These nine extensive lectures explore the nature of the church across history. From the Old Testament to the present day, Luthardt, Kahnis, and Brückner present history as a tool God uses to steer his people and direct the interests of his kingdom.
Karl Friedrich August Kahnis (1814–1888) was a German Neo-Lutheran theologian. He came from a poor background and was educated at Greiz. He then became a private tutor for a few years before studying theology at Halle. In 1860, he became canon of Meissen Cathedral and from 1864 to 1865 he was rector of Leipzig University.
Benno Bruno Brückner (1824–1905) was a German Lutheran theologian from the University of Leipzig. He was associate professor of New Testament from 1853 and rose to full professor two years later. He moved up to rector of the university in 1868. He also wrote Reflections on the Liturgy of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of Saxony and Saxony Professions in the Ecclesiastical Crisis of Our Age.
Christoph Ernst Luthardt (1823–1902) was a German Lutheran theologian from Bavaria. After studying theology at Erlangen and Berlin, he was appointed professor of systematic theology and New Testament exegesis at Leipzig. He was strictly orthodox in his interpretive style, widely recognized for his confrontational apologetic lectures and writings, which defended against the atheistic explanation of a material-only universe. He was a voluminous writer belonging to the Erlangen school of Lutheran theologians. He wrote Apologetic Lectures on the Fundamental Truths of Christianity, Apologetic Lectures on the Saving Truths of Christianity, Apologetic Lectures on the Moral Truths of Christianity, St. John the Author of the Fourth Gospel, History of Christian Ethics, and a number of books not translated into English, including the widely read and referenced Compendium der Dogmatik.