Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God: The Wittenberg School and Its Scripture-Centered Proclamation

“The five hundredth anniversary of the Ninety-Five Theses is a season of many books about Luther, but few of them are likely to be as carefully researched, as grounded in original sources and Luther's original context, and therefore as valuable as Professor Kolb's study of Luther and the Wittenberg Circle. Any reader who would meet Luther--and particularly Luther as scholar and preacher of the Scriptures--on his own terms and as he was received by his earliest followers must not miss this excellent contribution.”

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“This is a masterful account of the exegesis, preaching, and teaching of the first Lutherans. Kolb presents a large cast of Wittenberg theologians working to further Lutheran theology and Christian faith through a variety of written resources. This book breaks important new ground in the history of transmitting the faith.”

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“I began reading Kolb's work about forty years ago as a doctoral student. Today what amazes me most is how he keeps getting better: more meticulous in his research, more lucid in his writing, and more penetrating in his analysis. This new book is quite simply his best! Indispensable for understanding Luther's lifelong and greatest obsession.”

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“This is perhaps Robert Kolb's best work on Martin Luther. Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God presents the Wittenberg Reformer at the center of a circle of colleagues and students engaged in a fresh approach to the Bible that would reshape Christian piety. The scope of Kolb's book is remarkable, spanning Luther's early exposure to the Scriptures in the milieu of late-medieval spirituality, his reform of biblical interpretation and preaching in the university, his collaboration with others to use the Bible as a renewed source for Christian faith and life, and the often-unexamined next generation of Lutherans who helped change the religious map of Europe. Kolb invites the reader into a world of theologians, pastors, and Reformers who are captivated by the Bible and aspire to give the Word of God a hearing in a tumultuous age. His book stands as an invitation to do further research in the history of biblical interpretation: to trace the connections between the world of the Reformation and later developments in the handling of the Bible in the early modern period. Students of the Reformation at every level will benefit from Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God and be grateful for Robert Kolb as a teacher and guide.”

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