Luther’s Works, vol. 78: Church Postil IV

by Martin Luther

Publisher:

Concordia Publishing House

, 2015

Overview

Get Luther’s Works (55 vols.).

This volume brings forth Luther’s sermons on Epistle and Gospel texts in the historic one-year lectionary series from the Festival of the Holy Trinity through the Tenth Sunday after Trinity. Additionally, this collection features Luther’s sermons on 1 John 4:16–21, never before translated and previously omitted from the Church Postil. Readers will gain new insight from Luther's topics for preaching, including:

• the time between death and resurrection in his sermon on the Gospel for Trinity 1
• warnings about impenitence in the Gospel on the destruction of Jerusalem for Trinity 10
• insightful teaching about the role of God’s Law in the lives of believers in the Gospels for Trinity 3 and Trinity 5
• clear teaching on how to distinguish Law and Gospel in the Gospel for Trinity 5

Few other books communicated the Gospel to Luther’s contemporaries so powerfully as Luther’s Church Postil (sermons for the church year). Now for the first time, Luther’s authorized, final edition of the Church Postil, edited originally by Caspar Cruciger for the summer half of the year, is presented here in clear English.

Key Features

• Provides Luther’s sermons for the church year
• Gives insight into Luther’s understanding of the biblical text for Christian life
• Shows how Luther applied the biblical text in specific historical contexts

Contents

Top Highlights

“This would still not help us, even if He had died a thousand times on the cross” (Page 52)

“So it is necessary that we always be urged and admonished to intend to be serious Christians and to demonstrate this through love.” (Page 369)

“Thus it says that the Son of Man descended and again ascended, and yet at the same time remained in heaven in the divine essence, power, and eternal communion with the Father.” (Page 50)

“This is how to speak about it: not to make much bragging and blustering about their great skill and high spirit, but rather to regard themselves as students who have scarcely begun and have much to learn each day.” (Page 368)

“how precious it is if a person goes so far as to love God and his neighbor from his heart.” (Page 370)

Praise for the Print Edition

Among the greatest and most prolific theologians of Christian history, Martin Luther still speaks to us today. This 28-volume new series splendidly complements its 55-volume predecessor and offers a treasure-trove of writings never before available in English, writings crucial to understanding Luther’s life, thought, and profound influence throughout the centuries. Offering readable yet reliable translations, well introduced and appropriately annotated, this new series should delight scholars as well as engage laity and clergy.

—Mark U. Edwards, Jr., academic dean, Harvard Divinity School

Luther’s analysis of human life and his proclamation of God’s merciful deliverance of humankind from sin and evil through Christ ring true across the cultural boundaries of time and space. This supplement to the historic edition of the reformer’s writings, completed a quarter century ago, is bringing significant additions to the texts from his pen than are currently available in English. It will also provide English-language reader’s access to documents that aid in understanding Luther’s own life and the development of the Wittenberg Reformation. The volumes are being edited according to the highest academic standards and their introductions and notes offer readers helpful guides to the context and content of the reformer’s writings. Casual readers and those seeking to expand and deepen their knowledge of the Reformation will profit greatly from these carefully translated and edited volumes.

—Robert Kolb, professor emeritus of systematic theology, Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis

Product Details

• Title: Luther’s Works, Volume 78
• Author: Martin Luther
• Series: Luther’s Works
• Volume: 78
• Publisher: Concordia Publishing House
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Pages: 446
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible › Criticism, interpretation, etc.--Early works to 1800; Luther, Martin, 1483-1546; Theology › Early works to 1800
• ISBNs: 9780758628190, 0758628196
• Resource ID: LLS:LW78
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-01-07T23:39:53Z

About Martin Luther

Martin Luther (1483–1546), one of the most significant figures in Western history, was a key figure in the Protestant Reformation. Over the course of his life, Luther was a monk, a priest, a professor of biblical literature, a Reformer, a husband, and a father.

Luther is most noted for his Ninety-Five Theses (1517), in which he argued that indulgences were not acts of penance which could replace true repentance. His refusal to retract all his writings, demanded by Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521, resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the emperor.

Luther has been both praised and vilified for what he preached and wrote. Luther’s translation of the Christian Bible into the vernacular greatly influenced the church. His works continue to impact all Christians and animate the movement that bears his name. Luther’s Works (55 vols.) contains many of Luther’s writings, including commentaries, sermons, and lectures.

Sample Pages from Luther’s Works, vol. 78: Church Postil IV