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This article reconsiders the societal conditions determining ascetic Protestantism such as Calvinism during its early development, as distinguished from its later effects on society. It argues that a multiplicity of social conditions impacted the rise and expansion of Calvinism. These involve political, religious, cultural and economic conditions of the rise of Calvinism. They indicate the original societal conditioning of Calvinism, as distinct from and empirically prior to its subsequent effects on societies. This analysis specifically focuses on the sociopolitical conditions and conjunctures influencing Calvinism. The article concludes that early Calvinism was the outcome of political and related societal conditions and historical conjunctures, specifically of the Ancien Régime, and only subsequently producing its social outcomes emphasized in the sociological literature. The article aims to contribute to abridging a gap in the sociological literature, which centers on Calvinism's outcomes in society, including economy and politics, and decenters on its own societal, including political, conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper places Dr. Martin Luther King and Martin Luther in conversation in order to compare their polyvalent engagements with law in protest speech. Each figure viewed God's law dialogically and applied this tension to complex censure of unjust human laws, fostering protest that was combative yet constructive. Both insisted on the grounding of human laws in the law of God, and both invoked divine judgment on those in power who misused law to exploit and oppress. Luther marshalled the Apostle Paul to denounce the captivity imposed upon the German people by ecclesiastical authority; King echoed Israel's prophets (as well as Paul) to threaten the unjust state in the battle for civil rights legislation. Although in drastically different circumstances, the purpose and character of "law" lay at the heart of each movement, particularly because both King and Luther were protesting laws entrenched in putatively Christian nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Ecumenical "Kirchentag" (ÖKT) is always an occasion to reflect about the situation of collaboration and visible rapprochement between the large churches in Germany. When an ÖKT is coming up, often expectations are placed on Eucharistic hospitality and fellowship at the Lord's Table. This is not different for the 3rd ÖKT in Frankfurt. In his contribution on the ecumenical situation in Germany, Bishop Dr Karl-Hinrich Manzke, Commissioner for Catholic Affairs at the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) unfolds three lines of thought. He believes that the synodal consultation processes established by Pope Francis within the worldwide Catholic Church have considerable ecumenical potential. This strengthens decentralised responsibility in the Catholic Church, especially in pastoral matters. Jubilees and days of remembrance such as that of the Diet of Worms in 1521 offer opportunities to correct self-images and images of others and thus to learn from history. The just beginning discussion about the vote of the Ecumenical Working Group of protestant and catholic theologians „Together at the Lord's Table" shows that here has also been a clear movement forward in issues relating to the question of the Lord's Supper. The author pleads for using these potentials for the sake of the churches' joint witness in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article formulates propositions that stem from the achievements of ecumenical dialogue to date between Lutheran churches and the Roman Catholic Church. These propositions form a basis for formulating a kind of a joint declaration on the church and ecclesial communities, analogous to the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. The paper does not claim to deal with all the issues involved, but points to certain assumptions founded on the dialogue‐related documents and accompanying theological reflection. Such a declaration would formally confirm that the current state of ecumenical relations has achieved a level of understanding about the church and ministry such that the remaining differences did not hinder the mutual recognition of both confessional communities as "legitimate" churches carrying out the mission of the one church of Jesus Christ. The declaration would also be a sign of accepting the doctrinal pluralism that has been present in the church since its beginning. The article concludes by suggesting that true ecumenism demands "sacrifices" for the unity on the part of each church. It should consist of an abandonment of some elements of church life that are important for the confessional identity and draw the lines of contemporary divisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Cultural Studies / Roczniki Kulturoznawcze is the property of John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Institute of Cultural Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Acta Musei Brukenthal is the property of Brukenthal National Museum and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Komunikaty Mazursko-Warminskie is the property of Komunikaty Mazursko-Warminskie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article addresses the contemporary use of Luther's theology of vocation as a theological script for meaning‐making. Lived experiences of modern work demonstrate that many social structures and constraints challenge the notion of vocation in its classic form. A new agenda