Luther's Theology - Hardcover

by Hans J. Iwand (Author), Johann Haar (Foreword by), Karl Gerhard Steck (Preface by)

This book highlights the writings of the young (or early) Martin Luther, which separates it from other books on Martin Luther's theology. The book sets Luther in radical, at times almost shocking, contrast with theological and philosophical modernity. Reinforced by hundreds of quotations from Luther, what emerges for readers is a revision of age-old and current ideas of Christian faith, into which they are invited. Thus, Catholicism, medieval and modern; Protestantism (according to Iwand, a stimulus to Nazi ideology); Lutheranism, particularly with its staid doctrine of the "Two Kingdoms"; Liberalism, with its personalism and ethics of intention; Pietism, likewise vulnerable to political mishandling; the "Quest of the Historical Jesus" and Existentialism, nourished by Nietzsche and Freud--all are subject to confrontation, and in all this readers are directly engaged as if by Luther himself. In the transfer from classroom lecture to the edited and published book, nothing is lost of the original encounter of a master interpreter and student of Luther.

Author Biography

Hans Joachim Iwand (1899-1960) was a professor of systematic theology at the Universities of Göttingen and Bonn, Germany. His teachings emphasized God's righteousness over human volition and the certainty of faith through the Scriptures.



Roy A. Harrisville (1922-2023) was Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He translated over twenty books and is listed in the Bultmann Handbuch.



Randi H. Lundell is a freelance translator. Her translations include Hans Joachim Iwand's The Righteousness of Faith according to Luther (Wipf & Stock, 2008).