Dr. Mārtiņš Luters, luteriskās Baznīcas un misija

The author evaluates Dr. Luther’s attitude towards the mission. The reformer was long believed to be wary or even negative towards it. This position seems to have been confirmed by the historical fact that Lutherans, compared to Catholics, began their mission work relatively late. However, in 1991, the Swedish missiologist Ingemar Öberg (1930–2005) published a study “Luther and World Mission”, in which he overturned this misconception. In Luther’s Bible exegesis and writings there is a clear desire to take the Gospel to the world. According to Öberg, the Reformer “emerges as a mission-minded servant of the Gospel, who laid the foundations for a Lutheran theology of mission”.