Lotar's Lutheran Library

[Lotar]

Here's a place recommend books, and talk about what you're reading :)


Lotar's recommended reading list, in no particular order:
What Luther Says: A Practical In-Home Anthology for the Active Christian
- It's a great big book stuffed full of Luther's thoughts on just about anything imaginable. I can't recommend this enough.

The Confessions by Saint Augustine
- Good book, and inspiring story. Though he does get quite boring when he starts philosophizing.

Commentary on Romans by Martin Luther
- One of my all time favorite books. I thought books on Theology were boring until I read this gem. The first non-fiction book ever to cause me to stay up passed midnight reading.

Loci Communes by Philip Melanchthon
- Great book. It was the first Protestant Theological text book ever written.

First Leter of Clement to the Corinthians
- Good letter by a early second century martyr.



Lotar's "if you have some time on your hands" reading list:
Faith Alone by R. C. Sproul
-One of the few contemporary books I own. It's a decent read, though the middle third really drags. Sproul is a Calvinist, and this work is no exception, but a good portion of it is applicable.

Second Leter of Clement to the Corinthians by an unknown author
- A misnamed homily, that is neither by Clement nor a letter. Might be interesting to read, but it's theology is bad at best and heretical at worst. It even goes so far as to quote the Gnostic Gospel of Thomis.

Letters of Ignatius
- Another early second century martyr. All you really need to do is read one, as they are repetitive for the most part.

Didache by an unknown author
-"The Teaching of the 12 Apostles" It is an interesting late 1st century/early 2nd century manuscript, probably an instruction manual for catechumens, and nearly made it's way into the NT canon.

[Orthodox Andrew]

Is outrage!

Are you trying to say you don't own Martin Luther has a Snazzy Hat by Andreas?:cry:

[Lotar]

What I am currently reading:
Examination of the Council of Trent by Martin Chemnitz
-I am nearly through the first of the four volume set. Chemnitz, known as the second Martin, is a genious, and he is entertaining to read. He goes through and proves Lutheran doctrine point by point, using both Scripture and Tradition, showing the continuity of our catholic faith from the time of the Church Fathers to the present.

Letter of Polycarp to the Phillipians


Stuff I own and will read shortly:
The Martyrdom of Polycarp by Marcion

Epistle of Barnabas

Fragments of Papias and Quadratus

Epistle to Diognetus by an unkown author

Sheperd of Hermas

Bondage of Will by Martin Luther

City of God by Saint Augustine

[Lotar]

Is outrage!

Are you trying to say you don't own Martin Luther has a Snazzy Hat by Andreas?:cry:
Darn, I don't have that one. How about you send me an autographed copy? ;)

[Orthodox Andrew]

Darn, I don't have that one. How about you send me an autographed copy? ;)
*SIGH* Another starry eyed fan.:rolleyes:

Well, I'll send you one copy autographed, but don't come around asking for another one for your "uncle" or your "best friend".



;) :D

[Rechtgläubig]

LOL Andreas!!!! ^_^

My favorite (and most worn) book is Koehler's "A Summary of Christian Doctrine".

http://www.nph.net/images/products/152827.gif (http://www.nph.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?process&procID=10418&productID=152827#)

Highly recomended!

[ByzantineDixie]

When I first saw this thread I thought I had nothing to contribute because I have not read many Lutheran books...then Recht's post reminded me of the various texts I have from my studies. So here are a few of my picks and pans.

Rounding out the Doctrine book reviews....

This one is my personal favorite:

Christian Dogmatics, John Mueller

This is the one on my "wish list"

Christian Dogmatics, 4 Volume Set, Francis Pieper

And this is one that I recommend folks stay away from, especially if they are new to Lutheran doctrine...

The Christian Faith, Robert Kolb

Here's a little book I think is only available from the Fort Wayne Sem...we used it for my Hermeneutics class...but it is dedicated to the study of the 20 Lutheran priniciples for biblical hermenuetics, the various parts of speech and the various forms.

Biblical Hermenuetics, Walter A. Maier, III

Rose

[Rechtgläubig]

Number 1 on my wish list is the "Wauwatosa Theology" Triology.

:D

[Phoebe]

Well, I'll send you one copy autographed, but don't come around asking for another one for your "uncle" or your "best friend".


As if Lotar has any friends... :rolleyes:


LOL :D

I need to get back to reading Mere Christianity by CS Lewis so that I can write a book report and turn it in to Flipper. (she gave me the book) ;)

[LuxPerpetua]

As for historical reading, I'd also suggest the following:

The Consolation of Philosophy (by Boethius)--a 5th century staple of Christian thought that wrestles with the question of why God allows evil things to happen to good people

On Loving God (by Bernard of Clairvaux)--a 12th century work by one of the greatest Cistercian theologians ever born

I know these aren't Lutheran per se, but I think they are both very insightful reads and can easily be found at any good library. I'm also a nerdy medieval historian so maybe that's why I like these ;)

[Lotar]

Buuuuuuuuuuuump

Hey, what happened to Lux?

[helmikaarina]

I don't know the name of an English version - I suppose there is one - but "Heute mit Luther beten" (= Praying with Luther) is one of the best prayerbooks I've used (in Finnish).
So I warmly recommend it, as praying in general also.

[filosofer]

And this is one that I recommend folks stay away from, especially if they are new to Lutheran doctrine...

