The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology

by Charles Porterfield Krauth

The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology provides the definitive nineteenth-century statement of the unique theological identity of confessional Lutheranism as researched and explicated by one of the era's greatest theologians. Collecting and supplementing articles he had written over two decades, Krauth offers his mature thoughts on the nature of the Reformation, the question of Lutheran identity, the relationship of the Lutheran Church to the broader Christian tradition, and more. This volume has been edited for modern grammar and features a new introduction that addresses the historical context of Krauth's work. The book is excellent reading for pastors, seminarians, and church leaders.

Genres: Theology, History, Christian History, Christianity

840 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1963

About the author

Charles Porterfield Krauth was a Lutheran pastor, theologian and educator.

Reviews

[Michael’ · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Lutheran church is very holy and mighty. The Lutheran church is very beautiful. The Lutherans are the most Christian of Christians. The Lutherans are very holy and mighty. The Lutheran church is very good. The Lutheranism is like a mighty downpour, full of faith which nourishes life. The Lutheran church is vey Christian. Lutheranism is glorying power. Lutheranism is greatest of all. Lutherans are Christians and they are also Protestant. And Lutheran theologians are very faithful and smart. Lutheran theologian A is a great believer of Christianity. Lutheran theologian B believes in the gospel and did great works in the love of the gospel. Lutheran theologian C was a great thinker who believed deeply in the faith. Lutheran theologian D was a German, the most moral and Christian people of Europe, and believed in gospel of Jesus Christ. He had a colleague who was Lutheran and deeply faithful. Theologian D spoke very highly of Luther, who as the founder of a very Christian church, mighty and holy, like a downpour of full of faith which nourishes life. Lutheran church is very holy and mighty.

Are you impressed by by my great learning? No? Of course not. If you want several hundred pages of the above without any useful information whatsoever, this is the book for you. Krauth has hundreds of ways to say the same thing. He has hundreds of analogies each saying nothing other than that Lutheranism is great. He has hundreds of topics which he uses only to praise his church and about which he says nothing. Krauth likes namedropping theologians. He may briefly mention that the one was “rationalist”, the other “Pelagian” and yet another a true Christian. He then uses the “true Christian” as example of how great Lutheranism is. At no point does he explain any ideas, doctrines or history. It may be the least thorough work on Lutheranism ever written. At best, it references things you are supposed to know from elsewhere but even that rarely. Stream of consciousness, he’ll cover exorcism, then switch to church songs and end the page on politics without drawing any connections or making any points. Except the greatness of the Lutheran church. On Lutheran songs, for example, he says that they’re so great they’re enough to convert whole cities. Of course, he doesn’t mention any examples. You’re supposed to be dazzled at the effect of Lutheran hymns just because Krauth tells you to be impressed. The whole book strikes me as more intended to kill the mind of its reader than to enrich it. Krauth’s mindless, repetitive self-aggrandisement is may be equaled in some cults but is surpassed by none.

[Connor Longaphie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thick boy. Over all, if you're looking for a lot of history and a lot of polemic theology this is your thing. One gripe I had with it was that I found it to be unorganized or at the least, I did not understand at all the organizational method Krauth was using. Another gripe I have is that it's not so much about Lutheran theology but seemingly is half history and half about baptism and the Lords Supper contra Rome and Geneva. I could be wrong, as I said I found the organization confusing

[Jared Mindel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best work on the Eucharist I've ever read, it's phenomenal. Handles modern objections brilliantly, goes extensively into grammar, etc. Also has good stuff on baptism, but the real highlight is the thorough discussion of the Eucharist. That alone deserves 5 stars.

[Filip Rygus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charles Krauth masterfully examines the origins and his contemporary reality of the Evangelical Catholic tradition. He walks the reader through the Reformation and the Point of separation with the Zwinglio-Calvinistic tradition and the differences between the two.

[Wilhelm Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the Lutheran world and fascinating in its explanation of the German background/context and theological genesis and history to the American assumed readers. This I find most helpful even for students in Africa to come to grips with the reformational phenomenon as we go towards yet another anniversary of this joyful event, when the light of the gospel was again put on a lampstand and made to shine far and wide in the world. Krauth has a clear, logical and orthodox approach and the fact that he goes from the historical introduction to the systematic discourse and intensive dogmatic dialogue between the Lutheran Book of Concord - especially the CA, the Small Catechism and the Smalcald Articles and their respective apologies in the Apology of the CA, the Large Catechism of the Small one and the FC as the correct commentary and explication of the CA - and its distractors and public opponents. I commend this book and would like to prescribe it as set-book for senior students or even post-graduate candidates in the advanced course. With it's 800+ pages it stretches the reading capacity reserved for a quarter/semester quite substantially, but Krauth's narrative style compensates for huge volume. The writing is not as densely compromised, concentrated and complicated as one might expect of a Dogmatics or Theological composition. That's why I use the term "Introduction" despite its many pages. The line of thought goes from the Reformation to the Lutheran Church to its confessional principle before it elaborates and illustrates the main parts of the Lutheran Confession in Sin, Person of Christ, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The dependance on the Augsburg Confession is obvious.

[E.]

I keep trying to read this, then giving up. This time I thought switching from my musty old doorstop-grade hard copy to digital would help, but no go. I have read a lot of old books and dense prose in my life, but this has got to be the most ridiculously overwritten book I've ever seen. The tone of hagiographical gushing almost approaches self-parody, even accounting for the literary conventions of the day. And some of the actual claims, in the limited part I read, help me understand why Lutheranism (my own church) has got a bad reputation in some circles for cultural provincialism and over-glorifying one man; for example, how can anyone seriously claim that Luther's translation of the Bible had greater historical impact than Jerome's? Oh, and speaking of Latin Christianity, I got sick of the pejorative "Romish," Krauth's consistent choice, real quick.

It's a pity because I'm sure there's a lot of great information hidden amid all the overstated rigmarole. I was kind of hoping he'd get down to brass tacks after the initial overview, but a skim of later chapters reveals the same maddeningly florid and hyper-involved sentence structure throughout, even if not quite the same triumphalist bombast on every point. There's always a chance I'll come back to something, but I'm pretty sure I will leave this one to true scholars of the field.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The introduction and preface to this book are great! And then the book begins.... Don't get me wrong, the content is superb, but the typography is horrible. They simply reprinted the old book, they didn't bother scanning it, OCR-bridging it and then using a cleaner typeface, which would make this much more readable. Even so, the content is good. I'm just disappointed in the presentation offered by CPH on this one, when I've come to expect more quality.