A Harvest of Lutheran Dogmatics: The Life and Work of Twelve Theologians 1960–2020 by Carl E. Braaten

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Harvest of Lutheran Dogmatics: The Life and Work of Twelve Theologians 1960–2020 by Carl E. Braaten Gregory Walter A Harvest of Lutheran Dogmatics: The Life and Work of Twelve Theologians 1960–2020. By Carl E. Braaten. Delhi, New York: ALPB Books, 2021. 288 pp. Carl Braaten has written this book "for the sake of the next generation of dogmaticians" (276). In it, he offers theological biographies of twelve theologians and ethicists, dating from the 1960s to 2020: Robert W. Bertram, Edward H. Schroeder, Gerhard O. Forde, William H. Lazareth, Robert Benne, Paul R. Sponheim, Philip Hefner, Ted Peters, George A. Lindbeck, Robert W. Jenson, and Paul R. Hinlicky. Braaten concludes with a chapter about himself. He puts [End Page 240] Bertram and Schroeder together in a single chapter. A brief introduction and conclusion frame the work. Braaten revisits each theologian's life and work. Readers can learn much about each theologian, though in a way affected by Braaten's own relationship with each. Braaten identifies many of the important problems that still confront Lutherans in the United States: the nature and purpose of theology, the role of justification by faith alone in the church's work and life, and the mission of the church. Offering some evaluations of each theologian's contributions, Braaten mostly presents digests of their publications. Because so many other theologians, ethicists, and Lutheran scholars of consequence labored in this period, it is important to consider why Braaten chose these figures. He does not fully explicate his criteria for selection and the rationale he does offer is not exhausted by the figures he presents. So many more scholars are important for the development of the networks of Lutheran church and academic life in which these theologians flourished: historians, biblical scholars, ethicists, translators, and many others. By including Benne and Lazareth, Braaten expanded the book to include theological ethicists, leaving figures like Larry Rasmussen aside. Because Braaten includes Hinlicky and Peters, who are from another generation than most of those he includes, the absence of scholars like Mary Solberg, Vítor Westhelle, or Ronald Thiemann is noticeable. Dogmatics, as Braaten defines it, concerns the doctrines of the Christian faith and the task of handing them on. This act of tradition is always a translation undertaken for the "present situation" and for the "whole Christian church" (276–277). Braaten further specifies that the center of this faith is Jesus Christ, the revelation of the Triune God in the Bible, and the doctrine of justification by faith alone (277). He concludes, soberly, that Lutherans have no close or strong consensus on these important matters, the identity of God, or even the person and work of Jesus, ending the book by stating that the tasks now lie in the hands of others (282). Lutheran theologians in Braaten's and in subsequent generations differ in their education, audiences, and projects and because of those differences may not actively engage the theologians treated here. This [End Page 241] book should help Lutheran theologians now at work to recall part of their tradition and thereby stimulate their work by revisiting the work of these twelve consequential theologians. Gregory Walter St. Olaf College Northfield, Minnesota Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.