The Annotated Luther (2 vols.)

The advent of The Annotated Luther series should be cause for celebration among scholars, pastors, students, and others eager to have easy access to so many of Martin Luther’s key writings. If the appealing layout, rich images, and erudite editorials featured in volume 1 are an indication of what’s to come, then The Annotated Luther will quickly become the go-to resource for learning about Luther’s work and context.

—Hans Wiersma, Augsburg College

Wengert and his colleagues have produced a valuable text for classroom use and personal study. This is an excellent start to what promises to be a fine series.

—Kathryn A. Kleinhans, Wartburg College

As congregations and members of congregations face an increasingly more diverse and chaotic world, their struggle for what it means to be Christian in their context increases, not unlike Christians in Luther’s day. I am thrilled that Fortress Press is publishing The Annotated Luther, Volume I: The Roots of Reform. The individual works included in this volume are central to the particular witness Lutherans can share for a life of faith in the world and how it can be a witness of hope in the midst of pluralism and change. The essays and study tools, included alongside the original texts, bring these works to life for us today. I encourage you to include this series in your congregation’s library and use it for group or personal study.

—Gordon J. Straw, program director for Lay Schools for Ministry, Congregational and Synodical Mission Unit, ELCA

Professor Stjerna and her team of world-leading Reformation scholars have done us all a great service in fixing their eyes for detail and context onto these important writings of Luther. Those new to the Reformation saga and even those familiar with its events and debates will learn very much from these pages. By keeping readers honest to context when approaching Luther’s theology, they invite church and academy to remain honest about their own missions, failings, and need for reform. A splendid, and eminently useful, achievement.

—Derek R. Nelson, Wabash College

“This outstanding presentation of the core of Luther’s theology offers eight of his seminal works written over two decades, including those regarded by author as worthy of preserving for posterity. Magisterial introductions by internationally renowned theologians, editorial comments, artworks, prints, and proficient annotations bring forth the distinctiveness of the theology of the Wittenberg Reformer. Careful commentary of the translations adds to the uniqueness of the volume while all-embracing language highlights propriety. With this work, Luther studies have been aided with a consummate edition of the intellectual production of a supreme theological mind.”

—Vitor Westhelle, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

“Luther’s writings as contained in this fine collection are as helpful to read today as when he first wrote them to such a profound historical effect. They continue to be fertile for further theological reflection and biblical insight. Introductions and many marginal notes also explain items for better understanding–including those which criticize Luther, making this volume useful for instruction in church and classroom settings.”

—Peter Krey, pastor, Christ Lutheran Church, El Cerrito, California