Martin Luther and the called life /
Mark D. Tranvik.
- xi, 174 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Part I. Luther's calling. The second baptism is first -- Luther: his road to vocation -- Baptism and the called life -- Part II. The called life. It gets personal -- The call to be a son, spouse, and father -- Called to be a citizen -- Called to Christian community -- Called to work -- Conclusion.
One of the hallmarks of Luther's theology was its concern for daily life. In the midst of debates about justification and salvation, church authority, and the Lord's Supper, he bore a deep concern for daily Christian life. Mark D. Tranvik looks at the importance of vocation in Luther's own life and in doing so discovers renewed insights into this important doctrine. Vocation, the called life, is a way of understanding that all of life is under the care and interest of God. All of our activities as a spouse, parent, child, worker, citizen, and church member are a part of a called life. Tranvik begins the book with a clear exposition of Luther's context, with a focus on how the reformer actually lived out his own calling. He rapidly moves into the contemporary sphere, drawing on twenty years of teaching and interaction with undergraduate students to outline how a renewed understanding of vocation is a powerful and liberating tool for life in the twenty-first century.