Principles of Lutheran Theology


Book Description

First published in 1983, Principles of Lutheran Theology has guided students into theological reflection on the landmarks of Christian faith as understood in the Lutheran confessional heritage for a generation. The book sets forth the main principles of classical Lutheran theology but with an eschatological accent. Canon, confession, ecumenicity, Christ-centeredness, sacrament, law/ gospel, and two kingdoms are all examined not only in terms of their original meaning and historical development but also in light of current reflections. In this new edition, Braaten takes stock of the research and reflection of the last twenty-five years and also adds a chapter on the distinctive, Archimedean Lutheran insight into the hiddenness of God as a fount or ground of all theologizing. This new edition, cross-referenced to key readings in Luther's Works and The Book of Concord, will both equip and facilitate the search for a contemporary articulation of Christian identity in light of the church's historic commitments.




Creation-Crisis Preaching


Book Description

How can we proclaim justice for God's Creation in the face of global warming? How does fracking fit with "the earth and its fullness are the Lord's?" Creation-Crisis Preaching works with the premise that all of Creation, including humankind, needs to hear the Good News of Jesus' resurrection in this age in which humanity is "crucifying" Creation. Informed by years of experience as an environmental activist and minister, Leah Schade equips preachers to interpret the Bible through a "green" lens, become rooted in environmental theology, and learn how to understand their preaching context in terms of the particular political, cultural, and biotic setting of their congregation. Creation-Crisis Preaching provides both theoretical grounding and practical tips for preachers to create environmental sermons that are relevant, courageous, creative, pastoral, and inspiring.




Crisis in Lutheran Theology, Vol. 3


Book Description

All Three volumes deal with the issue of biblical inerrancy (that the Bible is completely true and accurate, not only when it speaks to ideas of religious belief, but also when it speaks about factual elements of history and science, properly understood). This issue rocked the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, prompting the release of the first two volumes. Volume one consists of essays by John Warwick Montgomery himself, and is addressed primarily to theologians. Volume two consists of an anthology by eight separate Lutheran contributors and is addressed to laymen as well as professional theologians. Volume 3 contains new, never before published material and consists of essays by Dr. Montgomery outlining a new challenge along the same lines. Dr. Jeffery Kloha suggested a few years ago with the latest critical edition of the New Testament (Nestle-Aland 28th Edition), because of the interchangeability of some variant readings, that we now had a "plastic text". Dr. Montgomery goes up against this assertion with everything he has. Though obviously addressing themselves primarily to Lutheranism, the materials are, to a large degree, equally applicable to many of the other Christian communions and will be found to be extremely valuable in assessing the needs of a variety of denominations.




Crisis in Lutheran Theology


Book Description

All three volumes of Crisis in Lutheran Theology deal with the issue of biblical inerrancy. This issue rocked the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, prompting the release of the first two volumes.




Liberating Lutheran Theology


Book Description

Spanning the continents, three internationally respected theologians demonstrate how the thought and legacy of Martin Luther can serve in an ecumenical and interfaith context as a resource for a radical critique of global economics and culture. Lutheran Christianity originated in its own era of economic and cultural crisis. One of the great misinterpretations of Martin Luther has considered his heritage as fundamentally reactionary, seeking to preserve the political status quo. Instead, set free by the biblical message of liberation, this book wields Luther's theology to engage the reality of poverty, hunger, oppression, and ecological degradation caused by an imperial capitalism as the most urgent theological issues in the contemporary world. The volume demonstrates the liberating possibilities of theology done out of a biblical and Lutheran perspective for the economic and cultural crises facing the church in the present century.




Tough-Minded Christianity


Book Description

Tough Minded Christianity is a collection of essays about the great work of John Warwick Montgomery (1931), a living legend in the field of Christian apologetics who has earned eleven degrees in philosophy, theology, law, and librarianship, debated historic atheists including Madalyn Murray O’Hair, and influenced the work of bestselling authors such as Josh McDowell. Contributors to this volume include J. I. Packer, Ravi Zacharias, John Ankerberg, Erwin Lutzer, Vernon Grounds, Gary Habermas, and among others Paige Patterson who writes in the foreword that John Warwick Montgomery did the “intellectual heavy lifting” that undergirded the conservative renewal of the Southern Baptist Convention.




Liberating Luther


Book Description

Until his untimely death in 2018, Vitor Westhelle's incisive and probing thought on the church, Luther, and theology shaped a generation. As a continuation of that rich legacy, presented here for the first time in English, is a collection of Westhelle's finest Portuguese-language essays. As a dedicated theologian of the cross, he was committed to saying things as they are, and that meant fearlessly cutting to the heart of complex matters. In this collection, Westhelle addresses important issues such as the cross of Jesus and its relation to death today; the difficulty (even impossibility) of human communication; the ecological crisis as a fundamentally religious problem; the ecumenical movement and its complicity with class interests; the church's misuse of mission and power; Lutheranism's misunderstanding of Lutherås law-gospel dialectic; and the role of European theology in making the conquest of the Americas such a disaster.




Crisis In Lutheran Theology, Vol. 2


Book Description

All Three volumes deal with the issue of biblical inerrancy (that the Bible is completely true and accurate, not only when it speaks to ideas of religious belief, but also when it speaks about factual elements of history and science, properly understood). This issue rocked the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, prompting the release of the first two volumes. Volume one consists of essays by John Warwick Montgomery himself, and is addressed primarily to theologians. Volume two consists of an anthology by eight separate Lutheran contributors and is addressed to laymen as well as professional theologians. Volume 3 is new, never before published material and consists of essays by Dr. Montgomery outlining a new challenge along the same lines. Dr. Jeffery Kloha suggested a few years ago with the latest critical edition of the New Testament (Nestle-Aland 28th Edition), because of the interchangeability of some variant readings, that we now had a "plastic text". Dr. Montgomery goes up against this assertion with everything he has. Though obviously addressing themselves primarily to Lutheranism, the materials are, to a large degree, equally applicable to many of the other Christian communions and will be found to be extremely valuable in assessing the needs of a variety of denominations.




Ritualizing Nature


Book Description

* Invites readers to connect worship with ecological stewardship * Assesses and reconfigures Christian attitudes toward nature * Proposes a new understanding of liturgy and Eucharist