Auf der Website der Gospel Coalition ist ein Artikel erschienen, in dem Matthias Lohmann und Ryan Hoselton die Frage stellen, ob die Reformation für Luthers Heimat noch Relevanz hat. Leider müssen sie feststellen, dass die Staatskirchen das reformatorische Erbe entweder hinter sich gelassen, oder aber revidiert haben: „While the Roman Catholic church still officially rejects Scripture alone, European Protestant church leaders and university theology faculty now place the authority of human reason, the claims of higher criticism, and individual conscience over Scripture.” Allerdings sieht es in den evangelikalen Gemeinden nicht unbedingt besser aus:
Even the bulk of Europe’s evangelicals and free churches (i.e., those without ties to the state) see little use for the theology of the Reformation. The Reformers’ quest for biblical and spiritual depth has been substituted for deep anti-intellectualism and shallow experientialism. Ministers have largely traded the Reformers’ emphasis on the Christ-centered preaching of the Word for theater performances and moralistic guidelines, and the Protestant doctrine of the priesthood of all believers has warped into therapeutic individualism.
In diesem Zusammenhang stellen die beiden auch die Arbeit und Vision von Evangelium21 vor:
Evangelium 21 (E21), a network of believers in German-speaking Europe committed to renewing the health and vitality of its churches, wishes to offer a different way to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Many of us share the enthusiasm to rediscover the Reformation’s political and cultural significance, and we recognize that the Protestant Reformers were men and women with clay feet like ourselves. Martin Luther’s anti-Semitism and Ulrich Zwingli’s persecution of Anabaptists, among other things, remind us not to look back on the era with a naïve nostalgia for a lost golden age. Nonetheless, we believe the Reformers reclaimed vital biblical truths just as relevant and pressing today as they were 500 years ago.
Vom 27. bis zum 29. April findet in Hamburg die siebte E21-Konferenz statt, die gemeinsam mit Together for the Gospel (T4G) gestaltet wird. Im Zentrum der Konferenz stehen die biblischen Wahrheiten der Reformation und deren Bedeutung für die Gegenwart. Hier besteht (noch) die Möglichkeit, sich zur Konferenz anzumelden.