Below is the Thinking Fellows Essential Reading List with contributions from each of the Thinking Fellows hosts.
Below is the Thinking Fellows Essential Reading List with contributions from each of the Thinking Fellows hosts: myself, Caleb Keith, Adam Francisco, and Bruce Hillman. The goal of this list is to provide a starting place for those who are interested in learning more about Lutheran theology. We decided to assume Martin Luther’s Small and Large Catechisms, as well as the Augsburg Confession, would also be included on this list. You can listen to our Thinking Fellows episode on this list of books, where each Fellow explains their choices in detail, here.
- Berg, Michael. Vocation: The Setting for Human Flourishing. New Reformation Publications, 2021.
In this book, Michael Berg provides a succinct, well-written, accessible, and Christ-centered study on the Biblical teaching of vocation. As a Lutheran college professor, Berg has a natural talent for making his writing come to life through his wonderful use of illustrations, real-life examples, and analogies to help make his point. Vocation is one of the central teachings from the Lutheran Reformation that changed most people’s perception of how to live a Christian life, and this book is a wonderful addition to any theological library.
- Cary, Phillip. The Meaning of Protestant Theology: Luther, Augustine, and the Gospel That Gives Us Christ. Ada: Baker Academic, 2019.
Perhaps a strange pick as it is not written by a Lutheran or a direct appraisal of Lutheran doctrines. However, Cary does great work at situating Lutheranism within the time of its birth and aftermath of its effects within Protestantism. For Cary, Lutheranism is not quite Catholic or Protestant, having overlap with both while also remaining unique. The book traces the debt and distancing that Lutherans (and Protestants) have to Augustine and stresses the important insight of Luther's that Christ is outside of us, in the Word and sacrament, as a promise in which we can rest and have certainty. Cary writes, "Luther's sacramental conception of the word, by contrast, directs our attention to something we can cling to. Sacraments and preaching are indeed events, taking place at particular times and locations, yet they do not elude our grasp but give us something to cling to, promises we can count on and always return to, so that through them we may take hold of Christ himself (apprehendere Christum), as Luther loves to say."
- Elert, Werner. The Structure of Lutheranism. 1962.
Werner Elert’s (1885-1954) Structure of Lutheranism is the German professor of church history and systematic theology’s most important work. It details what might be described as the essence of Lutheran theology over the centuries, beginning with the law-gospel distinction, and maps out the contour of the Lutheran worldview.
- Giertz, B. The hammer of God. Augsburg Books, 2005.
This Lutheran novel is broken into three stories which take place at different times chronologically. Bo Giertz uses these little vignettes about the struggles of Lutheran pastors and their parishioners to illustrate the importance of Gospe-centered preaching, baptism, and the mutual consolation of the brethren to the life-long faith and the Christian life. These stories are also a helpful insight for pastors and future pastors regarding the importance of learning about the need for humble Gospel Christ-centered care from their parishioners. The Hammer of God is an excellent and salient picture of Lutheran theology as it is lived out in the parish, by pastor and parishioner alike.
- Green, Lowell C. How Melanchthon Helped Luther Discover the Gospel: The Doctrine of Justification in the Reformation. New Reformation Publications, 2021.
People interested in Lutheranism usually know something about the turn toward the doctrine of justification by faith alone. However, to get the full impact, one must dive deeper into the definition of justification adopted by Luther and Lutheranism and what it means that this doctrine needed rediscovery. How Melanchthon Helped Luther Discover the Gospel by Lowell Green fills these needs by introducing audiences to the often-overshadowed Philip Melanchthon. Lowell demonstrates that Melanchthon and Luther had a brilliantly dependent theological relationship that restored the Christian faith through precise reading of the Scripture and bold proclamation of the truth that the human creature is saved by grace alone through faith.
- Kolb, Robert. The Christian Faith: A Lutheran Exposition. 1993.
This book is a basic, lay-level, work on Lutheran dogmatic or doctrinal theology. It is written in intelligent yet accessible English and is very understandable to readers of every reading level. The book describes Lutheran Christian teaching thoroughly, but in a way that is meant to gently teach the reader who is new to the study of theology. As with anything written by Dr. Kolb, the prose is clear and lucid, and Dr. Kolb introduces the reader to his rare knack for explaining complex topics in simple (not simplistic!) terms. This is a must have acquisition for the new student of Lutheran theology.
