Book Shelf
Theology
Lutheran Theology by Steven D. Paulson
Lutheran theology found its source, and so its name in Martin Luther in the 16th century. The theology that emerged identified two essential matters for the relationship between humans and God, the law and the gospel. It made a simple but extremely unusual and controversial claim—that it was not the law that made a person right before God’s final judgment, but the gospel of Christ’s death on the cross for sinners. The book will lay out the implications of having all theology, and so all that can be said of God, humans and creation confessed and delivered in two parts: I, the sinner; and God, the justifier.
Martin Luther’s Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation by Oswald Bayer
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 a” the first of its kind offered a” 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” a theologian for today.
Luther as a Spiritual Advisor (Studies in Christian History & Thought) by Dennis Ngien
Most Luther scholars have focused largely on the polemical side of the reformer with only occasional allusion to his Devotional Writings. The aim of this book is to unfold the pastoral, not the polemical, side of the reformer, drawing on the spiritual insights he offers to people of high and low estate. These writings are devotional and catechectial in shape and intent, yet not devoid of rich theological substance, the fruit of his rigorous reflections. They are the exercises of Luther’s basic calling as a theologian-pastor and are the concrete illustrations of the interface of theology and piety, the former being the abiding presupposition of the latter. Dr Ngien’s work reveals Luther as a true theologian, i.e., theologian of the cross at work in the pastoral context.
The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church by Reggie McNeal
In this provocative book, author, consultant, and church leadership developer Reggie McNeal debunks these and other old assumptions and provides an overall strategy to help church leaders move forward in an entirely different and much more effective way. In The Present Future, McNeal identifies the six most important realities that church leaders must address including: recapturing the spirit of Christianity and replacing “church growth” with a wider vision of kingdom growth; developing disciples instead of church members; fostering the rise of a new apostolic leadership; focusing on spiritual formation rather than church programs; and shift, from prediction and planning to preparation for the challenges in an uncertain world. McNeal contends that by changing the questions church leaders ask themselves about their congregations and their plans, they can frame the core issues and approach the future with new eyes, new purpose, and new ideas.
The Living Word: A Theological Study of Preaching and the Church by Gustaf Wingren
Wingren claims that “in a theologian like Irenaeus there are parts of the Biblical message which are interpreted in greater clarity and power than in any later period of Christian thought.” As such, this book deserves the sympathetic attention of theologians both Catholic and Protestant. To summarize it is nearly impossible in view of the richness and fullness of the discussion. We may say, however, that for Irenaeus God made man for growth, yet man was defeated by that Satan whom God also created. The Son of God served to recapitulate and reverse Adam’s fall and to restore humanity’s lost God-given potentiality for growth. In the Church, through word and sacrament, Christ’s benefits are made available to all. In the final consummation, “when man becomes like God he is in actual fact becoming man.” God and man are not fundamentally in opposition to one another.
The only thing to add about Wingren’s book is that it must be read. There are very few studies of classical Christian theology which come close to it in clarity, completeness, or convincing power.
On Being a Theologian of the Cross by Gerhard O. Forde
While there is increasing interest in the “theology of the cross,” few people have specific knowledge of what makes it different from other kinds of theology. In On Being a Theologian of the Cross, Gerhard O. Forde provides an introduction to this theological perspective through an analysis of Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation of 1518, the classic text of the theology of the cross. The book first clarifies the difference between a theology of glory and a theology of the cross and explains how each perspective shapes the very nature of being a theologian. The main body of the book provides commentary on the Heidelberg Disputation—the only complete analysis of this document currently available. Underlying Forde’s exposition is the contention that one ought not to speak of the theology of the cross merely as another item among a host of theological options; instead, one must pursue what it means to be a theologian of the cross and to look at all things through suffering and the cross.
