From 16 to 18 November 2019, a group of Lutheran theologians from Australia and the Philippines led by Rev. Dr. Farnbacher (Mission EineWelt) visited Lutherstadt Wittenberg. On Sunday, Prof. Theodor Dieter of the Institute gave the group a Reformation history introduction while touring through the Lutherhaus. As a fruit of new research, he was able to correct many misconceptions about Luther’s doctrine and teachings and offer guests a new look at the Reformer.
This tour was a good introduction to one-day-seminar on “Luther on preaching,” for which Prof. Dieter gave four lectures. The first lecture dealt with the content of a sermon; the second was an analysis of Luther’s first Invocavit sermon, undertaken together with the participants; the third lecture was about being a preacher (“How to become a theologian according to Martin Luther”); and the fourth took up the theme “Luther Preaches by Song,” examining two hymns theologically and rhetorically (“From Heaven Above” and “Praise Be to You, Jesus Christ”). It was very gratifying that the participants were highly focused and interested in the matter from the first minute to the last. Luther still connects people today—even across continents!