By 1517 Staff

12/29/25

17mins

1517's Favorite Books from 2025

Below is a list of our favorite theological books - across all categories - from 2025. A special thanks to our contributors who submitted titles, wrote summaries and full reviews for these books and more throughout the year.

The Scandal and Splendor of the Savior’s Birth

Bradley Gray

12/26/25

The Scandal and Splendor of the Savior’s Birth

Every sinner can trace their salvation back to this moment when the Savior was born in accordance with the Word of God so that all of God’s words would be realized.

What to Preach and Not to Preach at Christmas

Steven Paulson

12/25/25

What to Preach and Not to Preach at Christmas

Christmas is not for remembering, thinking, pondering, trying to make sure you are really celebrating it properly, or for wondering whether you truly have faith.

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Robert Kolb

01/17/23

Our Theology - Luther’s Two Kinds of Righteousness: A Personal Reflection

This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023).

Ryan Couch

01/16/23

I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins

God gives us the power and authority to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to burdened sinners who entrust us with their pain, guilt, and defeat.

John Bombaro

01/13/23

Very Superstitious: A History of the Sign of the Cross

The sign of the cross, according to the earliest centuries of Christians, is “the sign of the Lord,” and every baptized Christian was “marked” with it.

Haroldo Camacho

01/10/23

Another Look at the "Loving" Expert on the Law

The law had to have its way with the expert to bring him around (and back) to Abraham's response.

Scott Keith

01/01/23

One Less Prophet

In Memory of My Friend, James Arne Nestingen

Chad Bird

12/05/22

A Review of Low Anthropology: The Unlikely Key to a Gracious View of Others (and Yourself)

The more awareness we have that we are weak and low and frail and incapable of doing this thing called life, the more perfectly we are positioned to meet the God of grace.

John W. Hoyum

12/02/22

When Politics Predominates

When the church is a political actor, the gospel doesn’t have the final word.

Ryan Couch

11/17/22

Friends in Low Places

You are the friend in low places. It’s only from this place that you are free to look outside yourself for the remedy to the issues that plague you and humanity.

Haroldo Camacho

11/15/22

Your Son Died, You Owe Nothing

We live again, not so that we will now pay our debt, but to proclaim that we live because our debt was paid!

Wade Johnston

11/14/22

A Life Hidden in Christ

You are a child of God. You’re blameless, holy, perfect, and righteous. Don’t feel that way? Too bad. God is greater than your heart.

Wade Johnston

11/09/22

You were and you are

You’re not new because of what you do. You’re new and so you do new things, even in spite of yourself, because of your sinful nature.

Wade Johnston

11/03/22

Virgins in Hell

We don’t start with behavior and work toward Christ. We start with Christ and everything works out from there.

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