Heft 8 (2003)
Ricardo W. Rieth:
Lutheran Reformation, Saints and the People’s Religion in Latin America

Summary

Latin American Protestantism created its own identity by, among other things, an intense and systematic anti-Catholicism. Everything that has to do with veneration or highlighting the memory of the Saints was, and in many cases still is, condemned as idolatry. This article asks about the coherence of this position, having in mind the history and the theology of the Lutheran Reformation. It tries to contribute, in this way, to the theological and ecumenical dialogue having to do with a fundamental theme of Latin American spirituality.

About the Author

Ricardo Willy Rieth teaches Church History and History of Christian Theology at the Escola Superior de Teologia/IECLB, São Leopoldo/RS and at the Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA), Canoas/RS, Brazil. After studying Theology (Seminário Concórdia, Porto Alegre/RS, 1981-86) and Sociology (UNISINOS, São Leopoldo/RS, 1984-88) he promoted to Dr. theol. at the Universität Leipzig, Germany, 1988-92. Thesis: „Habsucht“ bei Martin Luther: ökonomisches und theologisches Denken, Tradition und soziale Wirklichkeit im Zeitalter der Reformation (Weimar : Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1996 / Leipzig : EVA, 2000).

Main research fields: history and thinking in the 16th Century European Reformation and in Latin American Christianity, specially in the Protestantism of the 19th and 20th centuries.

E-mail: rwrieth@est.com.br