BIBLIOGRAPHY #2: Luther & the Reformation in Germany

1. LUTHER: BIOGRAPHY & THEOLOGY. Few ages have produced personalities as fascinating as those of the
Reformation. Perhaps the best way to begin a study of the period is by reading biographies. And Luther, the man
who sparked it all, is certainly the one to begin with.

Martin Brecht, Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation, Martin Luther: Shaping and Defining the Reformation and

Martin Luther: the Preservation of the Church, 1532-1546 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990-1994)
volumes 1 & 2 are now in paperback, $25; volume 3 is in hardback, $40). NEW. A massive 3-volume
biography that has been widely acclaimed and should serve as the new standard.

Roland Bainton, Here I Stand: A Biography of Martin Luther (New York: New American Library, 1950) paperback,

$7. A vivid, entertaining portrait of Luther—certainly it’s dated and it’s biased in Luther's favor; but it is
written with a journalist's flair by a great Lutheran scholar. A good place to start.

Heiko A. Oberman, Luther: Man between God and the Devil (New York: Image / Doubleday, 1989) paperback, $15.

A new and brilliant set of essays on aspects of Luther's life and world. Because it jumps around from
period to period in Luther's life, it may be best to read a basic biography first.

Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966) paperback, $18. Luther was an

unusually prolific writer—over 50 volumes—and his theological work is as wide-ranging and as
impassioned as that of Augustine. Althaus offers a first-rate survey of Luther's often paradoxical theology.
A good place to start. But be sure and read Luther himself.

James Atkinson, Martin Luther and the Birth of Protestantism (Atlanta: John Knox, 1981; reprint of 1968 edition).
Heinrich Bornkamm, Luther in Mid-Career, 1521-1530 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983).
Gerhard Ebeling, Luther: An Introduction to His Thought, trans. R.A. Wilson (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972)

paperback, $7. A fine survey of Luther's theology, but certainly not easy reading.

Mark U. Edwards, Jr., Luther and the False Brethren (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975). A superb account

of Luther's pitched debate with fellow evangelicals, those one-time allies whom Luther thought had gone
over to the devil: Karlstadt, Muntzer, Zwingli, Oecolampadius, and Schwenckfeld.

Mark U. Edwards, Jr., Luther's Last Battles: Politics and Polemics, 1531-1546 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press,

1983), paperback, $16.

Harry Gerald Haile, Luther: An Experiment in Biography (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983).
Walther von Loewenich, Luther's Theology of the Cross (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1976). Luther's so-called theology

of the cross is what gave his thought its paradoxical character. This is the classic study.

Walther von Loewenich, Martin Luther: the Man and His Work (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1986).
Bernhard Lohse, Martin Luther: An Introduction to His Life and Thought, trans., Robert C. Schultz (Philadelphia:

Fortress, 1986) paperback, $17. A terse summary of recent research on Luther's life and work.

Alister E. McGrath, Luther's Theology of the Cross (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1985) paperback, $20.
Alister E. McGrath, Iustitia Dei: A History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification, 2 volumes (New York:

Cambridge University Press, 1986) paperback, $20 each.

H.J. McSorley, Luther—Right or Wrong?: An Ecumenical Theological Study of Luther’s Major Work, The Bondage

of the Will (New York: Newman Press, 1969).

E. Gordon Rupp, Luther's Progress to the Diet of Worms (New York: Harper & Row, 1964). A classic.
E. Gordon Rupp, The Righteousness of God: Luther Studies (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1953). A series of

splendid essays on Luther's life and thought; see the title essay and the “Luther and ..." essays.

David C. Steinmetz, Luther in Context (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986) paperback, $8.
David C. Steinmetz, Luther and Staupitz: an Essay in the Intellectual Origins of the Protestant Reformation (Durham:

Duke University Press, 1980).

David C. Steinmetz, Misericordia Dei: The Theology of Johannes von Staupitz in its Late Medieval Setting, (Leiden:

E.J. Brill, 1968).

Jared Wicks, Luther and His Spiritual Legacy (Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1983).

Bibliography #1: Luther

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2. LUTHER: TEXTS

Timothy Lull, editor, Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, Fortress (paperback, $20). Luther was a skilled

popularist and had a gift for satire and for the well-turned phrase. He is easy and enjoyable to read. This is
the most complete anthology of Luther's works to date, and the translations are first-rate. Included are: The
95 Theses, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, The Freedom of the Christian, The Invocavit Sermons,
Confession Concerning the Lord's Supper.

Jaroslav Pelikan, ed., Luther's Works, 55 volumes (St. Louis: Concordia / Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1955-1975).

Also known as “The American Edition.” A fine translation of Luther's complete works. Excellent notes.

E. Gordon Rupp, ed. Luther and Erasmus on Free Will, Library of Christian Classics (Nashville: Westminster / John

Knox, 19__).

Martin Luther, Three Treatises (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 19__), paperback, $5. This edition is from the

American Edition of the three Reformation treatises: To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, The
Babylonian Captivity of the Church, and The Freedom of the Christian.