Reformation and Resilience April 25, 2018 By Collegeville Institute Dr. Ernest Simmons Ms. Erin Hemme Froslie Minneapolis, MN, Lutheran University Press, 2017 Five hundred years ago the Protestant Reformation became a major turning point in Western history. Born in a university setting, the dialectical interaction of the life of the mind and the life of faith has been a hallmark of Lutheran higher education from the beginning. Luther insisted on the Christian life being lived right in the midst of the world so that the resources of faith must be brought to play on daily life and work. This means that a sharp distinction between the sacred and the secular cannot be drawn for the Lutheran tradition. All of the finite world can in some way be revelatory of God and must therefore be kept in constant relationship with faith. One of the central tasks of a liberal arts college of the church is to maintain this dialectical interaction between faith and learning, and so it is highly appropriate at this time to undertake reflection upon the beginning of the Lutheran tradition, the Protestant Reformation, and its continued relevance. As Concordia College observes this anniversary, it is important to ask what is in need of reform today and what resilience remains within the tradition to help effect such reform? At its core, Lutheran liberal arts education emphasized preparation for vocation in service to neighbor. Today, the understanding of neighbor must be expanded to include all faith traditions and the natural world. The thesis of this book is that Lutheran liberal arts education must move beyond an anthropocentric to an ecocentric understanding of vocation in order to foster planetary citizenship and sustainability leadership. Like this post? Subscribe to have new posts sent to you by email the same day they are posted.
