A seminary planted with
Reformation seeds

Reformer Martin Luther and his Reformation era colleagues sowed the seeds that gave substance to the founding of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia 150 years ago. “The curricula at LTSP over the past 150 years are based on the Wittenberg (Germany) pedagogical revolution with its focus on the Bible, Systematic Theology, church history and practical theology,” says the Rev. Dr. Timothy Wengert, who taught the Lutheran Confessions and Reformation History at LTSP for 25 years. “When students at LTSP listen to lectures, take exams and graduate, they are standing in a tradition that is 500 years old.” That revolution stood against a certain anti-intellectual tendency of Luther’s time, leading to the conviction that a deep understanding and knowledge of the faith by an informed clergy strengthens the Christian witness to the Gospel. Watch and listen as Professor Wengert discusses the defining history that led to the seminary’s founding.