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.

Many contemporary theologians seek to retrieve the concept of beauty as a way for people to encounter God. This groundbreaking book argues that while Martin Luther's view of beauty has often been ignored or underappreciated, it has much to contribute to that quest. Mark Mattes, one of today's leading Lutheran theologians, analyzes Luther's theological aesthetics and discusses its implications for music, art, and the contemplative life. Mattes shows that for Luther, the cross is the lens through which the beauty of God is refracted into the world.

This book presents the most detailed examination in English to date of Luther's theological breakthrough, together with a wealth of information concerning the theological development of the young Luther in its late medieval context.

A brief biographical overview precedes the six sections of this Handbook, designed to give introductions to Luther's thought, its development, and its historical and continuing impact. Presented with a variety of approaches and methods, each of the forty-seven essays gives a summary of its topic, a review of previous studies on the topic, and suggestions for areas of future research.

This is a comprehensive and systematic survey of Martin Luther's entire thought by an internationally recognized authority in the field of Reformation research. The main theological questions which engaged the Reformer's attention are set forth in clear and simple fashion, along with a host of quotations from this own writings to illumine the presentation. Scholars and laypersons alike will appreciate the more than a thousand instances in which the author allows Luther to speak forcefully and directly for himself.

This volume is a unique interpretation of what Martin Luther contributes to renewed appreciation of Biblical diversity. The Church in the West is struggling. One reason behind this is that the prevailing models for Theology have imposed logical and modern ways of thinking about faith that renders theology academic, and therefore largely irrelevant for daily life. By letting the first Reformer speak for himself in this book, Mark Ellingsen shows how Martin Luther’s theological approach can reform the Church’s theology today. The real Luther-not the one taught by his various systematic interpreters-presents Christian faith in its entirety, with all its rough edges, in such a way as to direct on how and when to employ those dimensions of the Biblical witness most appropriate for the situation in which we find ourselves.

This title offers an introduction for students and lay readers to doing theology in the Lutheran tradition. 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. This 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. Doing Theology introduces the major Christian traditions and their way of theological reflection. These volumes focus on the origins of a particular theological tradition, its foundations, key concepts, eminent thinkers and historical development. The series is aimed readers who want to learn more about their own theological heritage and identity: theology undergraduates, students in ministerial training and church study groups.