Mission from the Cross: The Lutheran Theology of Mission by Klaus Detlev Schulz
The Reformation and Lutheran orthodoxy largely focused on the repristination of the Gospel, yet the writings coming out of these periods indicate an undeniable missionary flavor. Mission from the Crossfurther accentuates the fact that the doctrine of justification is the golden thread that holds the mission tapestry neatly together. The author’s African and German roots bring to light many previously unknown German missiologists. The Lutheran Church is a missionary church! – Rev. Dr. David P. Tswaedi – Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa
Luther: Letters of Spiritual Counsel by Martin Luther
Martin Luther is often thought of as a world-shaking figure who defied papacy and empire to introduce a reformation in the teaching, worship, organization, and life of the Church. Sometimes it is forgotten that he was also a pastor and shepherd of souls. Collected in this volume are Luther’s letters of spiritual counsel, which he offered to his contemporaries in the midst of sickness, death, persecution, imprisonment, famine, and political instability. For Luther, spiritual counsel was about establishing, nurturing, and strengthening faith. Freshly translated from the original German and Latin, the letters shed light on the fascinating relationship between his pastoral counsel and his theology.
To Live with Christ by Bo Giertz
To Live With Christ translates a collection of Bo Giertz’s classic devotions for those who want to explore their Christian faith and to connect God’s Word in their daily lives. Each Christ-centered devotion embraces the church-year calendar and includes a Bible reading, meditation, and a prayer. Bo Giertz was a pastor, author, and Swedish confessional Lutheran bishop.
Luther & World Mission by Ingemar Oberg
The Reformer’s are often blamed for not emphasizing ‘Missions.’ Yet, this criticism is often rooted in an ignorance about the Reformer’s culture, which was almost entirely converted. That however did not mean that they didn’t believe
in ‘Missions,’ and in fact they often encouraged missions to lands they new were specifically not culturally Christian. In this book ’Luther and World Mission,’ Luther scholar Ingemar Oberg argues persuasively that missions were of primary concern to Luther and demonstrates his argument by extensive appeal to and exposition on Luther’s writings.
The Righteousness of Faith According to Martin Luther by Hans J. Iwand
Hans Joachim Iwand’s 1941 monograph, ‘The Righteousness of Faith According to Luther,’ is an important contribution to contemporary appreciation of Luther’s theological significance for today. Although Iwand wrote his study three decades after the beginning of the Luther Renaissance, it nevertheless developed some of the central insights of Luther scholarship during that period. Two concepts—in particular, promise and simultaneity—are crucial to an appreciative understanding of Luther’s doctrine of justification. The language of promise presents justification to the believer as a reality that has yet to arrive or is hidden under present reality. And the language of simultaneity attests that humans remain throughout their lives one in the same, sinner and saint. This beautiful translation by Randi H. Lundell makes Iwand’s down-to-earth presentation of the doctrine at the heart of Luther’s theology, at long last, available to English-language readers.
The Preached God: Proclamation in Word and Sacrament by Gerhard O. Forde
The third of Gerhard Forde’s texts published in Lutheran Quarterly Books, “The Preached God” speaks directly to preachers, calling them to deliver the truth of forgiveness, life, and salvation [in Christ alone] to all who listen. It is an inspiring collection of lectures, essays, and sermons centering on the proclamation of the Gospel in word and sacrament. Closely tying preaching to theology and vice versa, this book argues that preaching itself is a sacrament, and is God’s election of the ungodly. This collection provides a window into the way that Forde taught others to do the kind of preaching in which God himself is done to hearers by word and sacrament. If, as Forde claimed, theology is for proclamation, here is a collection of theological thought on preaching that will challenge any to proclaim in faith and conviction.
Literature
Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
Maclean saw the site of the Mann Gulch fire on a visit to Montana, a few weeks after the fire, in August 1949. Years later, he became fascinated by the story, and he visited the site of the fire each summer for several years, in the late 1970′s. He combed the archives of the Forest Service. He checked the records of the Forest Services’ Board of Inquiry. He checked the records of the lawsuits brought by the families of the dead men. He located and interviewed the survivors, and visited the scene of the fire with them. He visited the Forest Services’ fire labs and learned about the behaviour of timber and grass fires on slopes. He wrote the greater part of the book, but he left it unfinished. It was finished and published posthumously by the University of Chicago Press. The material he left behind was a work in progress, with Maclean trying to understand and describe the meaning he found in the facts. As it is, we have the story repeated in different contexts as Maclean writes about the different parts of his personal inquisition. His overall perspective is stated in a memorable passage that this is the story of men “still so young they hadn’t learned to count the odds and sense they might owe the universe a tragedy”.
