Baptism in the theology of Martin Luther

by Jonathan D. Trigg

Baptism in the Theology of Martin Luther satisfies the need for a comprehensive survey, in English, of Martin Luther on baptism. The mature Luther was unstinting in praise of baptism. How does his vigorously expressed sacramental understanding sit with his earlier reformation insights? What is its impact upon justification, faith, conversion, the Church? The tensions and paradoxes are examined. Analysis of formal doctrine is complemented by a picture of baptism 'in action', culled mainly from the Lectures on Genesis. Central is baptism's 'present tense' - its abiding force in the Christian's life, ever available for an encounter with God. His insistence that Christian progress is not onwards from baptism, but a repeated return to it emerges from the heart of Luther's thought. It is one of his most distinctive and important bequests to the Church.