Johann Michael Reu (November 16, 1869 – October 14, 1943) was a

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- American

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

theologian, author and educator. Johann Michael Reu was born at

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, in

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, Germany. He was the youngest of ten children. His father died when Reu was only two years old. Reu studied from 1887 to 1889 at the nearby

Neuendettelsau Neuendettelsau is a local authority in Middle Franconia, Germany. Neuendettelsau is situated 20 miles southwest of Nuremberg and 12 miles east of Ansbach. Since 1947 it has a Lutheran seminary ( ''Augustana Hochschule''). Diakonie Neuendettelsau ...

Mission Institute (''Neuendettelsauer Missionsgesellschaft'') which had been founded by

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in 1841. He was ordained a Lutheran minister at age 20 and emigrated to the United States, where he first served as an assistant pastor in

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. He subsequently became pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in

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. In 1899, he joined the faculty of

Wartburg Theological Seminary Wartburg Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Dubuque, Iowa. It offers three graduate-level degrees (MA, MA Diaconal Ministry, and M.Div.), a Theological Education for Emerging Ministries certificat ...

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, where he taught until his death in 1943. In 1902, Reu became an American citizen. Reu was awarded a Doctorate in Theology from the

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in 1910 and also received an honorary Doctorate of Literature from

Capital University Capital University (Capital, Cap, or CU) is a private university in Bexley, Ohio. Capital was founded as the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio in 1830, and later was associated with that synod's successor, the Ame ...

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, in 1926. He was a prolific author of 66 books, covering nearly all topics in Christian life, as well as more than 3,000 published book reviews. The archives of Wartburg Theological Seminary contain Reu's papers, correspondence, sermons, and writings.Nancy Carroll (archivist)
''Wartburg Theological Seminary Resources''
Wartburg Theological Seminary, April 13, 2015

Selected bibliography

*''Christliche ethik in kurzer skizzierung'' (1914) (translated and published as ''Christian Ethics'' in 1934) *''Thirty-five Years of Luther Research'' (1917) *''How I Tell the Bible Stories to My Sunday School'' (1918) *''Catechetics: or, Theory and practise of religious instruction'' (1918) *''Homiletics: A Manual of the Theory and Practice of Preaching'' (1922) *''The Augsburg Confession: A Collection of Sources with an Historical Introduction'' (1930) *''The Lutheran Symbols in Particular'' (1933) *''What is Scripture and How Can We Be Sure of Its Divine Origin'' (1939) *''An Explanation of Dr. Martin Luther’s Small Catechism'' (1959)

References

External links

*
Reu Memorial Library at Wartburg Theological Seminary
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reu, Johann Michael 1869 births 1943 deaths People from Ansbach (district) American educators 20th-century American Lutheran clergy American Lutheran theologians Bavarian emigrants to the United States German Lutherans Lutheran writers Lutheran sermon writers Clergy from Bavaria 19th-century American Lutheran clergy