The Knights of Rhodes by Bo Giertz
1521 has arrived. A new year in a new world with new nations, new continents, new knowledge, and new rulers. Never before had so much power been gathered in such young hands. The tenth Sultan, the twenty-six-year-old Suleiman, ascends to his father’s throne in one of the world’s most powerful empires. The rest of the world hopes that the eastern threat has faded. Rhodes is Christendom’s closest and most defiant outpost against the East. There the Knights of St. John’s Grand Master has died. Strife and treachery await his successor. Some hundred knights have the task to defend the outpost. Their Grand Master’s motto is “Victory or Death.”
The Complete Stories of Flannery O’ Connor
Fans of O. Henry and other short story writers would do well to read the collected stories of Flannery O’Connor. Though the stories are as rural as O. Henry’s are urban, the sense of irony and tragedy remains the same, as does the sense of comedy. O’Connor was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a superbly gifted technical writer. However, what takes O’Connor beyond the works of O. Henry is the theology behind so many of her stories. Raised in the deep South with several religious influences throughout her years, O’Connor struggled relentlessly with questions of faith, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and justification, especially in connection to social and racial prejudice. Readers will be hammered time and time again with O’Connor’s understanding of what it means to be a sinner and what it means to stand under grace, and it is not for the faint of heart. Among the many stories worth mentioning are “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”, “The River”, “The Artificial Nigger”, and “Revelation.” These four stories by themselves would be worth the price of this collection - the rest simply add to the value. Any collection of 20th century fiction is incomplete without something from O’Connor, whose life was tragically cut short just as her work began to be truly appreciated.
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyoder Dostoevsky
The last and greatest of Dostoevsky’s novels, The Brothers Karamazov is a towering masterpiece of literature, philosophy, psychology, and religion. It tells the story of intellectual Ivan, sensual Dmitri, and idealistic Alyosha Karamazov, who collide in the wake of their despicable father’s brutal murder. Into the framework of the story Dostoevsky poured all of his deepest concerns—the origin of evil, the nature of freedom, the craving for meaning and, most importantly, whether God exists. The novel is famous for three chapters that may be ranked among the greatest pages of Western literature. “Rebellion” and “The Grand Inquisitor” present what many have considered the strongest arguments ever formulated against the existence of God, while “The Devil” brilliantly portrays the banality of evil. Ultimately, Dostoevsky believes that Christ-like love prevails. But does he prove it? A rich, moving exploration of the critical questions of human existence, The Brothers Karamazov powerfully challenges all readers to reevaluate the world and their place in it.
History
The Division of Christendom: Christianity in the Sixteenth Century by Hans Hillerbrand
Hans Hillerbrand has contributed productively to interpreting the Reformation. Students have long relied on his edited volumes of original sources, and they continue to consult two reliable encyclopedias of which H. was general editor, one on the Reformation (Oxford, 1996) and the other on Protestantism generally (Routledge, 2004). H. has also offered one-volume accounts, first in brief compass in Men and Ideas in the Sixteenth Century (1969), and then at greater length in Christendom Divided (1971). In The Division of Christendom, he expands the latter volume, giving new emphases and responding selectively to more recent interpretations of the momentous religious developments set in motion by Luther and other reformers.
Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (New Edition, with an Epilogue) by Peter Brown
This classic biography was first published thirty years ago and has since established itself as the standard account of Saint Augustine’s life and teaching. The remarkable discovery recently of a considerable number of letters and sermons by Augustine has thrown fresh light on the first and last decades of his experience as a bishop. These circumstantial texts have led Peter Brown to reconsider some of his judgments on Augustine, both as the author of the Confessions and as the elderly bishop preaching and writing in the last years of Roman rule in north Africa.
