The Lutheran History Podcast

Benjamin Phelps
  • 5.0 (27)
  • History
  • Updated Monthly

The Lutheran History Podcast interviews professional and independent historians on their work, covering over 500 years of Lutheranism. We hear new stories, examine old heroes of faith, and dig into the who, how, what, and why of history-making.

  1. 2d ago

    Celebrating 500 Years of Luther's Deutsche Messe with Daniel Baker

    Return to Wittenberg Conference In this episode (TLHP 82), we are joined by Daniel G. Baker to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Luther's "German Mass." We discuss Baker's article, “The False Dichotomy of Formula Missae and Deutsche Messe.” Luther’s two major orders of service are often treated as representing competing liturgical traditions: the Formula Missae preserving the historic Latin Mass and the Deutsche Messe representing a distinctly German alternative. Baker challenges that interpretation, arguing that both are expressions of the same evangelical approach to worship, adapted to different linguistic and cultural settings. We discuss what Luther was actually trying to accomplish with the Deutsche Messe, the importance of the chorale and Luther’s musical theology, and the substantial similarities between the two services. The conversation then explores the way American Lutherans have subsequently understood Luther’s liturgical reforms. Along the way, we explore what this history can teach us about Luther’s understanding of liturgical freedom, continuity with the historic church, and the distinctly evangelical character of Lutheran worship. Meet and Greet Registration Support the show Podcast Meet and Greet October 8 Confessional Languages ScholarshipThe Wauwatosa Diary (book)YouTubeWebsite email: thelutheranhistorypodcast@gmail.comAbout the Host: Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

    Celebrating 500 Years of Luther's Deutsche Messe with Daniel Baker

  2. Sep 4

    "Warning!" The Case of Ludwig Nietmann

    Image: Ludwig Nietmann This episode (TLHP 81) welcomes returning guest, Pastor Justin Dauck, to examine the complex and often overlooked figure of Ludwig Nietmann, a 19th-century Lutheran pastor whose life and ministry intersect with the early development of the Wisconsin Synod. Beginning with Nietmann’s background prior to his arrival in America, the conversation traces his path into the synod and situates his ministerial work within the broader context of immigrant Lutheranism on the American frontier. Dauck offers a concise overview of Nietmann’s pastoral career, highlighting both his activity and the controversies that came to define his legacy. Central to the discussion is the paradox that Nietmann proved to be “a blessing to some, a stumbling block to others.” His ministry bore real fruit in certain contexts, yet was marred by serious personal and pastoral failures that ultimately led to his departure from the Wisconsin Synod. The episode explores how his case not only reflects individual shortcomings but also exposes systemic vulnerabilities in early synodical vetting and recruitment practices during a time of urgent pastoral need. Dauck also reflects on the personal process that led to his thesis and article, offering insight into the questions that shaped his work. The conversation concludes with thoughtful consideration of the personal and ecclesial lessons drawn from Nietmann’s story—particularly regarding pastoral formation, accountability, and the enduring challenge of maintaining both doctrinal fidelity and pastoral integrity. Meet and Greet Registration Support the show Podcast Meet and Greet October 8 Confessional Languages ScholarshipThe Wauwatosa Diary (book)YouTubeWebsite email: thelutheranhistorypodcast@gmail.comAbout the Host: Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

    "Warning!" The Case of Ludwig Nietmann

  3. Aug 29

    Special Update: Podcast IN PERSON Event

    Click here for registration and more information! Support the show Podcast Meet and Greet October 8 Confessional Languages ScholarshipThe Wauwatosa Diary (book)YouTubeWebsite email: thelutheranhistorypodcast@gmail.comAbout the Host: Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

    Special Update: Podcast IN PERSON Event

  4. May 1

    "The Lutheran Hymnal" (TLH) and Americanization in the Synodical Conference with Elisabeth Urtel

