Martin Luther

There are few books which written over 400 years ago are still applicable today; Martin Luther's masterpiece, The Bondage of the Will, is one of those books. Anyone desiring to know more about the root of dissent between Luther and the Catholic Church must read this book. In his treatise Luther systematically demolishes Erasmus' arguments in favor of free-will. Luther brilliantly illustrates why the will is in total and complete bondage and enslavement to sin, and why free-will is a completely meaningless term. Luther argues that the only thing the will is free to do is to sin and rebel against God. Luther shows that salvation is totally dependent on the grace of God and His sovereign Will. To say that even a small part of the human will can prepare itself to receive God's grace is an utterly ludricous sentiment. Erasmus believes that a human being by a very small effort can earn God's grace. Luther totally destroys this view and shows that to espouse such a view makes one worse than the Pelagians, who held that it took numerous great works to earn God's grace. This book is as applicable today as it was when Luther first wrote this book. When so many Protestant Churches hold to a soteriological view more akin to that of Erasmus, it is absolutely vital that the truth of the Reformation be brought back into the spotlight. Read this book to gain a greater understanding of the major area of disagreement among the Reformers and the Catholic Church of the time, and also to understand that our salvation is not predicated on any meritorious work that we accomplish, but simply on the grace of God. Some will see this book as nothing more than Martin Luther's combative apologetic against the doctrine of free will and works salvation. But this is precisely why this book ranks among the best ever written because it passionately, logically, and decisively deals with the error concerning free will and the error adding any human merit to salvation. The subject matter according to Luther is "the hinge on which the whole gospel turns". Luther himself said that this was perhaps his greatest work. I found my own logical attempts to resolve to free will controversy pinned to the mat by Luther's irrefutable logic and accurate use of the scriptures. This book should be a standard text in bible schools and seminaries.

English summary: Martin Luther molded not only the theology of the Reformation, he also left his stamp on the German language. Today the powerful, rhetorically intense Early New High German of Luther's original texts is not easy to understand, however. Therefore, not only linguistic peculiarities tend to be forgotten, but the specific style of Luther's theology is lost as well in the necessary adaptations to modern German. This thematically structured three-volume edition intends to remedy this dual deficiency by publishing the Early-New-High-German original texts in easy-to-read Antiqua font side by side with a modern text edition. The first volume contains 17 texts from the years 1518 to 1539, which take a variety of approaches to the central topic of reformational theology, i.e. the relationship of faith, doctrine, and life. The volume contains the sermons on indulgence and penance (1519), On the Liberty of a Christian Man (1520), the explication of the Magnificat (1521), and the Small Catechism (1529). German description: Martin Luther hat nicht nur die reformatorische Theologie, sondern auch die deutsche Sprache gepragt. Allerdings sind die originalen Texte Luthers in ihrer kraftvollen, rhetorisch eindringlichen fruhneuhochdeutschen Sprache heute nur noch schwer zuganglich. Damit fallen nicht nur sprachliche Eigenheiten dem Vergessen anheim, auch der Stil der Theologie Luthers wird in den notwendigen Ubertragungen in moderne Sprache nivelliert. Die mit diesem Band beginnende, auf drei Bande berechnete, thematisch gegliederte Ausgabe will diesem doppelten Mangel abhelfen, indem sie die fruhneuhochdeutschen Originale in lesbarer Antiqua-Schrift neben Textfassungen in gegenwartigem Deutsch stellt. Die Originaltexte folgen den Erstdrucken; Konkordanzen mit der grossen kritischen Weimarer Ausgabe (WA) ermoglichen ein muheloses Auffinden der Texte in dieser Referenzausgabe und stellen sicher, dass anhand der Deutsch-deutschen Studienausgabe die Diskussion in der wissenschaftlichen Literatur verfolgt und fortgefuhrt werden kann. Die Ubertragungen sind von namhaften Gelehrten aus verschiedenen theologischen Disziplinen vorgenommen. Der erste Band enthalt siebzehn Schriften aus den Jahren 1518 - 1539, die das Kernthema der reformatorischen Theologie variieren, namlich das Verhaltnis von Glaube, Lehre und Leben. Dazu zahlen unter anderem die Sermone zu Ablass und Busse (1519), die Schrift "Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen" (1520), die Auslegung des Magnificat (1521) sowie der Kleine Katechismus (1529).

Luthers vesle katekisme presentert av Harald Kaasa Hammer. Aktuelt og relevant for alle som vil øve seg i å leve ansvarlig og radikalt i familie, samfunn og menighet.

Luthers lille katekisme presentert av Harald Kaasa Hammer. Aktuelt og relevant for alle som vil øve seg i å leve ansvarlig og radikalt i familie, samfunn og menighet.