Luther

Over the course of history, many critics have attacked Martin Luther and brought many false claims against him. Defending Luther's Reformation directly addresses those controversial views of Luther, and equips readers to defend the existence of Lutheranism as a confession, dealing with both the successes and failures of the Lutheran Reformation.

Defending Luther's Reformation will prove a valuable resource for Lutheran pastors, teachers, and students as well as those simply interested in history and the Reformation.

Martin Luther's Classic Work, Newly Translated by Robert Kolb

Originally published in 1520, The Freedom of a Christian is one of Martin Luther's most well-known and enduring treatises. In it, the German Reformer examines Christian ethics and how justification by faith alone impacts the liberty of believers. He famously writes, "A Christian is a free lord of everything and subject to no one. A Christian is a willing servant of everything and subject to everyone." Luther also further develops ideas and doctrines that were key to the Reformation, such as the priesthood of all believers and union with Christ.

This addition to the Crossway Short Classics series features a new translation from the original German to English by renowned Reformation scholar Robert Kolb. The Freedom of a Christian reminds modern-day readers that it is ultimately grace that transforms God's people and frees us to love and obey.

This volume includes the texts of Erasmus's 1524 diatribe against Luther, De Libero Arbitrio, and Luther's violent counterattack, De Servo Arbitrio. E. Gordon Rupp and Philip Watson offer commentary on these texts as well.

Long recognized for the quality of its translations, introductions, explanatory notes, and indexes, the Library of Christian Classics provides scholars and students with modern English translations of some of the most significant Christian theological texts in history. Through these works--each written prior to the end of the sixteenth century--contemporary readers are able to engage the ideas that have shaped Christian theology and the church through the centuries.

This book reconsiders the question of Martin Luther's relationship with Rome in all its sixteenth-century manifestations: the early-modern city he visited as a young man, the ancient republic and empire whose language and literature he loved, the Holy Roman Empire of which he was a subject, and the sacred seat of the papacy. It will appeal to scholars as well as lay readers, especially those interested in Rome, the reception of the classics in the Reformation, Luther studies, and early-modern history.

Springer's methodology is primarily literary-critical, and he analyzes a variety of texts--prose and poetry--throughout the book. Some of these speak for themselves, while Springer examines others more closely to tease out their possible meanings. The author also situates relevant texts within their appropriate contexts, as the topics in the book are interdisciplinary.

While many of Luther's references to Rome are negative, especially in his later writings, Springer argues that his attitude to the city in general was more complicated than has often been supposed. If Rome had not once been so dear to Luther, it is unlikely that his later animosity would have been so intense. Springer shows that Luther continued to be deeply fascinated by Rome until the end of his life and contends that what is often thought of as his pure hatred of Rome is better analyzed as a kind of love-hate relationship with the venerable city.

The liturgy is not a style of worship. The liturgy is the substance of justification as it is brought through means.

This book is an introduction to the liturgy and its importance. It takes the liturgy and makes it easy for the layperson to understand that the New Testament church service brings God's presence, in Jesus the Christ to the people of God who have been cleansed from their sins. This is a holy meeting made possible by the blood of Christ that cleanses the believer. This understanding of the church service helps one to understand that the church service is more than a meeting place; it is the manifestation of the New Testament church on earth as Christ calls His bride around Word and Sacraments.

Heaven on Earth will deepen your understanding of the Divine Service and why it remains the Church's chief worship service.

Martin Luther's most comprehensive work on justification by faith, his commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians is translated and edited from the Latin into a lively style, paralleling his spoken lectures. Combined with the passion and faith expressed in these lectures, the biblical foundation for the crucial doctrine of justification is underscored and expressed to a new audience.

The commentary is also a historical document, a recording of a professor in a classroom in 1531 from July to December of that year, which expresses the Reformer's commitment to the good news of Jesus' death in the sinner's place, challenging the reader/hearer to compare St. Paul's theology with what he/she hears in the church today.

This first volume in Martin Brecht's three-volume biography recounts Luther's youth and young adulthood up to the period of the Diet of Worms. Brecht, in a clear, eloquent translation by James Schaaf, discusses Luther's education at the University of Erfurt, his monastic life, his canonical trial in 1519, the Leipzig debate, and his earliest contributions to the beginning of the Reformation. Illustrations enrich the text.

The third volume of Brecht's magnificent biography describes the final fourteen years of Luther's life, beginning with the accession of Elector John Frederick in 1532. The period is often treated briefly because some Reformation developments continued without him, his Catholic opponents paid only partial attention to him, his personality displayed great tensions, and his judgment, errors. Yet the preservation of the churchthose confessing the Reformation gospel being identical, according to Luther, with the truechurchdominated Luther's concerns.

A work of immense and engaging scholarship, gracefully translated by James Schaaf, this volume offers comprehensive and original interpretations of Luther's private life, his congregation and the church in Saxony, his professorial lectures and theological controversies, Bible translation, Luther and the council of Trent, and his later writings about the Jews and Turks. With 34 illustrations.