professor (systematic theology, historical theology, hermeneutical theology), vice-president of nanjing Union theological Seminary, nanjing, China.

Lord Rowan Douglas Williams: thD; the Rt Revd & Rt Hon Baron Williams of oystermouth, dean of magdalene College, Cambridge, UK; former archbishop of Canterbury.

Ibrahim Yusuf Wushishi: thD; reverend of nigerian Baptist Convention; member of the national executive Committee of Christian association of nigeria (Can); executive committee member of Christian Health association of nigeria (CHan); general secretary of the Christian Council of nigeria (CCn), L