Date of Award
4-4-2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Rhetoric and Writing
First Advisor
Allison Holland
Abstract
Although the Lutheran Reformation introduced a radical shift from the traditions of the Catholic Church, the Lutheran reformers had not initially sought to instigate a radical theological or institutional revolution. Especially in comparison with more radical groups within the Protestant movement, Martin Luther and his followers were cautious and slow to cast aside Catholic traditions and generally sought to maintain as much of the Catholic theology and practices as possible. The Lutheran reformers were conservative in their mindset, sharing medieval Catholic notions about the unitary nature of truth and the authority of God’s Word over and against the will of the individual. And the Lutheran reformers were conservative in their praxis, retaining the Catholic mass and reasserting the authority of the Church to intervene in secular and personal affairs. Analyzing the ten documents of the Lutheran reformers’ seminal expression of their doctrinal beliefs, The Book of Concord (also known as The Lutheran Confessions,) I contend that the rhetoric of the Lutheran reformers reflects the conservative nature of the Lutheran Reformation and positions the Lutherans closer to the Catholic tradition than to the more radical reformed movements.
Recommended Citation
Burns, Stephen Burns, "The Conservative Rhetoric of the Lutheran Confessions" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 727.
https://research.ualr.edu/etd/727
