Re-reading Martin Luther’s Doctrine of Word and Spirit in the Context of the Third Wave Charismatic Movement

As we celebrate the 502nd anniversary of a single event in Wittenberg, Germany, we are called beyond the five standard Reformation mottos (five solas), to consider the call for an ongoing reformation (Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda), to keep the church in a constant state of reform. In the 21st century the challenge is to have a relationship between Word and Spirit that promotes a vital spirituality within the frame of theological orthodoxy. The Third Wave charismatic movement that emerged in the 1980s and continues to the present is seen as a refreshing move of the Spirit that breathes new life upon the dead bones of Evangelicalism. Luther’s doctrine of Word and Spirit will help us to assess the latest moves or waves of the Spirit in a means of providing both theological guidance and spiritual vitality.