Is Christian belief tenable today? Is it possible to be a creedal Christian? With the help of Martin Luther, Paul Hinlicky here explores classical Christian beliefs regarding the person and work of Christ and human nature and destiny. He also counters contemporary objections to creedal faith, from the so-called “new perspective on Paul” to Pope Benedict’s rejection of the Augsburg Confession to the continuing challenge of Marx. Luther and the Beloved Community does not present Luther’s medieval thought as a possibility for today, but does make him available for the future as a teacher of the faith and a help for tackling contemporary questions of Christian belief. According to Hinlicky, Luther is misused and misunderstood by those of his own tradition and needs to be understood not as “hero of the faith” but rather as the proponent of a beloved community that does not yet fully exist. In performing this makeover, Hinlicky reveals genuine new insights concealed within Luther’s rhetoric. “Paul Hinlicky has produced another important volume interconnecting the reconsideration of the heritage of Luther and the needs of contemporary theology. Whether or not one agrees with all of Hinlicky’s proposals (and this book contains many), his ideas are consistently rewarding and thought-provoking. He does not repeat received wisdom but explores paths at once traditional and new. Anyone who cares about the future of the legacy of the Reformation should attend to what Hinlicky is saying.” ― Michael Root Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary “Admitting in good postmodern fashion that he is enlisting ‘my Luther’ to construct an argument in ‘critical dogmatics,’ Hinlicky lays out a new agenda for our use of recent Luther research. . . . Hinlicky’s incisive argument and interpretation of how Luther’s thought functions as a whole to address specific issues on the table in social and ecumenical arenas will command attention and provoke discussion, furthering both Luther studies and a twenty-first-century critical dogmatics.” ― Robert Kolb Concordia Seminary Paul R. Hinlicky is Tise Professor of Lutheran Studies at Roanoke College, Salem, Virginia. His previous books include Divine Complexity: The Rise of Creedal Christianity. Mickey L. Mattox is associate professor of theology at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Luther and the Beloved Community A Path for Christian Theology after Christendom By Paul R. Hinlicky William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Copyright © 2010 Paul R. Hinlicky All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8028-6492-5 Contents Foreword, by Mickey L. Mattox...............................................................................xiPreface.....................................................................................................xvAbbreviations...............................................................................................xxv1. The Problem of Christian Belief in Euro-America Today....................................................32. "One of the Trinity Suffered": Luther's Neo-Chalcedonian Christology.....................................313. God Surpassing God by "Christ Made to Be Sin"............................................................664. Trinitarian Advent: Resituating the Dialectic of Law and Gospel..........................................1055. Somatic Self, Ecstatic Self: Luther on Theonomy..........................................................1396. The Redemption of the Body: Luther on Marriage...........................................................1797. "New, Old, and Different Perspectives" on Paul (Augustine and Luther)....................................2218. Communio: Luther's Forgotten Ecclesiology................................................................2589. Passion and Action in Christ: Political Theology between the Times.......................................30110. By Way of Conclusion: What Luther Meant by theologia crucis.............................................358Appendix: The Problem of Demonization in Luther's Apocalyptic Theology......................................379Works Cited.................................................................................................386Index of Names and Selected Topics..........................................................................401 Chapter One The Problem of Christian Belief in Euro-America Today A Question Posed by Josiah Royce This book is written in order to put dogmatic insights of Martin Luther to work as resources for contemporary Christian theology in Euro-American civilization. Yet obviously this is a question that was not and could not have been posed by Luther himself. It was posed almost one hundred years ago by the nearly forgotten Harvard philosopher Josiah Royce: "In what sense, if in any, can the modern man consistently be, in creed, a Christian?" In a final book, The Problem of Christianity , published on the cusp of