Agreeing on Justification? Rome, Protestants, and Regensburg

Imagine that leading Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians sit down at a table to discuss justification by faith. And imagine that those Protestants are not nominal liberals but are among the most celebrated, reliable, trustworthy, and representative theologians in history. Now imagine that this assembled group reaches an agreement on justification by faith. In 1541 leading Catholic and Protestant negotiators did in fact agree on a brief statement on justification by faith — Article 5 of the Regensburg Colloquy. Luther, however, described Article 5 as an inconsistent patchwork of contradictory ideas, while Calvin stated that it contained the substance of true doctrine. Both views have been held ever since.

This presentation by Prof. A. N. S. Lane, drawing on his 2019 book with Oxford University Press, argues strongly for Calvin’s assessment. It does so by examining carefully the views expressed at the time by the participants and other interested parties. Article 5 fell from favor because of misrepresentations of its teaching and because what was being sought was not agreement on one point only but agreement across the board, which of course did not happen.

This presentation was originally delivered as part of Series 1 of Greystone's Postgraduate Seminar Series, available at Greystone Connect.