The Christian Faith, Robert Kolb


Curious as to your reasons for this statement.

[filosofer]

Depending on the depth of your reading:

Follow Me: Disicpleship According to Matthew Martin Franzmann (about 40 years old, but still lively and fresh)

Post Modern Times Gene Veith

Here We Stand Herman Sasse

This Is My Body Herman Sasse, covering the 1529 dispute between Luther and Zwingli on the Lord's Supper.

Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study, 3rd ed. Frederick Danker

A New Look at the Lutheran Confessions (1529-1537) Holsten Fagerberg

Theology of the Lutheran Confessions Edmund Schlink


-------------
These are not Lutheran but worthy of reading:


Against the Protestant Gnostics Philip Lee

From Triumphalism to Maturity D. A Carson (study of 2 Cor. 10-13)

Orthodoxy and Heresy Robert Bowman

Exegetical Fallacies D. A. Carson

Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of St. John and the praying Imagination Eugene Peterson

Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus David Pao

[ByzantineDixie]

Curious as to your reasons for this statement.This was the text used in my doctrine class. To be honest...I didn't have much knowledge of Lutheran Doctrine before I enrolled in the class but I spoke to the professor beforehand and he thought it shouldn't be a problem.(Ya, I had been a member of the Lutheran church for 13 years but was never really taught any doctrine at all! :sigh: )

Well, the book was an easy read in that the language was not complex (for example, I find Franzmann's high level academic writing style a little heavy to read) but for the uninitiated like myself, I found that the Lutheran position was not always easily identified nor was it always easy to understand the Lutheran position where it could be identifed! (And there were a few folks in my class who also commented it was difficult to identify the Lutheran position and they were all lifelong Lutherans.)

If you have a copy try reading Kolb's explanation of Lutheran theologians "Communication of Attributes" regarding Christ; genus idiomaticum, genus majestaticum, and genus apotelesmaticum, for the first time. It is IMPOSSIBLE to differentiate between the latter two in Kolb's explanation.

What finally saved me was my Pastor's copy of Mueller...that book laid the Lutheran position and counterpositions out explicitly.

Now that I have a much better understanding of Lutheran Doctrine (ok...maybe y'all might disagree....) I have since reread Kolb and it is more clear. I guess I could see a group of Learned Lutherans reading it and really liking it but they can't view it from the perspective of the uninitiated.

I generally do very well in the classroom. If I could make a living being a student I would be wealthy. So, I don't necessarily think it was an ineptness on my part...I could be wrong though.

Peace

Rose

[JVAC]

The Rise of Christianity by W.H.C. Frend - While you most deffinately do not want to use it for faith, it is an excellent historical refference and very academic.

[Breetai]

Commentary on Romans by Martin LutherWooHoo! That one rocks.

The Didache isn't that long and can be found in full at CARM.org. It is public domain. So are the works of Josephus. You should go through them too.:)

Christian Dogmatics, John Mueller Good stuff there. I have it somewhere at home...


Christian Dogmatics, 4 Volume Set, Francis Pieper

And this is one that I recommend folks stay away from, especially if they are new to Lutheran doctrine... LOL That's for sure, but it's a must if you're researching for a good Lutheran paper!!! Ever Lutheran seminary has got to have this!

The Christian Faith, Robert Kolb Did you mean that new Lutherans should stay away from this? Why, I think it's an awesome book! I think that I've quoted it in more than a handful of essays.:)

If you have a copy try reading Kolb's explanation of Lutheran theologians "Communication of Attributes" regarding Christ; genus idiomaticum, genus majestaticum, and genus apotelesmaticum, for the first time. It is IMPOSSIBLE to differentiate between the latter two in Kolb's explanation. OK, good point. I can only remember learning these in my doctrine of Luther class(not to be mixed up with the Lutheran dotrine class).:)

[Reader Nilus]

Luther:an introduction to his thought by Gerhard Ebeling

Prolegomena: The relation of theology to modern thought forms (His The evangelical faith) by Helmut Thielicke (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Thielicke%2C%20Helmut/104-6655748-3162360)

Evangelical Faith Vol. 2: Doctrine of God & Christ byHelmut Thielicke (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Thielicke%2C%20Helmut/104-6655748-3162360)

The Evangelical Faith: Theology of the Spirit by Helmut Thielicke

Those are some of the titles that when I was a Lutheran were a must read I felt.
Jeff the Finn

[theologia crucis]

I'm reading my pastor's copy of Law and Gospel, by C.F.W. Walther (much better than I thought!).

Another recommended Sasse book is the We Confess Anthology. There's lots of great nuggets in it...

[theologia crucis]

The Oracles of God: The Old Testament Canon by Dr. Andrew Steinmann, by Concordia Academic Press.

It does a very good job of presenting textual and historical evidence that the OT canon was closed over two hundred years before the Incarnation, and that it was regarded as such for the first three centuries AD.

[ByzantineDixie]

(I am trying to write up my audit notes from last week...not near as interesting as this stuff!)

I did a quick review of what was posted thusfar and found a serious void.

Spirituality of the Cross, Gene Edward Veith (should be required reading for all Lutherans)

And I will add from my last course...

Pastoral Care under the Cross, Richard C. Eyer. (excellent for Christian caregivers)

Peace

Rose