Johann Gerhard, “Prayer for the Denial of Self” – Meditations on Divine Mercy

A friend shared this prayer from Gerhard on Facebook, and it's beautiful.  It is definitely appropriate given this season of Lent. O JESUS CHRIST, Son of the living God, in Your Word You exclaim: “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). I … Continue reading Johann Gerhard, “Prayer for the Denial of Self” – Meditations on Divine Mercy

The AudioGerhard/t Podcast 2 – Meditationes Sacrae, Meditation 2: “Behold the Suffering Christ!”

Finally, the long-awaited second meditation from Johann Gerhard's Meditationes Sacrae, "Behold the Suffering Christ!" Listen to it using the embedded player, or listen to it here. *"Lobe den Herren" is licensed for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 License for the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.  

Reblog: “Why Karl Barth Should Have Just Read Johann Gerhard” (Just & Sinner)

Given that our featured work for the podcast is Gerhard's Sacred Meditations, I found this piece to be happily timed. Just posted today, and worth the read: "Why Karl Barth Should Have Just Read Johann Gerhard", by Nathan Rinne and Paul Strawn on Just and Sinner. Here's an excerpt: Hermann Rahtmann was a Lutheran pastor who, … Continue reading Reblog: “Why Karl Barth Should Have Just Read Johann Gerhard” (Just & Sinner)

AudioGerhard/t Podcast 1 – Gerhard’s Sacred Meditations I

Here's my first go at a full episode of the AudioGerhard/t Podcast!  You can download Episode 1 here.*  This was recorded today (October 14, 2015) on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary, St. Louis. Read along here! I'm still working on figuring out a way to embed this into the page with a flash-media player--I … Continue reading AudioGerhard/t Podcast 1 – Gerhard’s Sacred Meditations I

Some Background – Johann Gerhard (1582-1637)

Given that the focus of a great deal of this blog will be on Johann Gerhard's Meditationes Sacrae, it would be prudent to introduce the "archtheologian of Lutheranism" with this quick biographical sketch from Lueker, Erwin L., Luther Poellot, Paul Jackson, eds., 2000. The Christian Cyclopedia.  St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House*: (October 17, 1582–August 17, 1637). “Archtheologian … Continue reading Some Background – Johann Gerhard (1582-1637)