    In this episode (TLHP 80), we explore the story behind The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) and the remarkable collaboration that brought it into existence. Drawing on Elisabeth J. Urtel’s recent dissertation, the conversation traces how the Missouri, Wisconsin, Norwegian, and Slovak synods of the Synodical Conference worked together to produce a shared English-language hymnal during a time of profound cultural change. The discussion examines how the shift from German and other immigrant languages to English shaped Lutheran identity in America, the theological and musical principles that guided the hymnal committee, and the challenges of translating and selecting hymns that would faithfully carry the Lutheran confession into a new cultural setting. Along the way, we ask how hymnody forms theology and devotion, how different Lutheran traditions negotiated their distinctive musical heritages, and how the publication of The Lutheran Hymnal helped foster a shared American identity among confessional Lutherans. The episode also reflects on the reception and lasting influence of TLH and what its history reveals about the relationship between tradition, language, and church life.  1941 Recording of a TLH model service (misleadingly described as just "Missouri Synod.") Meet and Greet Registration Support the show Podcast Meet and Greet October 8 Confessional Languages ScholarshipThe Wauwatosa Diary (book)YouTubeWebsite email: thelutheranhistorypodcast@gmail.comAbout the Host: Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

    "The Lutheran Hymnal" (TLH) and Americanization in the Synodical Conference with Elisabeth Urtel

  5. Apr 3

    The Reformation of Suffering with Ronald Rittgers

    In this episode (TLHP 79), we talk with Dr. Ronald Rittgers about his book The Reformation of Suffering: Pastoral Theology and Lay Piety in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany.   Join us for a fascinating discussion of what was retained from the Late-Medieval focus on human suffering in the Reformation, and what was incompatible with the renewed focus on the biblical doctrine of salvation. Finally, we discussed how our current age seeks to distance itself from questions and acknowledgment of suffering and its proper theological framework and pastoral applications.  Meet and Greet Registration Support the show Podcast Meet and Greet October 8 Confessional Languages ScholarshipThe Wauwatosa Diary (book)YouTubeWebsite email: thelutheranhistorypodcast@gmail.comAbout the Host: Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

    The Reformation of Suffering with Ronald Rittgers

  6. Mar 6

    Lutherans and the American Revolution: God on Three Sides with Jonathan Wilson PART II

    Image: Mythic depiction of PETER MUHLENBERG AT WOODSTOCK, VIRGINIA Note: the guest wishes to clarify that he meant a $10 bill, not $100, in reference to Hamilton. In God on Three Sides, Jonathan M. Wilson explores how German Pietist communities experienced and interpreted the American Revolution, a war that forced believers to wrestle with loyalty, violence, and obedience to God in a time of political upheaval. Drawing on sermons, letters, and personal writings, Wilson shows how Pietists on all sides of the conflict—Patriot, Loyalist, and neutral—understood the war through a shared theological vocabulary of providence, suffering, discipline, and faithful endurance. Wilson treats Pietism broadly, using the term to describe a transatlantic devotional culture rather than a narrowly defined movement. In his account, Lutherans, Reformed, Moravians, and related German-speaking Protestants participate in a common pietist world shaped by intense Scripture use, moral seriousness, and the conviction that God was dwelling within them by faith. Rather than resolving the moral tensions of war, God on Three Sides highlights how pietist faith absorbed and interpreted political crisis: some read the conflict as divine chastisement, others as a call to reform, and still others as a trial demanding patient submission. For Lutheran listeners, the book is especially illuminating in showing how traditional Lutheran language of vocation, suffering, and obedience functioned within this broader pietist framework—often without sharp confessional self-consciousness, yet still grounded in inherited theological instincts. God on Three Sides offers a comparative compilation of how early American German Protestants experienced revolution, revealing the temporal costs of war and the complexity of Christian conscience in a divided world. Episode TLHP 78. Meet and Greet Registration Support the show Podcast Meet and Greet October 8 Confessional Languages ScholarshipThe Wauwatosa Diary (book)YouTubeWebsite email: thelutheranhistorypodcast@gmail.comAbout the Host: Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

    Lutherans and the American Revolution: God on Three Sides with Jonathan Wilson PART II

  7. Feb 6

    Lutherans and the American Revolution: God on Three Sides with Jonathan Wilson PART I

