Scholarly Reflections
Senn, Frank C. "Chapter Nine: Word and Sacrament in Luther's Reformation." Christian Liturgy: Catholic and Evangelical. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997, 299-322.
Senn sees the newfound centrality of Scripture reading and preaching as the heart of Luther's liturgical reforms (Senn 1997, 299). The recent developments in printing technology had already sparked an interest in study based on reading. The literary interest was present especially in the areas north of the Alps, where the Reformation occurred (Senn 1997, 300). Affordable printing led to greater uniformity of liturgy as the printing of church orders made forms easily distributed.
At the same time, Senn considers that ritual became less important and "textual piety" became more prominent (Senn 1997, 301). The visual and musical elements of worship likewise declined in prominence. While Luther's revisions to the liturgy were conservative in nature, other Reformers took a more radical approach, such as Zwingli, who replaced the canon of the Mass with four prayers and a number of biblical passages (Senn 1997, 302-303).
Luther considered the Word of God as more than a text, also being a self-communication of God, and to serve as an event in the preaching (Senn 1997, 303). Preaching was an essential element to every congregational gathering in Luther's mind. In the Wittenberg University culture, Hebrew, Greek and Latin studies were expected of all preachers, who would also study Classics and history (Senn 1997, 306). This led to sound biblical exegesis.
As to the Sacrament of the Altar, Senn finds that Luther was more satisfied with the Roman view of transubstantiation than any other view. He specifically did not use the word "consubstantiation" and also rejected the Zwinglian view that made the elements representations only (Senn 1997, 307). Luther's view was that Christ is present, according to His promise, for His people, in the consecrated bread and wine (Senn 1997, 308). The eating and drinking, as well as the entire doctrine, came from the Lord's command, not from our reason. Augsburg Confession Article 10 regarding the Lord's Supper was not subject to attack in the Roman Confutation (Senn 1997, 310). The sacrament was understood as being created by God's word. The dispute between the Lutherans and the more radical part of the Reformation was focused on whether the body and blood could potentially be separated from the bread and wine, such as in a view of their spiritual presence (Senn 1997, 312). This remained a conflict through the 16th century.
Luther's view of the priesthood of all believers has often been seen as contradictory to his concept of a priesthood called to preach and administer the sacraments (Senn 1997, 317). In fact, he took any Christian man to be potentially a priest but that only those formally appointed to the task are to preach and administer the sacraments. The need for oversight of pastors gradually became more evident, resulting in a greater role of bishops in the life of the church (Senn 1997, 319). The person ordained for word and sacrament ministry is thus both called by the congregation and sent by the bishop and the larger church. Congregation and church body together oversee the ministry (Senn 1997, 320).