is called for and initial steps are taken to suggest a new way forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A close look at historical narratives can help us understand how intractable racial injustice is, both in society and in the church. Progress toward racial equity requires us to recognize ourselves as actors in history, and also as those influenced by and acted upon by the forces of history. In addition, lament can help us move toward the theological work of repentance. This article is adapted from The Gift of Lament: Moving from Diversity to Racial Equity in the ELCA, 2018 MDiv Thesis, Wartburg Theological Seminary. Portions of this article were also presented at the June 2019 Convocation of Teaching Theologians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies of churches of medieval origin in Estonia have shown that these edifices have long histories of polychrome decoration both before and after the Reformation. In this article, some aspects of these colour schemes are discussed. Firstly, the question of the decoration and redecoration of interiors during the Middle Ages is addressed, secondly the authorship and technique of vernacularlooking murals is discussed, and thirdly the geographical spread of these decorations is analysed. In addition, post-medieval murals are also examined. This article is based on fieldwork in Estonian medieval churches conducted over a period of fifteen years by the staff and students of the Department of Conservation and Cultural Heritage at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Here mainly the results of work in the churches at Koeru, Keila and Järva-Jaani is presented. Some other churches are also discussed for comparison. So far, medieval painted decoration has been found in around 25 church interiors on the territory of present-day Estonia, i.e. in roughly a quarter of the medieval churches. Although the number is not large, the finds allow us to draw some conclusions regarding the spread of and networks behind these paintings. We can claim that as elsewhere in medieval (northern) Europe, medieval church interiors included at least some kind of painted decoration. It seems likely that the first (and possibly in many cases the only) colour scheme was provided by the builders. Especially in rural parishes, where no specialised guilds existed, it might have been difficult to employ professional painters, although not impossible. Almost certainly the decoration was applied at the time of plastering, when the mortar had not yet set and the scaffolding was still available. Historical records, surviving artworks and investigated interiors demonstrate that after the Reformation the Lutherans were less radical in transforming churches than were other Protestants: several Catholic altar retables and statues were preserved, side altars were not removed, etc. The churches were usually decorated with new, more modern murals and only whitewashed in many cases several centuries later. Gradually, church interiors became more monochrome, although not necessarily white, something that has been associated with the spread of Pietistic ideas in the Lutheran church. However, the late 19th century brought a revival of colour to at least some churches. These colourful, mainly Gothic revival interiors survived for only a short time and disappeared again when they were painted over everywhere. For example, in St Lawrence's in Kuusalu, wall paintings dating from the period of the Gothic revival renovation of the medieval church (1899) were found and uncovered in 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Christian pilgrimage sites can be separated into three broad categories: Biblical sites (e.g. Jerusalem, Ephesus, Patmos, and other locations where significant events happen in the Biblical narratives); older Catholic and Anglican sites whose importance has been established over a long history of many centuries (e.g. the Vatican, Lourdes, Canterbury); and lastly, newer sites associated with more recently established Protestant denominations and groups such as Methodism, Lutheranism, Pentecostalism, and others. With a shorter history and lacking either the Biblical significance or the political or national dimension of Catholicism and Anglicanism, other Protestant sites can be considered "popular" or "excentric" sites. These construct their significance through strategies relying on evangelical and Pentecostal discourses and meanings, particularly the construction of great spiritual figures who wield supernatural and invisible influence over history and society. These constructions propose a Spiritual Mapping that is superimposed onto historical and political events, creating an alternative significance for touristic purposes. This paper examines two sites for Protestant evangelical pilgrimages, centered on the figures of John Wesley and Rees Howells, that demonstrate this touristic construction of protestant hagiography, supernatural influence, and Spiritual Mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Magdeburg Centuries (1559–74) constituted the first attempt at a comprehensive Lutheran church history. Written as a collaborative project and starting its account in the Apostolic age, the Centuries aimed also to describe the theological changes of their own century, although the printed version extended only to the thirteenth century. In its development, the project was closely connected to the so‐called Chancery of God, a propaganda office of strict Lutheran theologians in Magdeburg which worked against the emperor, the Catholic Church and confessional opponents