Mark C. Mattes – författare

Many contemporary theologians seek to retrieve the concept of beauty as a way for people to encounter God. This groundbreaking book argues that while Martin Luther''s view of beauty has often been ignored or underappreciated, it has much to contribute to that quest. Mark Mattes, one of today''s leading Lutheran theologians, analyzes Luther''s theological aesthetics and discusses its implications for music, art, and the contemplative life. Mattes shows that for Luther, the cross is the lens through which the beauty of God is refracted into the world.

Many contemporary theologians seek to retrieve the concept of beauty as a way for people to encounter God. This groundbreaking book argues that while Martin Luther's view of beauty has often been ignored or underappreciated, it has much to contribute to that quest. Mark Mattes, one of today's leading Lutheran theologians, analyzes Luther's theological aesthetics and discusses its implications for music, art, and the contemplative life. Mattes shows that for Luther, the cross is the lens through which the beauty of God is refracted into the world.

Ditching the Checklist was written to help Evangelicals and other Christians who, due to grounding the assurance of their salvation in evidences of their new birth instead of Christ alone, struggle over whether or not they are saved. Evangelical leader J. D. Greear describes anxiety over whether or not one is saved as a major problem among Evangelicals. With ample testimony from Scripture and appealing to the thinking of Luther, this booklet addresses this anxiety head on. Mark Mattes argues that faith alone in Christ, and neither a decision for Christ nor altered manners, is both necessary and sufficient for salvation. Many Evangelicals struggle with the assurance of their salvation precisely because teachers like John MacArthur and John Piper add superfluous things on to Christ like moral improvement or pious feelings to secure sinners of their salvation. This booklet challenges such add-ons. Mattes encourages Evangelicals to place their trust in Christ alone, not themselves, and to help Lutherans understand that their cherished beliefs about salvation are grounded in Scripture. This booklet also shows Evangelicals, and Lutherans, unaware of it, that the Lutheran doctrine of baptismal regeneration as well as infant baptism are not holdovers from Roman Catholicism but are scriptural.