Recovering Protestantism's Original Insight: Luther's Heritage and Theological Criticism of the Bible

In this engaging volume, Capetz argues that Protestants have largely ignored Luther's heritage when it comes to thinking about biblical authority and instead have followed Calvin's biblicism, leading to many intellectual and moral problems in the face of a fully historical-critical understanding of the Bible in our time. After prefacing the book with a personal story that illustrates what is at stake in this question for the church's pastoral ministry, he examines in detail the debate between Barth--an heir of Calvin--and Bultmann--a Lutheran--regarding Sachkritik or "content criticism" of Scripture since their debate serves to clarify the central issue facing Protestants today. He then traces their debate back to the Reformation itself to show how the difference between Luther and Calvin presented Protestants from the outset with two conflicting models of biblical authority. He then reflects on how this question of the proper understanding of biblical authority manifests itself in the debates over sexual ethics that have plagued mainline denominations for the past four decades. And he concludes by arguing that Luther's heritage provides Protestants with a viable way to engage in a robust theological interpretation of the Bible that does not violate what historical criticism has taught us about it.

Paul E. Capetz is Professor of Historical Theology at United Theological Seminary of the Wing Cities in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has taught at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, Macalester College, Hamline University, and Claremont School of Theology. He also authored God: A Brief History, (Fortress Press, 2003), and co-edited, with Theo A. Boer, James M. Gustafson's Moral Discernment in the Christian Life: Essays in Theological Ethics (Westminster/John Knox Press, 2007). He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). He received his education at UCLA (B.A.), Georg-August Universitat in Gottingen, Yale University (M.Div. and M.A), and the University of Chicago (Ph.D.).