The Wittenberg Old Latin School is one of the city’s heralded institutions for secondary education. It laid the groundwork for Western education and shaped the lives of countless students throughout the Reformation, the wars of religion, the rise of the Enlightenment, and the ascendancy of Prussian control. Learn more in this blog post adapted from The History of the Gymnasium and Educational Institutions of Wittenberg. 

In a doctrinal note issued on October 7 with the approval of Pope Leo XIV, the Roman Catholic Church set aside the sometimes-used reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, as “co-redemptrix.” Lutherans will universally consider this a faithful decision, but it might raise some questions: What do we teach about Mary? Does she have special status among us? Do Lutherans practice the same kind of devotion to Mary that exists among Roman Catholics?

About the worst thing for a Lutheran is to find yourself thinking that your access to God isn’t through His Word but through yourself, as if in a direct line from your heart to the Holy Spirit. He’d call that Enthusiasm, but He doesn’t mean you’re too joyful and boisterous.

If you only know a few Bible passages, Matthew 28:19 is probably one of them: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ….” It’s an easy passage for the Christian heart to embrace.

This blog post is adapted from Life Under the Cross: A Biography of the Reformer Matthias Flacius Illyricus.

This blog post is adapted from Gerhard’s Theological Commonplace On the End of the World and On Hell, or Eternal Death, specifically Gerhard’s notes on the practical pastoral benefits of preaching on hell. 

This blog post is an excerpt from Commentary on Luther’s Catechisms: Confession and Christian Life by Albrecht Peters.

This post is adapted from On the Resurrection of the Dead and On the Last Judgment by Johann Gerhard.

This post is adapted from the latest edition in Gerhard’s Theological Commonplaces series, On Justification through Faith.

Works-righteousness was as big of a theological issue in Gerhard’s time as it is in ours. So Gerhard went back to the primary source—the Bible—to see what God has to say about the topic. Here’s what he found.