Martin Luther is often remembered for his doctrine of justification, yet his Christology remains comparatively underexplored. In this substantial contribution, one of today's leading Lutheran theologians demonstrates how Luther's understanding of Christ stands within, and creatively reforms, the Great Tradition.Engaging themes such as Christ and the law, the hypostatic union, redemption, union with Christ, and the life of faith, Mark C. Mattes shows that, for Luther, the gospel is ...

Many contemporary theologians seek to retrieve the concept of beauty as a way for people to encounter God. This groundbreaking book argues that while Martin Luther's view of beauty has often been ignored or underappreciated, it has much to contribute to that quest. Mark Mattes, one of today's leading Lutheran theologians, analyzes Luther's theological aesthetics and discusses its implications for music, art, and the contemplative life. Mattes shows that for Luther, the cross is the lens th...

Ditching the Checklist was written to help Evangelicals and other Christians who, due to grounding the assurance of their salvation in evidences of their new birth instead of Christ alone, struggle over whether or not they are saved. Evangelical leader J. D. Greear describes anxiety over whether or not one is saved as a major problem among Evangelicals. With ample testimony from Scripture and appealing to the thinking of Luther, this booklet addresses this anxiety head on. Mark Mattes argu...

Mark Mattes’ hope is not only to secure believers’ consciences in Christ but also to reclaim theological and social turf which mainline Protestants have too quickly ceded to various secular agendas. The collected essays engage the reality of believers’ death and resurrection in Christ, and how that bears upon the life of faith while also attending to a wide range of relevant theological topics such as scriptural authority, apologetics, a critique of contemporary mainline Protestant and Eva...

In this significant book Mark C. Mattes critically evaluates the role of justification in the theologies of five leading Protestant thinkersEberhard Jungel, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jurgen Moltmann, Robert W. Jenson, and Oswald Bayer -- pointing out their respective strengths and weaknesses and showing how each matches up with Luther's own views. Offering both an excellent review of recent trends in Christian theology and a powerful analysis of these trends, Mattes points readers to the variou...

The Preached God speaks directly to preachers, calling them to deliver the truths of forgiveness, life, and salvation through both word and sacrament to all who listen.

This booklet introduces readers to the Augsburg Confession, one of the most important charters of Christian liberty. From the time of its appearance in the sixteenth century to this day, the Augsburg Confession connects back to the first Christians and shows how the Bible can be read and Christian life can be lived today. You will see how the gospel enlivens all aspects of the life of faith and the mission of the church.

This booklet introduces readers to the Augsburg Confession, one of the most important charters of Christian liberty. From the time of its appearance in the sixteenth century to this day, the Augsburg Confession connects back to the first Christians and shows how the Bible can be read and Christian life can be lived today. You will see how the gospel enlivens all aspects of the life of faith and the mission of the church.

In the five hundred years since the publication of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses, a rich set of traditions have grown up around that action and the subsequent events of the Reformation. This up-to-date dictionary by leading theologians and church historians covers Luther's life and thought, key figures of his time, and the various traditions he continues to influence.Prominent scholars of the history of Lutheran traditions have brought together experts in church history...

This book, written for college and seminary age students, is the distillation of reflection on the life and career of Jesus of Nazareth for over three decades. Such reflection needs no legitimizing since preoccupation with Jesus of Nazareth continues in one form or another till the present day. The arrangement of the pieces and fragments which make up the "mosaic" in part pursue the usual chronological order as appears in most editions of the Bible. But the interpretation of events within ...

No twentieth-century American understood Luther's law-gospel distinction better than Gerhard O. Forde, who was professor of theology at Luther Theological Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Because Forde kept this Lutheran distinction razor sharp, his theological writings are an essential inheritance for us today. This volume, The Essential Forde, aims to provide the essence of Forde's writing centered upon Luther's and Scripture's essential distinction, that is, the distinction between la...

Gerhard O. Forde has stood at the forefront of Lutheran thought for most of his career. This new collection of essays and sermonsmany previously unpublished makes Forde's powerful theological vision more widely available.The book aptly captures Forde's deep Lutheran commitment. Here he argues that the most important task of theology is to serve the proclamation of the gospel as discerned on the basis of the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone. For Forde, th...