in Wittenberg. Written during a time of political threats, the work was driven by apocalyptic thinking and a certain scepticism about authorities. The search for historical testimonies of religious truth, the critical methods of a humanist education, the deconstruction of myths, and the writing for specific confessional goals intermingled and formed the compilation of excerpts from historical sources. The authors of the Magdeburg Centuries used these different techniques according to their needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the development of peasants' reading habits over the 18th century in the Latvian-inhabited Lutheran regions of Russia's Baltic provinces Courland/Kurzeme and Latvian Livonia/Vidzeme. By analysing the transition from intensive to extensive reading patterns, as well as from loud and ceremonial to silent and private reading, insight into the available statistical sources and information from subscription lists is provided and the observations of contemporaries are scrutinized. The views on Latvian peasants' reading habits expressed by Baltic-German Lutheran parsons Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß, Joachim Baumann, Christian David Lenz, Johann Friedrich Casimir Rosenberger, Alexander Johann Stender, as well as those published by Johann Friedrich Steffenhagen, are discussed within the context of urban and middle-class reading patterns. While the number of literate peasants in the 18th century was high, reaching one third in Courland and two thirds in Livonia by the turn of the 19th century, the motivation for reading and everyday habits differed, and while extensive reading increased, before the 1840s, the Baltic rural society did not see a phenomenon similar to the European middle-class reading revolution. The article focuses on differentiating among various types of readers, divided according to their confessional lines (Herrnhutian Brethren or Lutheran Orthodox Church), social standing (reading patterns were different depending on rural professions) or generation (the older generation tended to prefer loud and ceremonial religious reading while the younger generation more often adopted silent, private and secular reading). The collective reading of books has been explored by demonstrating how it allowed combining the reading of books with other activities and also performed a socializing function. The available sources demonstrate that quiet reading did not replace reading aloud, in the same way that extensive reading did not replace intensive, but all reading practices continued to coexist alongside each other, creating an increasingly diverse and saturated reading experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the use of hymns and songs at school services organized by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in co-operation with local schools at the end of the school year. Hymns and songs at both traditional school services in churches in 2010 and at recorded spring services in 2020 – via the internet, due to COVID-19 pandemic – are considered. The results of the text analysis of the lyrics in the most used hymns and songs reveal that the variety of hymns and songs increased in 2020, but the use of traditional hymns and key concepts, like praise, protection and joy, remained almost unchanged vis-àvis the year 2010. The most sung hymn, the Summer Hymn, has become an institutionalized transition signal between school and summertime, but it also carries spiritual meanings of creation, praise, and hope that acquire new meanings in hard times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following essay deals with the basic text of the EKD “Religious education facing non-denominationalism” and asks to what extent non-denominationalism is a challenge for the educational activities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. The clarification of the term shows that the particular challenge is the inner-church “denominationalism” in the form of a loss of resonance (“belonging without believing”). Starting from the mission of “communicating the gospel”, the reasons for this loss are illuminated, especially with regard to the communication of the church. The inability to grasp the content of the biblical message and to formulate it in a believable way plays a decisive role in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the changeful history of the German Lutheran Church St. Petri in Petersburg. Against this background it comments on the statement “Religious Education in View of Unchurched people”, published by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). It suggests to make the non-denominational perspective of unchurched people a regular topic in theological education at university and therefor to link Practical Theology with Contemporary History. