The Annotated Luther Volume 1

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.

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.

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.

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.

Timothy J. Wengert skillfully provides a clear understanding of the historical context from which the treatise The Freedom of a Christian and his accompanying Letter to Pope Leo X arose. As controversy concerning his writings grew, Luther was instructed to write a reconciliation-minded letter to Pope Leo X (14751521). To this letter he appended a nonpolemical tract describing the heart of his beliefs, The Freedom of a Christian. Luthers Latin version added an introduction and a lengthy appendix not found in the German edition. The two editions arose out of the different audiences for them: the one addressed to theologians, clerics, and church leaders (for whom Latin was the common language), and one addressed to the German-speaking public, which included the nobility, townsfolk, many from the lesser clergy, and others who could read (or have Luthers writings read to them). This volume is excerpted from The Annotated Luther series, Volume 1. Each volume in the series contains new introductions, annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luthers context and to interpret his writings for today. The translations of Luthers writings include updates of Luthers Works, American Edition, or new translations of Luthers German or Latin writings.

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.

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.

"Living by faith" is much more than a general Christian precept; it is the fundamental posture of believers in a world rife with suffering and injustice. In this penetrating reflection on the meaning of "justification," Oswald Bayer shows how this key religious term provides a comprehensive horizon for discussing every aspect of Christian theology, from creation to the end times. Inspired by and interacting with Martin Luther, the great Christian thinker who grappled most intensely with the concept of justification, Bayer explores anew the full range of traditional dogmatics (sin, redemption, eschatology, and others), placing otherwise complex theological terms squarely within their proper milieu -- everyday life. In the course of his discussion, Bayer touches on such deep questions as the hidden nature of God, the hope for universal justice, the problem of evil, and -- one of the book's most engaging motifs -- Job's daring lawsuit with God.