What really happens to the soul when people die? This groundbreaking book may appeal both to Luther experts and to those who know little about the Reformer. It demonstrates that Luther constantly taught over the last twenty-four years of his life that death is like an unconscious sleep. It also shows why this matters today for Christians. Death until Resurrection is a great first step in understanding God's plan for renewal of the creation that can alleviate our common fears about death. Seeing what exactly the scriptural writers meant regarding death--as interpreted by one of the most prominent church leaders ever--also provides the benefit of helping us better understand core doctrines such as our resurrection, the nature of hell, and eternal life through salvation. This book offers that which very few writers on Luther have done: an explanation that can unravel his apparent contradictions and the Luther paradox on the nature of death and the soul using Luther's own words scattered throughout his voluminous writings. Learn which group of widely acclaimed authors (or experts) on Luther was correct about what Luther believed about death: Lohse and George, or Althaus and Thiselton.

In debates surrounding the New Perspective on Paul, the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers are often characterized as the apostle's misinterpreters-in-chief. In this book Stephen Chester challenges that conception with a careful and nuanced reading of the Reformers' Pauline exegesis. Examining the overall contours of Reformation exegesis of Paul, Chester contrasts the Reformers with their opponents and explores particular contributions made by such key figures as Luther, Melanchthon, and Calvin. He relates their insights to contemporary debates in Pauline theology about justification, union with Christ, and other central themes, arguing that their work remains a significant resource today. Published in the 500th anniversary year of the Protestant Reformation, Chester's Reading Paul with the Reformers reclaims a robust understanding of how the Reformers actually read the apostle Paul.

Martin Luther’s collected sermons for the church year were originally called postil or postilla (in German: Postille) which was originally a term for Bible commentaries. It is derived from the Latin "post illa verba textus" (after these words) referring to Biblical readings. Luther's postil was published in two series: the Church Postil and the House Postil. His published sermons and catechisms were by far his most popular. They did more to teach people the Reformation than any other book. Luther intended his postils to serve common pastors and people, and therefore was one of the greatest educational and devotional books of the Reformation. From the time Martin Luther published the first part in 1521, every annual cycle of sermons on the lessons, whether consisting of homilies or formal sermons, is termed a postil. This unabridged edition of Luther's writings of the works of Martin Luther is an accurate and clear translation. We have Presents the Church Postil as the mature Luther wanted it to be. It includes Luther’s extensive revisions to his own work. For those who are not familiar with the Church calendar year we have elected to number and title each sermon accompanied with a short description of the contents accompanied by the Bible verse. Thus it will look something like this: NO. 1 A KING ARRIVES FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT A Discourse on Christ Coming into Jerusalem TEXT: Matthew 21:1-9. The primary basis for the work is the comprehensive the 1905 translation of Luther's Church Postil by John Nicholas Lenker of which volumes 1-5 were originally published in Minneapolis by Lutherans of All Lands, 1904-1906, and volumes 6-8 were originally published in Minneapolis by The Luther Press, 1908-1908. In 1986 Baker Books reprinted this work. For convenience we have maintained the volume numbers of the more recent Baker Books reprint rather than the original volume numbers. Vol. 1. Sermons on Gospel Texts for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany (a reproduction of Vol. 10, The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther [Minneapolis: Lutherans in All Lands, 1905]). Vol. 2. Sermons on Gospel Texts for Epiphany, Lent, and Easter (a reproduction of Vol. 11, The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther [Minneapolis: Lutherans in All Lands, 1906]). Vol. 3. Sermons on Gospel Texts for Pentecost (a reproduction of Vol. 12, The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther [Minneapolis: Lutherans in All Lands, 1907]). Vol. 4. Sermons on Gospel Texts for the 1st to the 12th Sundays after Trinity (a reproduction of Vol. 13, The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther [Minneapolis: Lutherans in All Lands, 1904]). Vol. 5. Sermons on Gospel Texts for the 13th to the 26th Sundays after Trinity (a reproduction of Vol. 14, The Precious and Sacred Writings of Martin Luther [Minneapolis: Lutherans in All Lands, 1905]). Vol. 6. Sermons on Epistle Texts for Advent and Christmas (a reproduction of Vol. 1, Luther’s Epistle Sermons [Minneapolis: The Luther Press, 1908]). Vol. 7. Sermons on Epistle Texts for Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost (a reproduction of Vol. 2, Luther’s Epistle Sermons [Minneapolis: The Luther Press, 1909]). Vol. 8. Sermons on Epistle Texts for Trinity Sunday to Advent with an Index of Sermon Texts in Vols. 1-8 (a reproduction of Vol. 3, Luther’s Epistle Sermons [Minneapolis: The Luther Press, 1909]).

In December 1495 the Tiber River flooded the city of Rome causing extensive drowning and destruction. When the water finally receded, a rumor began to circulate that a grotesque monstrosity had been discovered in the muddy detritus—the Roman monster. The creature itself is inherently fascinating, consisting of an eclectic combination of human and animal body parts. The symbolism of these elements, the interpretations that religious controversialists read into them, and the history of the image itself, help to document antipapal polemics from fifteenth-century Rome to the Elizabethan religious settlement. This study examines the iconography of the image of the Roman monster and offers ideological reasons for associating the image with the pre-Reformation Waldensians and Bohemian Brethren. It accounts for the reproduction and survival of the monster's image in fifteenth-century Bohemia and provides historical background on the topos of the papal Antichrist, a concept that Philip Melanchthon associated with the monster. It contextualizes Melanchthon’s tract, “The Pope-Ass Explained,” within the first five years of the Lutheran movement, and it documents the popularity of the Roman monster within the polemical and apocalyptic writings of the Reformation. This is a careful examination and interpretation of all relevant primary documents and secondary historical literature in telling the story of the origins and impact of the most famous monstrous portent of the Reformation era.