Studying Lutheranism

[tstor]

Greetings all. I have never really studied Lutheranism, but I began reading off of the LCMS website yesterday and it really peaked my interest. I went to the used bookstore not terribly long ago because I remembered seeing a book on Lutheranism published by the LCMS entitled Lutheran Spirituality: Life as God's Child. However, I also noticed another book entitled The Structure of Lutheranism, written by Werner Elert. Flipping through the table of contents of both books, Elert's book seemed to cover more meat than the other so I got it instead. Will it be a fairly good introduction into Lutheranism by itself? Or are there some online supplemental materials that you guys would recommend?

 

[GreekOrthodox]

I would recommend Roland Bainton's biography of Luther, Here I Stand or even reading a wikipedia entry on Luther and Lutheranism to get a high level background. As for Lutheran theology, you can also read the online Book of Concord and first read the Augsburg Confession and then Apology or Explanation to the Augsburg Confession, which are the first "formal" Lutheran documents. (BTW, Im a former Lutheran Missouri Synod before becoming Greek Orthodox).

 

[tstor]

I would recommend Roland Bainton's biography of Luther, Here I Stand or even reading a wikipedia entry on Luther and Lutheranism to get a high level background. As for Lutheran theology, you can also read the online Book of Concord and first read the Augsburg Confession and then Apology or Explanation to the Augsburg Confession, which are the first "formal" Lutheran documents. (BTW, Im a former Lutheran Missouri Synod before becoming Greek Orthodox).

I would be interested in hearing your story on the conversion. Do you care to share it?

 

[GreekOrthodox]

I would rather do that outside of this forum or I can send you a message.

 

[tstor]

I would rather do that outside of this forum or I can send you a message.

Sounds good to me, just send me a private message

 

[Arcangl86]

I would go to Welcome to the Book of Concord and take a look. Unlike Greek Orthodox I would actually suggest starting with the catechisms first instead of the Augsburg Confession. I used to be ELCA and actually was trained in a ELCA seminary before returning to the Episcopal Church.

 

[GreekOrthodox]

I would go to Welcome to the Book of Concord and take a look. Unlike Greek Orthodox I would actually suggest starting with the catechisms first instead of the Augsburg Confession. I used to be ELCA and actually was trained in a ELCA seminary before returning to the Episcopal Church.

Where is a headsmack emoji?!??! I COMPLETELY forgot about the catechisms!

 

[Tangible]

The best layman's introduction to Lutheranism I've come across is Gene Veith's The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals. That's the book that brought me from my 40 year Baptist background into the LCMS.

There is also a series of books published by the LCMS' publishing house CPH called Lutheran Spirituality. There is one book that gives as close to a complete overview as is practical, and then there are volumes that focus on individual facets in depth.

Concordia Publishing House