Reforming the Art of Dying

This study focuses on the earliest of Protestant handbooks that addressed the subject of death and dying. Beginning with Luther's Sermon on Preparing to Die in 1519 and ending with Jakob Otter's Christlich leben vnd sterben in 1528, it explores how Luther and his colleagues adopted traditional themes and motifs, transforming them to accord with their conviction that Christians could be certain of their salvation. It further shows how Luther's colleagues drew on his writings, not only his teaching on dying, but also other writings including his sermons on the sacraments. The study concludes that the assurance of salvation that these works offered represented a significant change from traditional teaching on death.