Post illa verba textus : Om Martin Luthers predikosamling Kyrkopostillan – och den syn som däri förmedlas på predikan och predikoämbetet.

Sammanfattning: This essay takes on the issue of the theology of Martin Luther in the field of preaching and the preacher as it is found in his Church Postil. Since Luther himself never comprehensively documented his views on this subject in any of his writings, I have in this essay worked my way through the winter part of the Church Postil in order to determine what his views were and tried to sum them up. My choice of material is based in part on the fact that the Church Postil has seen only limited scrutiny by scholars, which in itself makes it interesting, and in part on that the Church Postil was distributed to a large number of preachers in the reformation movement. This spread was made possible by subsidization, so that even the clergymen in the poorest congregations could get a copy of it.    My aim is to by theological analysis of the contents of the postil show what Luther’s views were when it came to exegesis, the role of the preacher, and also what the postil’s role was in the reformation project.    Chapter 2 gives the reader a short historical background of postils, and describes the use of such  collections of sermons before Martin Luther entered the theological stage. In chapters 3 and 4 the winter part of the postil is analyzed from the viewpoint of preaching and preacher. And in chapter 5 I present the results. The results can be sorted in to three main categories; 1) The theology Martin Luther, through the Postill, is shown to advocate concerning preaching and preaching office, 2) Luther’s own view of the position and use of the postil in the reformation campaign. 3) Martin Luther’s method of teaching.  I have shown through this essay that a driving force behind Luther’s reformation campaign was his view of the congregation, what it was, and what he meant it to be. I have in the Church Postil found that Luther held the preaching of the word very high, and this is nothing new, but the reason for his almost sacramental view of the sermon was that in his opinion the sermon is what builds congregation. This was important to him because in his understanding it was in the congregation that the men and women could find help, comforting, guidance, admonition, healing and not least salvation in Christ Jesus. The congregation is what needs building and protecting, and this is done by preaching the gospel. The Church Postil aims to help preachers in their work, but also to undermine the social/religious cosmology of European society, in order to give room for a new world order that allows for the Christian congregation to do Christ’s work.