- Kolb, Robert, and Charles P. Arand. The Genius of Luther's Theology: A Wittenberg Way of Thinking for the Contemporary Church. Ada: Baker Academic, 2008.
What makes the Lutheran approach to theology unique? Robert Kolb and Charles Arand answer this question in two parts. They contend that at the core of the Lutheran distinctive is Biblical anthropology, which sees the human creature as simultaneously a sinner due to their sin nature and saint through justification, and an unyielding confidence that the Word of God is not just descriptive but a constant creative power that does what it says. The Genius of Luther's Theology walks readers through these crucial truths as they were proclaimed and taught by Luther and the cohort of Reformation theologians surrounding Wittenberg. It is a must-read book for those looking to understand what Lutheranism is. Those who read it will find a compelling case for why the "Wittenberg way of thinking" is not simply a list of doctrines but a worldview shift fueled by being a hearer and preacher of God's powerful Word.
- Montgomery, J. W., and G. E. Veith. Where Christ is Present: A theology for All Seasons on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. NRP Books, 2015.
This book is a description of classic Lutheran theology and includes multifaceted arguments for primacy as the clearest expression of biblical Christianity (including an essay from the famous and handsome, Adam S. Francisco).
- Nestingen, James, and Gerhard O. Forde. Free to Be. Augsburg Fortress Publishing, 1993.
Free to Be is a student book meant to be used side by side with Luther’s Small Catechism. Authors Gerhard Forde and Jim Nestingen managed to produce a timeless handbook to guide new Christians through the Christian life. The opening words, “God has made a decision about you,” sets the stage for everything that is to come in the life of the Christian. Free to Be is a must have for every Christian book shelf.
- Paulson, Steven D. Luther for Armchair Theologians. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.
Martin Luther was one of the most influential men in human history. For this reason, it can be challenging to know where to start in learning who Luther was and why his ideas were so powerful and prevalent. Luther for Armchair Theologians, written by 1517 Senior Fellow and Scholar in Residence Steven Paulson, gives readers infinitely approachable access to Luther's drive and struggle to reform the Christian faith. You get a concise picture of who Luther was and a compelling argument for why his ideas remain relevant today.
- Trueman, Carl R. Luther on the Christian Life: Cross and Freedom. Wheaton: Crossway, 2015.
Carl Trueman’s Luther on the Christian Life: Cross and Freedom guides readers through the development of Luther’s theology throughout the reformer’s life (rather than just focusing on the early—and developing—Luther). Trueman is especially good at describing Luther’s understanding of how a life of freedom in the gospel manifests itself in the life of a Christian.
- Various, and Martin Luther. Day by Day with Martin Luther. Concordia Publishing House, 2015.
This is a great primary source book for those who aren't big readers or who are looking for access to Lutheran thought without it being overly heady or filled with theological jargon. Selected from various writings and sermons of Luther, these devotionals will give you not only a sense of the thought and personality of the man, but also of the importance in Lutheran thought regarding Christ and the gospel. Luther is very pastoral here, and these little daily readings are sure to bless readers with grace and peace.
- Veith, Jr. Gene E. God at Work: Your Christian Vocation in All of Life. Wheaton: Crossway, 2011.
God at Work is an exceptional exposition of the doctrine of vocation and is very accessible to the general Christian reader. The book, put simply, is all about Christian service to neighbor, or more specifically the many ways that Christians are called to serve others in their everyday lives. If you would like to understand how to serve God by serving your neighbor, this book will help you do just that.
- Wisløff, Carl F. I Know in Whom I Believe: Studies in Bible Doctrine. 1983.
This small and accessible book is an entryway primer into Lutheran theology. Wisloff was a Norwegian Lutheran theologian with a pastor's heart and that is reflected in this book. I Know in Whom I Believe is easy to read and speaks to the essence of Lutheran doctrines. Here is one quote from the section on grace:
Jesus could heal a sick man by virtue of his divine omniscience. But he could forgive sins only because he was the Lamb of God who bore the sins of the world. To heal a sick one only cost him a word. To forgive sins cost him his life and blood...The Bible teaches us that we are dead in our sins; no blood transfusion, no power impulse will help here. Nothing helps except that God in his compassion pities the person who lies dead in his sins and declares to him the forgiveness of sins for Jesus' sake. And just as the person's lost condition consists in his being under God's wrath because of his sins, so does salvation consist in receiving forgiveness of his sins and thereby coming under God's delight. Grace is this, that God for Jesus' sake forgives our sins.
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