I have a good friend who just joined a Lutheran church. He’s been reading the collection of Luther’s basic theological writings edited by Timothy Lull, et al., but he asked me for some suggestions for further reading on Lutheranism and Lutheran theology. This is the list I sent him, which, while shaped by my own interests and certainly not exhaustive, fairly represents mainstream Lutheranism I think.

Background:

The Book of Concord collects all the official confessions and other documents of the Reformation-era Lutheran church (the Augsburg Confession, Luther’s Large and Small catechisms, etc.) that virtually all modern Lutheran bodies subscribe to in some way or another. Fortress Press publishes a nice hardback version.

General introductions to Lutheranism:

Carl E. Braaten, Principles of Lutheran Theology

Gerhard O. Forde, Where God Meets Man: Luther’s Down-to-Earth Approach to the Gospel

Robert Jenson and Eric Gritsch, Lutheranism: The Theological Movement and its Confessional Writings

Secondary sources on Luther’s theology:

Paul Althaus, The Theology of Martin Luther

Alister McGrath, Luther’s Theology of the Cross

Giants of 20th century Lutheran theology:

Paul Tillich, Shaking of the Foundations

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship and Letters and Papers from Prison

Specialized topics:

Carl Braaten, Justification: The Article by which the Church Stands or Falls

Robert Jenson, The Triune Identity: God According to the Gospel

Bradley Hanson, A Graceful Life: Lutheran Spirituality for Today

Douglas John Hall, The Cross in Our Context: Jesus and the Suffering World

Deanna Thompson, Crossing the Divide: Luther, Feminism, and the Cross (I haven’t read this, but I wanted to include some feminist theology on the list, and this is the only one I really know of.)

Any glaring omissions? Additional suggestions?