The Church and the Holy Spirit in Martin Luther’s Great Catechism

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7213/2175-1838.16.002.AO03

Abstract

The study provides an in-depth exploration of Luther’s understanding of the relationship between the Church and the Holy Spirit. Emphasis is placed on the Lutheran idea of the Church's absolute dependence on the actions of the Spirit, articulated within the Trinitarian framework of the theology of justification by faith. Through the analysis of the Great Catechism, particularly the commentary on the third article of the Creed, the study highlights the originality of Luther’s approach to the topic in question. This approach involves interpreting the link between the Church and the Spirit, ecclesiology and pneumatology, from the perspective of an original theology of Revelation. This perspective illuminates the Church as a “complex reality”, evolving through the action of the Trinity, through which, in the Spirit, the eternal Word of the Creator is made present among the holy community.

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Author Biography

Lubomir Zak , Sts Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology

Full professor of systematic theology in the Faculty of Theology of Saints Cyril and Methodius at Palacky University in Olomouc (Czech Republic), from 1998 to 2022 professor at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. He is scientific director of the Academy of Lutheran Studies in Italy and member of numerous scientific committees of series, journals and research projects in Europe and Latin America. He has a copious number of scientific publications to his credit. His main research interests concern systematic theology, theological epistemology, Russian Orthodox theology and philosophy (Florensky, Bulgakov, Karsavin), Martin Luther’s theology, ecumenism and especially complex thought in the version of Trinitarian ontology, its development, its main protagonists and its epistemological and theological applications.

Published

2024-08-27

How to Cite

Zak , L. (2024). The Church and the Holy Spirit in Martin Luther’s Great Catechism. Pistis Praxis, 16(2), 326–342. https://doi.org/10.7213/2175-1838.16.002.AO03