Engaging Truth

Jesus made water into wine. God used Johannes Gutenberg to transform wine-making technology into thousands of Bibles. The primary topic of this interview is the history of Gutenberg’s moveable type printing press and its effects on the Reformation and society in general. This interview also features Dr. Cameron MacKenzie reflecting on the role of modern technology in the work of the church today (e.g., the technology being used to present the listener with MacKenzie's interview). A tertiary topic found in MacKenzie's comments involves the collaboration of science, engineering, entrepreneurship, and scholarship in such a way that the most popular example of the printed work of Martin Luther is in fact the German Bible. Charles Porterfield Krauth wrote in The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology, “The invention of printing, and hardly less, the invention of paper made from rags...prepared the way for the diffusion of the Scriptures” (page 8). Dr. MacKenzie is the Forest E. and Francis H. Ellis Chair in German Reformation Studies at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is a published expert on the history of the Bible. Rev. Dr. Douglas Krengel hosts.