The fifty-second annual Bjarne Wollan Teigen Reformation Lectures were held at the Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center, Mankato, Minnesota, on October 31–November 1, 2019. These lectures are sponsored jointly by Bethany Lutheran College and Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary. This year the theme of the Reformation Lectures was “Lutheran Preaching Through the Centuries.”
The first lecture, given by Dr. Paul Robinson (Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, MO), was entitled “Preaching in the Reformation.” In this essay there was a discussion of homiletical work in the pre-Reformation and Reformation era. The works of Luther, Melanchthon, and Johannes Mathesius are highlighted.
The second lecture, given by Dr. Thomas Kuster (Bethany), was entitled, “Preaching in the Nineteenth Century.” Here the essay centered on the sermonizing of a number of important Lutheran preachers. Among those men discussed were Charles Porterfield Krauth, F. C. D. Wyneken, C. F. W. Walther, U. V. Koren, H. C. Schwan, and Henry Sieck.
The third lecture, given by Pres. Emeritus Paul Wendland (Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, Mequon, WI), was entitled, “Preaching Today.” In this essay the essayist reviewed current trends in preaching and outlined a Lutheran identity in preaching. He pointed out what makes Lutheran preaching distinctly and uniquely Lutheran.
The complete lectures will be published in the March issue of the Lutheran Synod Quarterly, and videos can be viewed at this link: https://blts.edu/reformation-lectures/2019-reformation-lecture-videos/