Law and Gospel

In Christian theology the distinction between the doctrines of Law and Gospel defines the relationship between God's Law, which demands obedience to God's will, and the Gospel, which promises the forgiveness of sins for the sake of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The proper distinction between Law and Gospel is considered the goal of Christian theology. It is used as a hermeneutical principle of biblical interpretation.

Lutheran teaching on Law and Gospel
The proper distinction of Law and Gospel was first specifically brought to the attention of the Christian Church by Martin Luther (1483-1546), and laid down as the foundation of evangelical Lutheran biblical exegesis and exposition in Article IV of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531): "All Scripture ought to be distributed into these two principal topics, the Law and the promises. For in some places it presents the Law, and in others the promise concerning Christ, namely, either when [in the Old Testament] it promises that Christ will come, and offers, for His sake, the remission of sins justification, and life eternal, or when, in the Gospel [in the New Testament], Christ Himself, since He has appeared, promises the remission of sins, justification, and life eternal." (Apology IV (II).5, Triglot Concordia, CPH, 1921, p. 135).

Martin Luther is credited with saying that anyone who could properly distinguish Law and Gospel should be given a doctorate in theology. The importance of this foundational theological task was recognized throughout the Lutheran Age of Orthodoxy (1580-1713). Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther (1811-1887), who was the first (and third) president of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, revitalized this basic theological skill in his evening lectures at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis 1884-85. These lectures were later translated into English and published by his student, W.H.T. Dau, as The Proper Distinction Between LAW AND GOSPEL: 39 Evening Lectures in 1897.

The Reformed Tradition on Law and Gospel
The 20th century "neo-orthodox" theologian Karl Barth entered the debate by his work Evangelium und Gezetz [Gospel and Law].

Other theological perspectives
Please expand.

This article was forked from Wikipedia on March 26, 2006.

{{Wikipedia|Law and Gospel))