Elert's most important and influential work was also produced in this period: his two-volume, 1000-page study of "the structure of Lutheranism."Cf. Green, 235; Becker, 106. The first volume presents a historical trajectory of key Lutheran teachings, the central one of which is the proper distinction between law and gospel. Elert called this central theme the "evangelischer Ansatz," the "gospel point of departure" or the "gospel entry point."Becker, 106. He also called it "the confessional constant," which he found to be "effective" through all the historical changes of Lutheranism, a constant "that is operative beyond individual connections and, as a dominant force, either determines or helps determine the outcome."Elert, The Structure of Lutheranism, 1.5. As he traced this historical dynamic, he judged that the "evangelischer Ansatz" had been strongest in Luther's theology, was properly developed in the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, was partly strengthened and partly weakened in the writings of Philip Melanchthon, was partly renewed and partly distorted in Formula of Concord, and was significantly distorted in the periods of Lutheran Orthodoxy, Pietism, and Rationalism.Becker, 107. The second volume follows the same historical trajectory from the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century, but this time Elert focuses on the social teachings and social consequences of Lutheranism.
