Luther Colloquy – Luther Goes To Seminary: 200 Years of Luther And The Confessions In Gettysburg And Philadelphia
ULS Luther Colloquy 2026
Monday, October 26, 2026
Gettysburg
Luther Goes to Seminary: 200 Years of Luther and the Confessions in Gettysburg and Philadelphia
In the two hundred years of the combined history of the Gettysburg and Philadelphia seminaries, the study of Luther and the Lutheran Confessions has always been at the center of their curricula but approached in differing ways and with differing emphases. Both institutions have had their share of experts in the field; both produced monumental works of scholarship; both prepared generations of students for ministry in Lutheran contexts by lively teaching of Reformation history and theology.
But still there were differences, just as American Lutheranism as a whole has wrestled with what it meant in a changing context to have a theology rooted in Luther’s thought and anchored by confessional writings that have never ceased to have a claim on the church’s teaching. Each of the seminaries staked a claim to an understanding of Luther and his teaching; each generation of professors brought their own emphases and contexts; each generation of students brought their own experiences to bear on what it meant to be “Lutheran” in their own time.
How have the Gettysburg and Philadelphia seminaries (and now ULS) contributed to the preservation and furtherance of Luther’s teaching, familiarity with his writings, and clarity on the church’s commitment to its confessional writings? This year’s Luther Colloquy will offer some provocative views by experts who themselves are part of the seminary’s history.