The Great Divide: A Lutheran Evaluation of Reformed Theology
Overview
Since the sixteenth century, the Protestant tradition has been divided. The Reformed and Lutheran reformations, though both committed to the doctrine of the sinners justification by faith alone, split over Zwingli and Luther's disagreement over the nature of the Lord's Supper. Since that time, the Reformed and Lutheran traditions have developed their own theological convictions, and continue to disagree with one another. It is incumbent upon students of the reformation, in the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, to come to an understanding of what these differences are, and why they matter.
In The Great Divide: A Lutheran Evaluation of Reformed Theology, Jordan Cooper examines these differences from a Lutheran perspective. While seeking to help both sides come to a more nuanced understanding of one another, and writing in an irenic tone, Cooper contends that these differences do still matter. Throughout the work, Cooper engages with Reformed writers, both contemporary and old, and demonstrates that the Lutheran tradition is more consistent with the teachings of Scripture than the Reformed.
- Provides thoughtful evaluation of numerous theological topics re
- Written in an ecumenical spirit
- Helps readers understand the differences between these two traditions that sprung from the Reformation
- Part I: Predestination and Free Will
- Chosen in Christ: The Doctrine of Predestination
- Once for All: The Extent of the Atonement
- Shipwrecked Faith: A Lutheran Approach too Perseverance and Apostasy
- Part II: Worship and the Sacraments
- Praising the Triune God: The Nature and Essence of Worship
- The Washing of Regeneration: The Sacrament of Baptism
- The Medicine of Immortality: The Lutheran Doctrine
- Part III: Salvation
- Justification by Faith: The Doctrine upon Which the Church Stands or Falls
- New Life in Christ: Sanctification and Vocation
This book delivers what it promises without getting distracted, overwhelmed, or muted with qualifications. Cooper speaks with clarity and conviction and makes plain the real differences that exist between the Reformed and the Lutheran branches of Reformation faith. The book can be read profitably by anyone committed to biblical fidelity and doctrinal integrity, but especially by those convinced that the differences between Wittenberg and Geneva are trivial and inconsequential, or cause for dismissive condemnations.
—Joel Biermann, Professor of Systematic Theology, Concordia Seminary
- Title: The Great Divide: A Lutheran Evaluation of Reformed Theology
- Author: Jordan Cooper
- Publisher: Wipf & Stock
- Publication Date: 2015
- Pages: 230
- Christian Group: Lutheran
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Topic: Theology