Carl E. Braaten

A Graceful Life

Prayer & Spiritual Formation

“Pastors will find no better teaching tool to use in promoting reflection and dialogue in small groups.”

A Time for Confessing

Theology

“At long last we receive the cream of Robert Bertram's critical thinking on what it means to be a confessing church and a confessing Christian in times of challenge and crisis. Bertram articulates a ‘theology of the cross' that draws its inspiration from Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and he models what it means to be a confessing theologian for a confessing church. Thanks are due to Michael Hoy for bringing together the best of Bertram's cross-centered theology in a well-edited collection of essays.”

Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted

Preaching & Worship

“The legacy of Gerhard Forde lives on in Glenn Monson's passionate affirmation of the classical Lutheran law/gospel hermeneutic applicable in sermon preparation and preaching. Today's preachers and congregations would benefit greatly from the insight and practices advocated in this book.”

Before Auschwitz

Theology

“Paul Hinlicky's interest is not merely to shed light on how it could happen that highly cultured and sophisticated German Christians could support the evil actions of Nazi anti-Semitism, but to suggest we have no guarantee that something similar could not happen within American Christianity.”

Beloved Community

Theology

“This volume of dogmatics boldly asserts with copious argument the great truths of Scripture that can be affirmed without the props of Christendom. Tolle lege. Take up this book and read. With me you will happily be assured that dogmatics is not dead.”

Hope Today

Christian Living

“Five decades ago, the ‘theology of hope’ was featured as the ‘new frontier’ in theology. This multiauthored book, Hope Today, is a welcome assurance that theological focus on Christian hope is not a passing fad. Each of the essays makes a distinctive contribution to the ethical implications of the living hope given the church by the gospel of Christ. I do not know of any book that deals in depth with such a wide swath of the ethics of hope for today.”

Kierkegaard for the Church

Philosophy

Foreword

“This book by Ronald Marshall is a reliable guide to what Kierkegaard teaches us about true Christianity. I need that because on my own I often have a hard time sorting out what Kierkegaard himself intends to teach us by means of the words of his pseudonymous authors. Marshall has renewed my interest in reading and learning from the writings of Kierkegaard, and I believe that there are many future readers who will benefit as much as I have from reading this book of essays and sermons.”

Luther Refracted

Theology

“This symposium contributes to the emerging ecumenical consensus that Luther's theology can be a rich resource for all Christian churches and denominations. An aspect of this consensus is that Luther's followers have often diminished his greatness by practicing the art of selective reductionism to prove the superiority of their particular brand of Lutheranism. The pietists reconstructed Luther after their own image and the orthodox did the same. With hindsight we Lutherans must grudgingly admit that Luther was never a good Lutheran, judged by the criteria applied by the various denominations that bear his name.”

Principles of Lutheran Theology

Theology

“TThis book still crackles with electricity of a premier theologian delivering his "here I stand" confesson of faith before the world. Principles of Theology is a modern classic that criticizes, illumines, and inspires with missionary zeal and catholic breadth.”

Retrieving the Natural Law

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“J. Daryl Charles provides a sobering analysis of the natural law deficit in modern Protestant theological ethics. Making a strong case for reclaiming the natural law as an indispensable bridge for creating moral consensus on public policy in a pluralistic society, Charles argues that the Protestant voice on ethics and morality lacks power and relevance due to its general abdication of the natural-law tradition.”

Signs amid the Rubble

“This volume of previously unpublished lectures by Lesslie Newbigin is an unexpected gift, thanks to his biographer Geoffrey Wainwright. This gift contains welcome supplements to Newbigin's early seminal writings on ecumenical theology and world missions but also includes his latest critiques of Western pluralist secular society. Newbigin's was a fresh voice of Christian prophecy in the contemporary situation. This ecumenical missionary-theologian foresaw an approaching global future that would be impacted by the fanaticism of Islamic fundamentalism and the idolatry of an unfettered free-market economy. Newbigin believed that the only hope for a free society lies in the truth and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The Morally Divided Body

Ethics, Culture & Social Issues

“This book identifies the chief cause of internal strife and division afflicting most mainline Protestant denominations. Separating faith from works is an old heresy that always breeds schism. The authors are leading theologians of their respective traditions who write from a wealth of experience in church service and with profound knowledge of classical Christianity. Anyone engaged in ecumenical dialogues and the quest for Christian unity needs to read and heed the message of this book.”

The Theology of the Cross and Marx's Anthropology

Theology

“"[This book's] significance lies in being an imaginative and plausible correlation of two very different patterns of thought, namely, Luther's theology of the cross and Marx's anthropology. It is written in a readable style and can be understood by persons who are not specialists in religious scholarship.”

Theology Is for Proclamation

“Gerhard Forde makes a dashingly bold move to construct a whole systematic theology on the model of Martin Luther's Bondage of the Will. Forde continues Luther's polemic against every theology that fools with God apart from the Word. . . Forde writes a theology that is good for nothing but proclaiming the living Word of God.”