Carter Lindberg (1937–2024)

"Many [Lutheran congregations today] were shocked to learn that, from his earliest days in Wittenberg when he saw the adverse effects of the new market economy on the common people and was overwhelmed by the sheer number of beggars in the streets, Martin Luther had committed a great deal of theological energy and passion to this issue. [He wrote:]
'The poor are defrauded every day, and new burdens and higher prices are imposed. They all misuse the market in their own arbitrary, defiant, arrogant way, as if it were their right and privilege to sell their goods as high as they please without criticism (from The Large Catechism).'
Another surprise followed. It came when lay people who knew something about economic forces came to the realization that, in spite of the vast differences between Luther's time and our own, many of the most basic principles at work--both theological and economic--remain the same.
Because this significant aspect of the Reformer's thought and activity has, in the view of the contributors, been largely neglected in Christian education...we've called this simply The Forgotten Luther: Reclaiming the Social-Economic Dimension of the Reformation." --from the Introduction by Paul Wee and Conrad Braaten.… (mere)