See more posts like this on Tumblr
#reading #the bondage of the will #martin luther #j.i. packerMore you might like
Finished #reading Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, ed. Timothy F. Lull and William R. Russell.
In a sense, this has taken me over a decade to read: I first bought the second edition of this book in 2004, around the time I became a Lutheran, and had read several sections of it at that time. I then bought the third edition on Kindle 2012 and read a little more of it; then I made it my new year’s resolution last year to finish it; and then, having failed to finish it in 2015, I made a final assault on it in the last few weeks.
The book provides an excellent overview of Luther’s key writings, grouped by topic:
- Luther on Theology (including the 95 Theses and the Heidelberg Disputation, as well his brief guide to prayer, A Practical Way to Pray)
- Luther on Scripture (including his prefaces to Romans, Galatians, and the Old and New Testaments)
- Luther on the Gospel (including the Bondage of the Will)
- Luther on the Sacraments (including the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, as well as his later writings written against the “fanatics” who were denying the sacraments)
- Luther on Reform (including his first Order for Mass, the Small Catechism and the Smalcald Articles)
- Luther on Ethics (including The Freedom of a Christian, and writings on the duties of temporal authorities and their subjects)
- Luther the Man (various excerpts from Luther’s letters, “table talk”, and his notorious and repellent pamphlet – repudiated by all modern Lutherans – “On the Jews and Their Lies”)
The contents are a mixture of excerpts from larger works and complete texts of shorter works. The links in the list above are to my Amazon highlights for each section of the book, for those parts I read on Kindle rather than in print.
If you have any interest in Luther or Lutheran theology at all, this book is essential.
Distinguishing law and gospel is simply a matter of telling, one after the other, two truths: the truth about the human condition (law) and the truth about God in Christ (gospel).
Currently #reading: Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, ed. Timothy F. Lull and William R. Russell.
It’s a new year’s not-resolution-honest-but-it-would-be-nice-if-it-happened to finish this during 2015. Given that I’ve owned the earlier edition of this since around 2003, and this Kindle edition since early 2013, I really have no excuse for not cracking on with it. Anyway, currently at 20%…
Started #reading: Martin Luther’s Christmas Book, ed. Roland H. Bainton.
Started #reading Martin Luther’s Theology: A Contemporary Interpretation, by Oswald Bayer.
The translator, Thomas H. Trapp, promises much of the book in his Translator’s Preface:
I pray that the book will bring great benefit to all who read it and evaluate their own fiercely held ideas, in light of the gospel. The book will help the reader to know which ideas are to be held just as tightly as before and which are to be abandoned as deficient.
Why start reading this now? Partly because its being Refreshment Sunday today reminded me that I’d planned to focus on books by/about Luther during Lent; and that my attention has wandered a little in the past week or two. Roger Penrose is thus on hold for now…