Worship as Repentance: Lutheran Liturgical Traditions and Catholic Consensus.
Mattes, Mark
Worship as Repentance: Lutheran Liturgical Traditions and Catholic
Consensus. By Walter Sundberg. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012. ISBN:
978-0-8028 6732-2. xvi and 190 pages. Paper. $18.00.
This book is a critique of contemporary services of confession and
forgiveness which offer unconditional absolution. At one time, most
American Lutheranism offered only a conditional absolution--promising
forgiveness to the penitent but also threatening judgment to the
impenitent. Sundberg challenges the contemporary trend. For Sundberg,
current practice is not in harmony with the ancient church or the
Lutheran reformers. Instead, it is an outgrowth of therapeutic
approaches to faith and the assumption that worship is "ritual
participation in the divine." For Sundberg, the core of worship
should be repentance (xiii). Sundberg argues that the legitimate
exercise of the office of the keys is to offer forgiveness only to the
penitent. By doing otherwise, the contemporary church is unable to
oppose the world, especially when it needs to.
Sundberg explains that the ancient church pushed higher moral
standards in opposition to lax Roman moral practices. In contrast, the
medieval church was apt to view the church as a mixture of saints and
sinners. Luther did not advocate a more lax approach toward Christian
behavior. Indeed, he maintained that those admitted to the Lord's
Table should "feel" genuine faith (68) and indicate contrition
(68). The purpose of binding sin is to break human pride and thus enable
people to live by faith (80). Luther instituted the Verhor in which a
penitent was examined by the pastor prior to admittance to the
Lord's Table (85). Occasionally a confessor offered an
unconditional absolution, but that was granted only to those who truly
repented (88). In contrast, Andreas Osiander consistently defended an
unconditional absolution in opposition to Luther's view which
demanded faith of the penitent (93).
All in all, Sundberg's work is challenging and demands
thoughtful reflection. In a church concerned for justice, it would seem
that calls for repentance are necessary.
Mark Mattes
Grand View University
