Les manières de dire et d’accomplir les identités confessionnelles dans l’Europe chrétienne de la première modernité investissent, à la fin du XVIe siècle, un genre icono-littéraire particulier : le recueil imprimé de portraits et de vies d’hommes illustres. Ce genre humaniste à la mode n’est pas seulement adopté et adapté par les auteurs protestants (comme Bèze, Reusner, Agricola ou Boissard) pour célébrer les vertus et éterniser la mémoire des premiers grands héros de la foi rénovée. Les recueils protestants d’Illustres inventent aussi une culture spécifique du souvenir, qui se veut détachée de l’hagiographie chrétienne traditionnelle et déconnectée du culte des saints comme du culte des images. Panthéons virtuels, musées de papier et temples de la mémoire, ces collections représentent et performent la fabrique de l’identité protestante à l’ère confessionnelle. En outre, la forme même de la collection, c’est-à-dire de la configuration et co-présentation visuelle des différents acteurs de la Réformation, qu’il s’agisse de Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Bucer ou des autres « instruments de Dieu » ayant œuvré à la restauration de la «vraie doctrine», permet de proposer une représentation de l’unité protestante qui ne sacrifie en rien à la diversité des identités confessionnelles intra-protestante. / By the end of the 16th century, ways of uttering and conveying confessional identities in early modern Europe take hold of a specific genre : the collections of portraits and Lives of illustrious men. Based on both visual and literary rhetoric, these collections used by humanist authors to glorify the heroes of the past are also adopted by Protestants to celebrate the virtues and acts of the first great Reformers. Protestant collections commemorating the achievement of Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and other « instruments of God », invent a specific culture of remembering, which clearly intends to withdraw from the traditional Christian hagiography as well as the cult of images and saints. In fact, these printed temples of memory reflect and embody the very fabric of Protestant identity. Moreover, the form of the collection, that is to say the configuration and visual arrangement of distinct Protestant figures, enable to suggest a representation of Protestant Unity, that at the same time loses nothing of its confessional diversity.

En amont du 500e anniversaire de la Réforme en 2017, la question des représentations et des usages auxquels a donné lieu la figure de Martin Luther a bénéficié d’un regain d’intérêt. En témoigne l’attention portée depuis une quinzaine d’années à un domaine jusque-là peu étudié par la recherche, à savoir la présence de Martin Luther au cinéma et à la télévision. À la suite notamment des travaux d’Esther P. Wipfler, le présent travail, centré sur les productions fictionnelles et partiellement fictionnelles de langue allemande, entreprend une étude des représentations filmiques de Luther et de l’écho dont elles bénéficièrent. Un corpus de 14 films réalisés entre 1911 et 2008 donne lieu à une réflexion en trois temps. Un aperçu synthétique des discours sur Luther qui circulèrent en Allemagne des débuts de la Réforme jusqu’à l’avènement du cinéma sera l’occasion d’évoquer la constitution de Martin Luther en figure mythique et les différents investissements dont ce mythe fit l’objet. Un deuxième volet est consacré aux quatre films muets qui virent le jour entre 1911 et 1927, marqués non seulement de l’empreinte de la tradition qui les précéda mais aussi par une évolution dans laquelle se reflète la situation du protestantisme allemand et son rapport au cinéma. L’étude s’achève par une analyse des émissions télévisées consacrées au Réformateur depuis la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, caractérisée par un retour progressif à la représentation d’une figure fondatrice positive après un début marqué de part et d’autre de la frontière allemande par une prise de distance à l’égard du mythe. / Ahead of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, the representation and use of Martin Luther has sparked renewed interest. This is reflected in the attention that has recently been paid to a field which, up to the last fifteen years, had not been studied very much by researchers, namely Martin Luther’s onscreen presence, both in the cinema and on television. In the wake of Esther P. Wipfler’s research, this thesis focuses on fictional and partly fictional German-speaking productions to study the film representations of Luther and their impact. A corpus of 14 films made between 1911 and 2008 will lead to a three-fold analysis: first, a synthetic overview of how Luther was seen and discussed in Germany from the beginnings of the Reformation until the birth of cinema will shed light on the making of Martin Luther into a mythical figure and on the manifold meanings with which this myth was invested. The second part of this work will be dedicated to the four silent movies directed between 1911 and 1927: while upholding established traditions, they also revealed the evolution of the situation of German Protestantism and its relationship with cinema. This thesis will close with an analysis of the television shows centred on the Reformer since the end of World War II. After initially distancing themselves from the myth on both sides of the German border, these shows marked a progressive return to the representation of a positive founding figure.

