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Here We Stand

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Arguably this is Hermann Sasse's finest work, in that it provides an extremely helpful introduction to Lutheran thought. The original title in German is "Wie heisst Lutherisch?" and should have been translated as "What is Lutheranism?" Hermann Sasse, a confessional Lutheran, successfully resisted the Nazis and lived to tell the tale emigrating to Australia after the second world war. During the Third Reich Sasse refused, on confessional grounds, to sign the Barmen Declaration and unite with the Reformed in their opposition to Hitler. In this little work one receives a fine outline of core Lutheran beliefs as well as a comparison and critique of the Reformed faith, including a critique of Karl Barth's theology in the final chapter. One of the most salient distinctions between the Lutheran and Reformed faiths is the Lutheran understanding of the Law/Gospel polarity as well as the sacraments as means of salvation (media salutis) and not merely means of grace (media gratiae). Another fundmamental aspect of Lutheranism is its unwillingness to go to where it has not been called. Therefore one does not see Lutherans engaging in religious wars actively in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, nor did Lutherans send missionaries to Roman Catholic countries as did the Reformed. Sasse therefore offers a harsh critique of Calvin for seeking to missionize and protestantize catholic France leading to thirty years of religious wars. Such aggressiveness is alien to the spirit of Lutheranism.

Overall one of the finest introductions to Lutheranism.