    Image: German and British officers with a chaplain in 1777.  In God on Three Sides, Jonathan M. Wilson explores how German Pietist communities experienced and interpreted the American Revolution, a war that forced believers to wrestle with loyalty, violence, and obedience to God in a time of political upheaval. Drawing on sermons, letters, and personal writings, Wilson shows how Pietists on all sides of the conflict—Patriot, Loyalist, and neutral—understood the war through a shared theological vocabulary of providence, suffering, discipline, and faithful endurance. Wilson treats Pietism broadly, using the term to describe a transatlantic devotional culture rather than a narrowly defined movement. In his account, Lutherans, Reformed, Moravians, and related German-speaking Protestants participate in a common pietist world shaped by intense Scripture use, moral seriousness, and the conviction that God was dwelling within them by faith. Rather than resolving the moral tensions of war, God on Three Sides highlights how pietist faith absorbed and interpreted political crisis: some read the conflict as divine chastisement, others as a call to reform, and still others as a trial demanding patient submission. For Lutheran listeners, the book is especially illuminating in showing how traditional Lutheran language of vocation, suffering, and obedience functioned within this broader pietist framework—often without sharp confessional self-consciousness, yet still grounded in inherited theological instincts. God on Three Sides offers a comparative compilation of how early American German Protestants experienced revolution, revealing the temporal costs of war and the complexity of Christian conscience in a divided world. Episode TLHP 77. Meet and Greet Registration Support the show Podcast Meet and Greet October 8 Confessional Languages ScholarshipThe Wauwatosa Diary (book)YouTubeWebsite email: thelutheranhistorypodcast@gmail.comAbout the Host: Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

    Lutherans and the American Revolution: God on Three Sides with Jonathan Wilson PART I

  8. Jan 16

    Lutheranism and American Culture in the Civil War Era with Tim Grundmeier

    In this episode (TLHP 76), we welcome back Dr. Tim Grundmeier from MLC to talk about his newly published book. Lutheranism and American Culture examines the transformation of the nation’s third-largest Protestant denomination over the course of the nineteenth century. In the antebellum era, leading voices within the church believed that the best way to become American was by modifying certain historic doctrines deemed too Catholic and cooperating with Anglo-evangelicals in revivalism and social reform. However, by the mid-1870s, most Lutherans had rejected this view. Though they remained proudly American, most embraced a religious identity characterized by a commitment to their church’s confessions, isolation from other Christians, and a conservative outlook on political and social issues. Grundmeier shows that this transformation did not happen in a vacuum. Throughout the Civil War and early years of Reconstruction, disputes over slavery and politics led to quarrels about theology and church affairs. During the war and immediately after, the Lutheran church in the United States experienced two major schisms, both driven by clashing views on the national conflict. In the postbellum years, Lutherans adopted increasingly conservative positions in theology and politics, mainly in reaction to the perceived “radicalism” of the era. By the final decades of the nineteenth century, Lutherans had established a rigorously conservative and definitively American form of the faith, distinct from their coreligionists in Europe and other Protestants in the United States. Meet and Greet Registration Support the show Podcast Meet and Greet October 8 Confessional Languages ScholarshipThe Wauwatosa Diary (book)YouTubeWebsite email: thelutheranhistorypodcast@gmail.comAbout the Host: Benjamin Phelps is a 2014 graduate from Martin Luther College (BA with a German emphasis) and a graduate from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2018.  Ben has been a regular writer and presenter on various Lutheran history topics.  His 2018 thesis on Wyneken won the John Harrison Ness award and the Abdel Ross Wentz prize. He is also the recipient of several awards and recognitions from the Concordia Historical Institute.  He serves on the board of the Lutheran Historical Conference. Ben is currently a doctoral candidate in historical theology through CSL.

    Lutheranism and American Culture in the Civil War Era with Tim Grundmeier
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About

The Lutheran History Podcast interviews professional and independent historians on their work, covering over 500 years of Lutheranism. We hear new stories, examine old heroes of faith, and dig into the who, how, what, and why of history-making.

Information

  • Creator
    Benjamin Phelps
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    83
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Lutheran History Podcast
  • Show Website
    The Lutheran History Podcast

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