Wilhelm Loehe's Doctrine of the Office of Ministry in Historical and Contemporary Perspective

Abstract

Wilhelm Loehe’s teaching on the nature of the office of ministry has been influential in Lutheran church bodies all over the world, even though it has been surrounded by controversy because of what many thought were his “Romanizing tendencies.” This paper examines Loehe’s views from a historical and contemporary perspective and proposes that they have, to a significant degree, been misunderstood, that they are not essentially out of step with other Lutherans of his own time, and that they, in fact, contribute to a deeper rather than a “higher” view of the pastoral office.