In the late nineteenth century, a debate surrounding the doctrine of election erupted within American Lutheranism. One party held to the "intuitu fidei" approach to election, arguing that God's election unto salvation occurs in view of the faith of his people. C.F.W. Walther and others in the Synodical Conference argued, against this, that God's election is unconditional. Francis Pieper's book Conversion and Election is the most detailed defense of the doctrine of unconditional election unto salvation from the Lutheran tradition. He demonstrates, throughout the work, that God predestines...

The doctrine of theosis has enjoyed a recent resurgence among varied theological traditions across the realms of historical, dogmatic, and exegetical theology. In Christification: A Lutheran Approach to Theosis, Jordan Cooper evaluates this teaching from a Lutheran perspective. He examines the teachings of the church fathers, the New Testament, and the Lutheran Confessional tradition in conversation with recent scholarship on theosis. Cooper proposes that the participationist soteriology of the early fathers expressed in terms of theosis is compatible with Luther's doctrine of forensic...

Though committed to the Augustana and the historic Lutheran tradition as he understood it, Valentine was still largely influenced by the protestantizing tendency of his own church body. This should not, however, serve as grounds for dismissing Valentine as a theologian. He was a highly original and intelligent theologian, producing the best theological textbooks to arise from the General Synod. Valentine's treatment of the doctrine of God, apologetics, and Holy Scripture are especially beneficial. When speak of conversion and election, however, Valentine tends more in the Arminian than...

What's your passion? Who are you at the core? How can you get to the places you want to be? We all have these questions, and in Chasing the Blue Marlin, Dr. Jordan Cooper helps us to find the answers. Cooper deftly weaves personal stories and philosophy with entrepreneurial smarts to help you become the best version of yourself you can be - a passionate human being that you are proud of. With Cooper's help, you will learn to: - Set better goals - and achieve them - Push your boundaries and identify your passions and core values - Align your actions with those core values to center yourself...

Since the sixteenth century, the Protestant tradition has been divided. The Reformed and Lutheran reformations, though both committed to the doctrine of the sinners justification by faith alone, split over Zwingli and Luther's disagreement over the nature of the Lord's Supper. Since that time, the Reformed and Lutheran traditions have developed their own theological convictions, and continue to disagree with one another. It is incumbent upon students of the reformation, in the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, to come to an understanding of what these differences are, and why they matter. In...

It is a common misconception that Lutheran theology is inherently antinomian, or unconcerned with Christian ethics. This unfortunate caricature of the doctrine of the Reformation has been furthered by certain strands of Lutheran theology, which reject the third use of the law and the necessity of expounding Christian ethics in preaching. In this book, Jordan Cooper challenges the claim that Lutheranism emphasizes justification at the expense of sanctification, demonstrating that the two kinds of righteousness are a historical Lutheran framework that gives prominence to both salvation by grace...

Martin Luther's theological revolution depended in a significant part upon the distinction between law and gospel. Within the last hundred years, several authors have reevaluated the reformer's understanding of this paradigm in light of its development within the Lutheran orthodox tradition. Some authors have argued that the Lutheran scholastic view of God's law departs from that of Luther. Specifically, it is contended that the Lutheran orthodox contended for a definition of the law which defines it as God's eternal will contradicts Luther's approach, wherein the law is defined almost...