Ecumenical Perspectives Five Hundred Years After Luther’s Reformation

This book offers ecumenical essays that focus on Reformation Christianity and on current Lutheran-Catholic understandings and relationships. It addresses important issues, including the meaning of the Reformation, the reception of Luther in Germany and beyond, contemporary ecumenical dialogues, and pathways to the future. There is also some inclusion of Jewish and Orthodox traditions as well as attention to global issues. Taken as a whole, the primary method of this book is theology informed by history, hermeneutics, ethics, and social theory. Within the structure of the book can be found the classic hermeneutical circle:  What was the meaning of the Reformation for Luther in his own time? What are various ways in which Luther and the Reformation have been interpreted in history?  How does knowledge of these things help us today to understand the Reformation and to move forward?

1. Gerd Theissen. “Open Temple and Dialogical Church: How to Fulfil the Reform of Paul and the Protestant Reformation?”.- 2. Peter Neuner, “Martin Luther between His Message and the Celebration of His Fifth Centenary”.- 3. Stephen Brown, “‘Happy Birthday, Comrade Martin!’ The 500th Anniversary of Luther’s Birth and the Challenge to State Authority in the German Democratic Republic”.- 4. Craig Phillips, “Freedom from the Law: From Luther to Agamben”.- 5. Theodore Dedon, “The Invented Tradition of Far-Right Christianity”.- 6. Amy Phillips, “Jewish and Christian Traditions of the Interpretation of Scripture according to Robert Bellarmine”.- 7. Luc Forrestier, “Ecumenism and Jewish-Christian Dialogue:  New Ways of Approaching Old Problems”.- 8. Radu Bordeianu, “From Conflict to Communion: Ecclesiology at the Center of Recent Lutheran-Orthodox Dialogues and the 2016 Orthodox Council of Crete”.- 9. Samuel Wagner, “A Lutheran Reflection on Lived Ecumenism”.- 10. Gesa Thiessen, “Spreading the Word through the Image: Luther, Cranach, and the Reformation”.- 11. Book Panel:  Conversations with Bernhard Knorn, S.J.- 12. Leo Lefebure, “The Freedom of a Christian: Memory and Reconciliation”.- 13. John Borelli, “Together in Hope for the Ecumenical Future”.- 14. Peter Phan, “Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue at Vatican II and Its Aftermath: Charting the Way Forward”.

Gerard Mannion held the Joseph and Winifred Amaturo Chair in Catholic Studies at Georgetown University, where he was also a Senior Research Fellow of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.

Dennis M. Doyle is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Dayton, where he has taught for over thirty-five years.

Theodore G. Dedon is a PhD candidate in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University specializing in Religion and International Affairs.