Joint Cooperation between Aarhus University and Northwestern University
Organized by Christine Helmer and Bo Kristian Holm

There is limited access to the seminar. For participation, please contact Bo Holm, bh@teo.au.dk

See programme here

The years leading up to the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017 promise new scholarship that anticipates the future and looks back at the past. One area of retrospection that has not yet been studied in depth is the original Luther renaissance of a century ago. The Lutherrenaissance was initiated at the turn of the 20th century to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Luther's reformation. The new excitement in Luther studies was fueled by the appeal to the historical and text-critical method to study Luther. Karl Holl inspired a new generation of Luther scholars to study Luther from historical perspective, in particular to historically date the reformation breakthrough. These were the years that saw the beginnings of the critical edition of Luther's works, the Weimarer Ausgabe. And Albrecht Ritschl announced that he would complete the reformation that Luther had begun.

The early 20th century Luther Renaissance also took place outside of Germany. Although Holl's quest for the German Luther was undertaken against the backdrop of Germany's political situation at the turn of the 20th century, scholars in the Nordic countries sought to renew interest in Luther from their respective political and cultural contexts. In Scandinavia the Luther Renaissance is primarily identified with Gustav Aulén, Gustav Wingren and Anders Nygren, and situated around Lund University in Sweden. Regin Prenter is the most important Danish representative.

The focus of the seminar Luther Renaissance: Past and Present is to discuss the Luther Renaissance as Heinrich Assel has investigated it in his important book Die Lutherrenaissance: Der andere Aufbruch. Assel argues that the Luther Renaissance was a theological movement both preceding and taking place simultaneously with dialectical theology. We will explore numerous facets of Assel's argument, such as compare the Luther Renaissance to its predecessors and contemporaries, analyze the broader implications of the Luther Renaissance, and discuss the challenge that the German Luther Renaissance presented to the Nordic reception of Luther (for example Prenter's criticism of Holl's Luther interpretation). This seminar will serve as the first part of a two-part international project. The second part will take place in Evanston USA on April 12-14, 2012 and will explore the contributions of the present Luther Renaissance to church, politics, society, and academy.