Some things need a bit more time ... the symposium planned for 2021 on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Prof. Theodor Dieter, the long-time research professor and director of the Institute, had to be postponed due to the pandemic and could now take place from 22-25 March 2022 in the rooms of the Institute.
Experts from Germany, France, Finland, the USA and Denmark and various denominations came together on the topic of "Ecumenical Challenges of Luther Research" - some contributions were delivered via zoom, others unfortunately had to be cancelled due to illness. It is, however, planned to publish all contributions in book form.
The conference – which in addition to the high-quality lectures also offered enough material for discussion and exchange – was divided into three thematic blocks: The Gift Discourse (papers by Bo Holm, Aarhus, DK; Friederike Nüssel, Heidelberg, Germany; Martin Wendte, Ludwigsburg, Germa-ny; Florian Bruckmann, Flensburg, Germany); Scripture and Tradition (papers by Irene Dingel, Mainz, Germany; Robert Kolb, St. Louis, USA and Volker Leppin, New Haven, USA); Confessional Identity as a Precondition for Ecumenical Work (papers by Risto Saarinen, Helsinki, Finland; Timothy Wengert, Philadelphia, USA; and a concluding discussion between Walter Sparn, Erlangen, Germa-ny, and Notger Slenczka, Berlin, Germany).
This short report would be incomplete without mentioning the reception given on the last evening in honor of Prof. Dieter. The list of greeting speakers indicates the breadth of references in which Prof. Dieter has advanced the cause of ecumenism and Luther research: Bishop Dr. h.c. Frank Ot-fried July (Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Stuttgart, Germany); Prof. Matthieu Arnold (Prof. at the Faculty of Theology, University of Strasbourg, France, Associate Professor at the Institute); Rev. Dr. Dirk G. Lange (Lutheran World Federation, Geneva, Acting Director of the Institute), Prof. Frédéric Chavel (Institut Protestant de Théologie, Paris, France). Prof. Friederike Nüssel (Heidel-berg, Germany); Prof. Annemarie C. Mayer (now Trier, Germany).