Justified ex nihilo: retrieving creation for theological anthropology with Luther and Bonhoeffer

This article seeks to articulate a framework for theological anthropology that takes seriously the doctrine of creation, while also remaining christologically grounded and soteriologically informed. Toward this end, I will look briefly at how Martin Luther understands the relationship between justification, anthropology and creation, before turning to the way in which Dietrich Bonhoeffer picks up on Luther’s tripartite, justification‐based definition of the human being. In doing so, Bonhoeffer will help to clarify the essential role that creation plays in grounding and orienting a theological anthropology which seeks to take seriously the soteriological realities of sin and reconciliation.