Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses: With Introduction, Commentary, and Study Guide

By almost any reckoning, the Ninety-Five Theses ranks as the most important text of the Reformation, if not in substance at least in impact. As the anniversary of its posting on the church door in Wittenberg approaches, what better way to remember and recognize the occasion than to make this important text more easily understood by twenty-first-century readers?

Timothy J. Wengert, one of the best-known interpreters of Luther and Lutheranism active today, sets his newly translated Ninety-Five Theses in its historical context with a detailed introduction and illuminating study notes. To help the reader understand the context and the import of the Ninety-Five Theses more deeply, Wengert provides two more related and essential documents: Luthers Letter to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz (to which he appended a copy of the Theses) and Luthers 1518 Sermon on Indulgences and Grace (written to inform the German-speaking public of his view of indulgences).

The book is simply constructed with introductions and notes for each of the writings, as well as a study guide with questions for individual or group reflection and conversation.

Timothy J. Wengert is emeritus professor of church history at the United Lutheran Seminary. He has written extensively on Luther, Melanchthon, and the Reformation, including The Augsburg Confession: Renewing Lutheran Faith and Practice (Fortress, 2020). He was coeditor, with Robert Kolb, of the English edition of the Book of Concord (Fortress, 2000) and translated Luther's Small Catechism, used throughout the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He lives in Long Valley, New Jersey.