Lutheran Identity: A Classical Understanding (Lutheran Voices)

What does it mean to be Lutheran? In the sound-bite age in which we live, too often the answer is reduced to a handful of familiar phrases such as "justification by faith", "both saint and sinner", "the priesthood of believers", and "theology of the cross versus theology of glory." But noted theologian Frank Senn appeals to Lutheranism's rich tradition and culture to answer this question, seeing here "something to build on as we confront the possibilities and challenges of preaching, teaching, professing, and living the gospel of Jesus Christ in our own time and place."In the author's thoughtful consideration of key elements of the Lutheran faith is a cautious reminder that to abandon this tradition or step away from this culture means becoming something other than Lutheran.

Frank C. Senn is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Evanston, Illinois. He is active in ecumenical affairs and liturgical circles, and has taught at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, the University of Chicago Divinity School, the University of Notre Dame, and Concordia University in River Forest, Illinois. Senn is the author of nine books, including most recently The People's Work: A Social History of the Liturgy (Fortress Press, 2006, 978-0-8006-3827-6).