Lutheran Books To Treasure

One of my email friends has commented on the book list I prepared once. He kept a copy and bought books on the list. This is my current list, from the most valuable to read to those worthwhile to own.

Luther leads the list but I am not keen on Luther's Works. The set seems to be like the Christmas fruitcake, always moving around the country but never consumed. I have about 10 volumes, but they are not my favorites to read or to recommend.

Luther's Sermons (8 volumes, now in 4 volumes) is my favorite of all. Luther often wrote about the Preaching Office. His best work is preaching. These volumes should be read over and over. Another 3 volume set is available. I own those but I read the old set most of all.

Another favorite Luther volume is the Large Catechism, once published on its own by Augsburg Press, long before they discovered the Lavender Network. Luther wrote the Large Catechism as a supplement for pastors and other religious leaders. The additional material is very valuable. For instance, he points out that it is not slander to identify false doctrine (contrary to the WELS and Missouri Church Growth leaders). He also points out it is not slander to discuss the public sins of gross offenders, like pastors who murder their wives or district presidents who go to state prison for criminal behavior against children.

Luther's Commentary on Galatians is massive in size but easy to comprehend. John Bunyan read the Bible more than this volume. Everything else was read less than this one. That should be reason enough to read it.

The Magnificat commentary is small but beautifully written. Often neglected and overlooked is the 1 and 2 Peter Commentary. Most of the books listed above are published by the Reformed in Grand Rapids. That should make Lutherans blush, but it does not.

ELCA struck gold with Day by Day We Magnify Thee, daily selections from Luther. It is a long-time best seller for them.

I like Luther's lectures on John, but I have not read them all.

People should start with Luther. He is the best of all the theologians. I am very weary of those who want to dance around points from Walther and Pieper. No one has actually sworn to Walther's or Pieper's works. The ruled norm of the Book of Concord and the Book of Concord is far superior to both authors. Besides, Walther and Pieper were so wrong about the "Easter Absolution," a doctrine imported from Pietism, that they doomed the Synodical Conference to ever-sillier bouts of doctrinal apostasy. The two cancers from Walther and Pieper are Universal Objective Justification and Church Growth. Those two cancers grow on each other and with each other. No one who reads the Book of Concord seriously is bewitched by either one of those aberrations.

What Luther Says is an ideal gift for any pastor, teacher, lay leader, relative, friend. My set is marked, stained, thumbed, beaten up, and entered into Megatron, my 3,000+ quotation database.

The best classical theologian is Augustine. His City of God is an encyclopedia of theology. No one has read all of it, I am sure. Still, the volume is worth reading in part, at the least to appreciate the foundation of all Western theology. Luther and all the other Reformers were necessarily Augustine experts.

Luther should be read, along with the Book of Concord, on a regular basis. If you do not have time to read many authors, read Luther's sermons over and over. They have more than enough for a lifetime but they will spoil any reader for the drivel of today. Pastors - if you do not study, you deserve to be driven out of town and pelted with dog manure. That is not just my opinion. It is your confession, from the Book of Concord. If you do not know that, you deserve to be driven out tonight or early tomorrow.

After the First Martin - Luther - we should read the Second Martin - Chemnitz. There is a reason I named my little operation Martin Chemnitz Press. I wanted people to learn the name of the greatest theologian after Luther. Fortunately Jack Preus got the translation business going, along with Fred Kramer, and we now have plenty of Chemnitz to enjoy.

Chemnitz combined Luther's brilliance and humor with Melanchthon's irenic nature, uniting the best of both men. Chemnitz also had the advantage of dealing with the issues cropping up afterwards.

I would start with any Chemnitz work. I love The Examination of the Council of Trent, but I imagine the size and price of the four volume set can be daunting for people. I began with his Two Natures of Christ, a wonderful study of the Patristic Fathers and their discussion of all the Christology issues. Jack Preus signed my copy of Two Natures. I later learned certain wits applied the title to Jack, The Two Natures of Jack Preus. I admire him for what he did for theology, including his biography of Chemnitz, well worth reading.

People addicted to Pieper should get the two volumes of Hoenecke available from Northwestern Publishing House. (I wonder when they will get rid of Northwestern and call their publishing operation Forward in Christ Spirit-Drenched Books.) Hoenecke is very concise in his arguments. His plain answers to doctrinal issues are problably the reason WELS is taking forever to publish the translation.

Krauth's Conservative Reformation is a good read and good to keep, especially since his doctrinal issues in the 19th century are the same as ours in the 21st: unionism, contempt for the confessions, Reformed doctrine permeating Lutheran congregations.

Walther is right we should should read a few books often, not every theological book in the world. If I could be Carrie A. Nation among the seminarians, I would take an axe to their Calvin's Commentaries and Handfuls on Purpose. I would build a fire with their books from Fuller grads like Valleskey, Werning, and Hunter. The ideal seminarian library could be contained easily between their outstretched hands.

A good translation matters, too. I prefer the King James Version. Those who are allergic to Elizabethan language can get by with a newer version of the KJV. Missouri and WELS should have backed the New KJV rather than the NIV, but you will notice that any Reformed version of the Bible will try to eliminate the Sacraments through their use of language. The New KJV and the other modern KJV Bibles are produced for the Baptists, and even the Babtists. They do not like "baptism now saves" and "communion with the Body of Christ."

I am not sure how valuable Lenski would be for most laymen, but his commentaries are the only ones I would buy again. Lenski is stil in print. Some of his writing is too technical if someone does not know Greek. He also likes to play around with the readings in the manuscripts. But overall Lenski is quite good, knows all the issues back to Creation, and writes well. I use Lenski every week.