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.

Given a life spent in scholarship and controversy, it is easy to forget how much energy Martin Luther devoted to helping the common person understand and take comfort from God's word. This commitment extended to even the most challenging of biblical texts, and nowhere is this more apparent than Luther's work on the lament Psalms. Difficult to understand, and perhaps even more difficult to implement in life and devotion, the lament Psalms played a key role in Luther's thought. More importantly, the lament Psalms were for Luther an essential part of the Christian's understanding of the life of faith.

In this volume, Dennis Ngien helps contemporary readers engage Luther's commentary on the lament Psalms. What Luther intended for the education and encouragement of everyday Christians, Ngien unpacks and illuminates for life in the twenty-first century.

Introduced and commended by Robert Kolb, the volume will be appreciated by teacher and student alike.

This volume traces Katharina Von Bora's background, birth, childhood and early adult years, and her marriage to Martin Luther. Also documents Katy's last years, revealing the faith and legacy of a woman who held steadfast to Christ in great adversity and need and who also advocated evangelical reforms.

For nearly thirty years, James M. Kittelsons Luther the Reformer has been the standard biography of Martin Luther. Like Roland Baintons biography of the generation before, Kittelsons volume is the one known by thousands of students, pastors, and interested readers as the biography that gave them the details of this dramatic man and his history.

The accolades were well deserved. Fair, insightful, and detailed without being overwhelming, Kittelson was able to negotiate a middle way between the many directions of historical research and present a more complete chronological picture of Luther than many had yet portrayed.

For this revised edition, Hans H. Wiersma has made an outstanding text even better. The research is updated, and the text is revised throughout, with images, bibliographies, and timelines to enhance the experience.

Its a great volume, greatly improved.

Luther was fundamentally a preacher-pastor, ""a care-taker of souls,"" whose ingenuity lies in his usage of the biblical message as a source of pastoral encouragement. This book seeks to capture the often-overlooked pastoral side of the Reformer through an examination of his sermons on John's gospel. The sermons on John show the intrinsic, close, and causal link between doctrine and consolation. They are an exercise of his vocation as a pastor, or more precisely, as a theologian of the cross who seeks to inculcate the good news of justification by faith in his people, leading them to experience it within the dialectic of law and gospel. St. John, said Luther, ""is the master in the article of justification."" Luther's theological method, namely, his theology of the cross, permeates and governs the exposition of the text, and all major themes of his theology-- Christology, Trinity, and soteriology--appear in his exegesis of John. ""With a sure ear for the nuances of Luther's engagement with the text of his favorite gospel and for the questions of our own time, Ngien again renders the Reformer's interpretation of Scripture understandable and relevant for modern readers. His special combination of keen-sighted theological analysis of Luther's faith and a sensitive meditative application of his insights gained from the evangelist John's depiction and confession of Christ permits both the evangelist and the Reformer to speak directly to twenty-first-century faith and life."" --Robert Kolb, Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis ""John was Martin Luther's favorite gospel because he believed that it provided a clear pathway into the very heart of God. Dennis Ngien has given us here a major study of Luther's sermons on this great New Testament text. The whole scope of Luther's theology is evident in these sermons and they bear close study and reflection."" --Timothy George, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University ""What could possibly be of greater import for the Christian believer than to contemplate the salvific grace extended to us at Calvary? As a grateful recipient of this grace and as a lover of Martin Luther, Dr. Ngien has taken the time to meditate, marinate, and mediate Luther's theology of the cross to us with the greatest care. And as a true 'insider' in the world of Lutheran studies, he has done a masterful job."" --Granville McKenzie, Senior Pastor, Faith Sanctuary, Toronto Dennis Ngien is Professor of Systematic Theology at Tyndale University College & Seminary, Toronto, and Research Professor at Wycliffe College, University of Toronto.

Written by one of the world's greatest authorities on Martin Luther, this is the definitive biography of the central figure of the Protestant Reformation.
"A brilliant account of Luther's evolution as a man, a thinker, and a Christian ... Every person interested in Christianity should put this on his or her reading list."--Lawrence Cunningham, Commonweal
"This is the biography of Luther for our time by the world's foremost authority."--Steven Ozment, Harvard University
"If the world is to gain from Luther it must turn to the real Luther--furious, violent, foul-mouthed, passionately concerned. Him it will find in Oberman's book, a labour of love."--G. R. Elton, Journal of Ecclesiastical History

In the United States of America, where Baptist theology is the default for Christianity, Martin Luther's teaching on Baptism stands out. His views of Baptism, which assert that baptism imparts and guarantees salvation, even in infants, seem radical in today's context. But this perspective places all the work of salvation in Christ, not in humans.

- Gathers a number of resources in one book
- Only resource of its kind in the English language
- Offers helpful information for adult or confirmation classes

This collection contains thirty excerpts from Martin Luther's Christmas sermons. In his unique and powerful voice, Luther portrays the human reality of God's birth on earth - Mary's distress at giving birth with no midwife or water, Joseph's misgivings, the Wise Men's perplexity, Herod's cunning. And throughout these sermon-meditations, Martin Luther reminds us that keeping Christmas is a year-round mission of caring for those in need. Nine illustrations by Luther's contemporaries - including four by noted engraver Albrecht Durer - capture timeless scenes from the Christmas story. And two of Luther's beautiful Christmas carols are included on the final pages of the book.

Forty years of in-depth research on Martin Luther's theology has left Oswald Bayer uniquely qualified to present this comprehensive study. He does so with clarity and care, simply enough for nontheologians to access. This remarkable book offers the basics of Luther's understanding of theology, discussing his response to the philosophy of science tradition, the formula by which he studied theology, and the basic philosophy that informed him. Bayer then takes Luther's stance on Christian dogmatics and ethics and applies it to our own theological understanding in the modern age. With such a complete Lutheran dogmatic concept -- the first of its kind offered -- the stunning inner consistency of Luther's theology and its ease of application to contemporary studies become unmistakably clear. Martin Luther's Theology is a valuable tool for students and teachers of theology and for those looking for a guide into the mind and heart of Luther -- a theologian for today.