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An expanding body of research connects religiosity/spirituality (later R/S) with human well-being and health. While psychological and medical research lacks a common theoretical or theological framework, these dimensions are measured by instruments with a wide variation in quality. As the religious landscapes in Western societies are becoming increasingly plural and complex, the need for developing our understanding and assessment of the role of R/S in human health and well-being is as important as ever. This study, based on quantitative data (N = 529) from members of a church renewal oriented network in the Lutheran majority Church in Finland, measures the role of R/S in the subjective well-being of the participants through a multi-dimensional framework. While exploring Ellison's Spiritual Well-being Scale (1983), the study expands its scope to a more multi-dimensional approach to religion, spirituality and well-being. The results reveal that religious beliefs and practices do not contribute to the level of subjective well-being in the lives of the participants as much as the way in which these beliefs and practices are lived out and actualized in social contexts. The study identified several sources of both well-being and ill-being in the participants' lives. The article contributes to the terms of measuring the various ways in which R/S are connected to human well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the life and ministry of Ilse Katvel (1906–1987), a female preacher. She was influenced by pietistic Lutheranism, holiness movement ideas, and Estonian free church spirituality. In 1934, she joined the Evangelical Christian Free Church in Narva, which had grown out of the Blue Cross movement in the area. After moving to the Saaremaa Island in 1944, she became a deacon and co-elder in a Pentecostal-background church in Valjala, which was part of the Union of Evangelical Christians Baptists. Katvel became an influential Bible teacher who was invited to preach all across Estonia. The article argues that Katvel’s spiritual disciplines resemble the mystical-devotional lifestyle practised in different Christian traditions, including in Medieval piety – a commitment to work and prayer, fasting, living modestly, remaining unmarried, receiving food gifts, as well as being generous, and taking care of people in need. She and a group of like-minded „sisters“ devoted themselves to prayer, including prayers for healing. This group had an experiential openness to the work of the Holy Spirit. Katvel contemplated the relations between creation and the Creator, and images from nature helped her interpret spiritual realities. Cooperating with Christians from different denominational backgrounds and preaching both in Lutheran and free churches, she highlighted the unifying element of spirituality, focusing on Christ-centredness and lived-out sanctification, which is present in a wide range of Christian traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to consider the influence of Eastern Orthodox theology and spirituality, particularly soteriology, upon the Lutheran doctrine of salvation. It focuses on the emergence of a new interpretation of Martin Luther's view of justification as union and Christ's "real" presence in the believer through the Holy Spirit. This account materially reflects key intuitions of the Eastern Orthodox vision of deification (divinization, theosis) and was developed in Helsinki, Finland, under the tutelage of Tuomo Mannermaa and his school. Even though this new interpretation continues to be contested and debated, particularly in German Luther scholarship, it has also exercised wide influence on international theological discussion. The latter part of the article, more constructive in nature, seeks to link the Helsinki School insights to some other current Lutheran contributions as well as relevant viewpoints from the wider Christian West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, together with other conservative Christian churches and theologians, asserts that the ordination of women will inevitably and logically lead to embracing same-sex marriage by the church. While the objections to the ordination of women are based on arguments from both scripture and tradition, my paper focuses exclusively on the aspect of tradition, addressing its beginnings, sources, claims to continuity, as well as the correlation of the non-ordination of women to same-sex marriage. Since the statement that the ordination of women will result in acceptance of same-sex marriage pertains both to the issue of traditional or male-only ordination and the issue of traditional or the opposite-sex-only marriage, my paper has two parts: the first part questions the concept of “traditional” ordination that excludes women because of their gender, and the second part deals with the idea of “traditional” marriage and the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage as a deviation from tradition. Common to both traditions of exclusion is their adherence to the ancient concept of a hierarchical understanding of the relation between men and women, rooted in preindustrial socioeconomic structures and located in assumptions of ontological inferiority of some men and all women. Because the view of ontological inferiority is no longer relevant today and has been abandoned by the church, the argument that the church can deny ordination to women based on the apostolic tradition is questionable. The tradition of ordination has been neither continuous nor consistent, therefore using the argument from tradition to justify non-ordination of women and also to condemn same-sex marriage is problematic and contrary to the new theological understanding of the equality of men and women within the diversity of the church as the one body of Christ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latvia and Estonia occupied by USSR in 1944–1945 experienced drastic changes regarding religious politics. The aim of this article is to look at these changes – both internal and external – and compare them through transnational approach. Lutheran evangelical churches of LSSR and ESSR went through similar process of adaption to Soviet politics, Latvian church being somewhat of a pilot project of Cult and Religion Council’s strategies in Latvia and Estonia. The