The Annotated Luther, Volume 4


Book Description

Volume 4 of The Annotated Luther series presents an array of Luther’s writings related to pastoral work. Luther’s famous Invocavit Sermons and other selected sermons show a forthright and lively preacher. Hymn texts reveal Luther’s grasp of hymnody as a tool for conveying and expressing faith. His Small Catechism as well as several pieces on prayer, including his Personal Prayer Book and A Simple Way to Pray, show his engagement in the basic task of teaching the faith. Luther’s prefaces to his own writings contain personal reflections on his reforming work. Also in this volume are his commentary on The Magnificat, selected letters, and shorter pieces that display his pastoral responses to particular situations: Sermon on Preparing to Die, Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague, and Comfort for Women Who Have Had a Miscarriage. Each volume in The Annotated Luther series contains new introductions, annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luther’s context and interpret his writings for today. The translations of Luther’s writings include updates of Luther’s Works, American Edition or entirely new translations of Luther’s German or Latin writings.




The Annotated Luther, Volume 5


Book Description

This volume (volume 5) features Luther's writings that intesect church and state, faith and life lived as a follower of Christ. His insights regarding marriage, trade, public education, war and are articulated. His theological and biblical insights also colored the way he spoke of the "Jews" and Turks, as well his admonition to the German peasants in their uprisings against the established powers.




The Annotated Luther, Volume 4


Book Description

Volume 4 of The Annotated Luther series presents an array of Martin Luthers writings related to pastoral work, including sermons, hymns, letters, writings on prayer and the Christian life, as well as his widely used Small Catechism. Prefaces to his own writings contain his reflections on his own reforming work. Each volume in The Annotated Luther series contains new introductions, annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luthers context and interpret his writings for today.




The Annotated Luther, Volume 1


Book Description

Volume 1 of The Annotated Luther series contains writings that defined the roots of reform set in motion by Martin Luther, beginning with the Ninety-Five Theses (1517) through The Freedom of a Christian (1520). Included are treatises, letters, and sermons written from 1517 to 1520, which set the framework for key themes in all of Luthers later works. Also included are documents that reveal Luthers earliest confrontations with Rome and his defense of views and perspectives that led to his excommunication by Leo X in 1520. These documents display a Luther grounded in late medieval theology and its peculiar issues, trained in the latest humanist methods of the Renaissance, and, most especially, showing sensitivity toward the pastoral consequences of theological positions and church practice.




The Annotated Luther, Volume 6


Book Description

This volume features Martin Luther the exegete and Bible teacher. His vast exegetical writings and lectures on Scripture are introduced through important examples from both the Old and New Testaments. Included in the volume is his brief treatise "On Translating" and his prefaces to both the Old and New Testaments, to key sections of Scripture (Psalter, Prophets), and to select books such as Genesis, Isaiah, Daniel, Romans, and Galatians. The content is rounded out by examples from his lectures and sermons on specific texts, including such examples as Genesis 1:26-2:3; Psalms 51 and 118; Isaiah 53; John 1:14; Romans 3:20-27; and 1 Corinthians 15:16-23, 51-57. Each volume in The Annotated Luther series contains new introductions, annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luther‘s context and interpret his writings for today. The translations of Luther‘s writings include updates of Luther‘s Works (American edition) or entirely new translations of Luther‘s German or Latin writings.




The Large Catechism


Book Description

In the Large Catechism Luther set out to inculcate the centrality of the Gospel. Whether Luther is dealing with the Ten Commandments or the Lord's Supper, the dynamic of the Word of God as Gospel provides the cutting edge for what he says. The Large Catechism is a primary source for an understanding of the Christian ethos in action in Reformation Christianity.




A Simple Way to Pray


Book Description

When asked by his barber and good friend, Peter Beskendorf, for some practical guidance on how to prepare oneself for prayer, Luther responded by writing this brief treatise, first published in the spring of 1535. After 500 years, his instruction continues to offer words of spiritual nurture for us today.




The Freedom of a Christian 1520


Book Description

The volumes in the Annotated Luther study edition series have first been published in one of the comprehensive volumes of The Annotated Luther series. To facilitate classroom and group use, we have pulled key treatises along with their introductions, annotations and images directly from the Annothated Luther Series volumes. ...the study edition page numbers match the page numbers of the larger Annotated Luther volume in which it first appeared.




The Small Catechism,1529


Book Description

Timothy J. Wengert provides detailed background into the development of Luther's popular Small Catechism, which began with Luther's early sermon series on the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed. Luther wrote his catechism because many requested he do so but also as a response to his 1528 visitation of parishes in Saxony and Meissen, where he discovered an abysmal level of Christian instruction. Luther's Small Catechism explains the basics of Christian faith in a way resonant with his understanding of justification by faith, which also implied, for Luther, the proper distinction between law and gospel. This is applied to his explanations of the parts of the Catechism. Wengert's translation also includes Luther's own preface to the 1531 edition, the Sacrament of Baptism, Sacrament of the Altar, instructions to the head of the household, Household Chart of Bible Passages, Marriage Booklet for Pastors, and Baptismal Booklet. This volume is excerpted from The Annotated Luther series, volume 4 (Pastoral Writings). Each volume and selection in the series contains new introductions, extensive annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luther's context and to interpret his writings for today.




The Annotated Luther, Volume 2


Book Description

This volume contains a number of the writings categorized under the theme word and faith. Writings in the volume range from core documents Bondage of the Will, Against the Heavenly Prophets, The Smalcald Articles, and Large Catechism to Luther’s own Confession of Faith and treatments of Moses, the Gospels, and Two Kinds of Righteousness. Each volume in The Annotated Luther series contains new introductions, annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luther’s context and interpret his writings for today.