Die Studie enthält eine Untersuchung der Naturphilosophie Melanchthons. Sie rekonstruiert die Entwicklung seiner wissenschaftlichen Interpretation des naturphilosophischen Wissens und weist nach, daß die lebenslange Beschäftigung Melanchthons mit naturphilosophischen Problemen ihre Motivation aus Luthers Theologie bezog, wenngleich diese nach einer philosophischen Unterstützung nicht verlangte.

Issued also as thesis, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen. / Bibliography: p. 388-394.

Thesis (doctoral)--Bochum, Universiẗat, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-209).

Augustine has had a large influence on the development of western theology, and nowhere is this more obvious that in Martin Luther's understanding of God, humankind and grace. Yet at the same time there are also significant differences in the two churchmen's thought. Sometimes these differences are subtle, such as their views of the state; other times they are not so subtle, such as their positions on free will or their praise of philosophy and its usefulness in sounding the depth of Christianity. In order to best explain these varying views, one must look at Augustine's and Luther's diverging opinions of man's nature where one will see that the dissimilarities are best understood in light of Luther's pessimistic view of humanity.

No comprehensive study of Luther's attitude towards monasticism is available in English. Most of the English works on Luther devote only a few pages or part of a chapter to this aspect of his life. Two reasons account for the cursory treatment. First, concern with the great themes of Luther's theology has led (Protestants at least) to concentrate on the theological aspects of his critique monasticism as a denial of the free grace of God, and as involving a mistaken view of perfection. Pelikan has commented: "Valid though this concentration on the theological aspects of Luther's polemic against monasticism is, it may obscure the bearing of that polemic upon the structures of the church." Moreover, a concern for theology 'pure and simple': (if such is possible) has led to a tendency to arrive at Luther's view of monasticism by a process of deduction from his great theme of justification by grace through faith alone, so that many of the niceties of his position, and especially the gentleness of his approach, have been obscured. Second, the cursory treatment is possible because there is a real sense in which the arguments Luther adduced in his major work on monasticism - though comprehensive and systematic - were by no means original. Yet, The Judgement of Martin Luther on Monastic Vows was the most decisive critique of monasticism ever presented. Summary, p. 2-3.

This is a thesis centering around the importance of humility in Martin Luther's Lectures on Romans, written in 1515-1516. Included are a word study of humility and its derivatives in Luther's original Latin text, an exposition of each usage, and a thematic exegesis of Luther's theology of humility in his Lectures on Romans.

Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft – stehen 2017 ganz im Zeichen von Martin Luther und seinen Weggefährten. Auf den folgenden Seiten geben wir Ihnen einen kleinen Überblick über ein paar vergangene, gegenwärtig laufende und bald startende Veranstaltungen an unseren sächsischen Bibliotheken.

This thesis endeavors to reveal that Martin Luther's dogmatic adherence to one absolute interpretation of the Word of God restricted man's freedom, both religious and personal. His intolerant and authoritarian attitude toward individualistic groups, called into existence by his polemics stressing Christian freedom, is broadly discussed. Luther's theology denied man responsibility for his salvation, either through works, the exercise of divine reason, or through living a lifestyle in the imitation of Christ, leaving man with the inability to accept responsibility for his actions. The authoritarian religions that developed after Luther brought confusion and indifference regarding the nature of religion, leaving modern man in search of alternate authorities in which to place his faith and assume responsibility for his actions, thereby limiting his independence and freedom.