paper introduces the relations of LELC and EELC with the Soviet power in different aspects within the period from 1946 to 1949, describing the roles of the CARC commissioners and the archbishops of LELC and EELC in the Sovietization processes, comparing changes of churches in the conditions of soviet socialism. The activities of churches and archbishops under the supervision of CARC were limited, raising fears and distrust in the clergy and members of the congregations, thereby discrediting the role of Lutheranism in the newly made Soviet community. The new, CARC approved Constitutions of LELC in 1948 and EELK in 1949, could be considered a breaking point in Sovietisation of Lutheran church with archbishops Gustavs Tūrs and Jaan Kiivit leading the newly made Soviet Lutheran churches under the antireligious conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the Russian Empire’s 1832 legislation regarding Lutheran churches, new consistories, including those of Courland and Livland (Vidzeme), were created. This paper examines the development of thought regarding missions and the evolving theology in both consistories, as well as their ties with the Leipzig Mission in sending missionaries from the Baltics to other countries. It was concluded that consideration of foreign mission was present as early as 1837 in Courland and 1843 in Livland. Mission awareness, however, arose only when there was someone who had received a personal calling and for whom missions was important. Although every pastor could read the Bible, it was not self-evident that everyone would take foreign mission as their personal responsibility, but both consistories included some pastors who fostered mission interest among their peers. The Courland and Livland consistories primarily worked with and sent most mission offerings to Leipzig Mission, through which the majority of missionaries from the Baltics were sent during the 19th and early 20th century to carry out missionary work abroad. Foreign mission through Leipzig was also an area which provided women an opportunity to be involved in church ministry. Although foreign mission was not a main theological topic of Courland and Livland consistories’ work, it still played an important role and created the foundation for mission work that occurred later in the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a study of the ideological background behind the decision of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church (LELC) to officially exclude women from ministry. The ideological tendencies can be difficult to detect and systematize. In order to do that, the study researches the online presence of seven select ministers of LELC, including Archbishop J. Vanags and the former Dean of the District of Riga K. Kalniņš. Social media is a fruitful source of information regarding topics that tend to be excluded from other forms of public discourse. Its informal climate seems to provoke people – the ministers included – to be more frank and less constrained in speaking their minds. The research reveals the following tendencies in the ideological landscape of LELC representatives: emphasis on values and tradition, rigid understanding of gender roles, the idea of the battle between the Christian and the liberal worldviews, and queerphobia. The perception of the world as a battlefield proves to be especially fundamental. In view of the LELC representatives, themselves and the conservative Christians are on one side of the battle line, while the malicious liberal Western ideologues who want to disrupt all the traditions and life as we know it are on the other. Unfortunately, some of these tendencies manifest themselves in dangerous misinformation or even borders on hate speech. When one sees the world as a battlefield, it is of no surprise that the perceived enemy – often already marginalized groups of society like queer people – are thought to deserve the worst. Also, the political anti-Western sentiment can be of concern. Altogether, the research clearly demonstrates that the question of the ordination of women is only a manifestation of a much larger phenomenon. This decision arises from a climate of fear, anger, and reluctance to accept changes in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, based on the theoretical-methodological perspectives of Historical Sociology and Sociology of Elites, aims to analyze the recomposition and rearticulation of the elites of the German ethnic group in Brazil after the Estado Novo (post-1945). The research is based on historical literature review, interviews and document analysis. At first, I analyze the Estado Novo and nationalization campaigns as an "event", responsible for producing changes and transformations in the practices associated with "Germanness" in Brazil. In the following, I present some of the initiatives of rearticulation of the elites of the German ethnic group in post-Estado Novo Brazil: the Comitê de Socorro à Europa Faminta, the restructuring of the Lutheran Church, the rearticulation of 25th of July Movement, the foundation of 25th of July Cultural Centers and the Federation of 25th of July Cultural Centers. Finally, I analyze the "outcome" of this historical process, that is, the systematization and institutionalization of a "space of practices of 'German' folklore in Brazil", in the 1980s. The discussion made it possible to establish a causal relationship between the nationalization campaigns and the initiatives of rearticulation of ethnic elites and promotion of German ethnicity in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]