{"id":7951,"date":"2026-03-16T13:55:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T13:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/?p=7951"},"modified":"2026-03-16T14:19:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T14:19:50","slug":"2025-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/?p=7951","title":{"rendered":"2025 Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\n\t\tReviews published in 2025\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t

As of December 31, 2025, 33 additional reviews had been edited, and awaited publication. Some of these may have been published by the time you read this report. \nAs of December 31, 2025, 32 reviews had been assigned and not yet submitted.\n

\nI appreciate staff, council, and board willingness to review books. I also appreciate suggestions of books and reviewers. While continuing our focus on Lutheran history and theology we also seek books that are relevant to, but not obviously a part of those emphases. We look for a variety of reviewers from different Lutheran groups, institutions, countries, and perspectives as well as reviewers outside the Lutheran orbit.

\n\nIt is now over 22 years since I began my work as book review editor in the Fall of 2003. I have enjoyed this work greatly and value the contributions of the many reviewers with whom I have interacted. I am particularly grateful for the support and encouragement I have received from Editor Paul Rorem over the years. Over the course of 2026, the position of book review editor will pass to Martin Lohrmann. I look forward to seeing and appreciating his work as the new book review editor.\n<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBook Reviews (72)<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Report on Lutheran Quarterly Book Reviews January 1, 2026
Dr. Mary Jane Haemig, Book Review Editor<\/p>\n

72 reviews were published in the four issues of volume 39. A comparison with past years is useful:38\/1 \u2013 38\/4 75 reviews
37\/1 \u2013 37\/4 87
36\/1 – 36\/4 101
35\/1 \u2013 35\/4 83
34\/1 \u2013 34\/4 66<\/p>\n

As of December 31, 2025, 33 additional reviews had been edited, and awaited publication. Some of these may have been published by the time you read this report. As of December 31, 2025, 32 reviews had been assigned and not yet submitted.<\/p>\n

I appreciate staff, council, and board willingness to review books. I also appreciate suggestions of books and reviewers. While continuing our focus on Lutheran history and theology we also seek books that are relevant to, but not obviously a part of those emphases. We look for a variety of reviewers from different Lutheran groups, institutions, countries, and perspectives as well as reviewers outside the Lutheran orbit.<\/p>\n

It is now over 22 years since I began my work as book review editor in the Fall of 2003. I have enjoyed this work greatly and value the contributions of the many reviewers with whom I have interacted. I am particularly grateful for the support and encouragement I have received from Editor Paul Rorem over the years. Over the course of 2026, the position of book review editor will pass to Martin Lohrmann. I look forward to seeing and appreciating his work as the new book review editor.<\/p>\n

Reviews published in 2025 39\/1 \u2013 39\/4 (Total: 72)<\/u><\/b>
Amy Lindeman Allen, The Gifts They Bring (Samantha Gilmore) 39\/1
Lowell Almen and Denis Madden, Faithful Teaching : Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue XII (Winston Persaud) 39\/1
Victor Lee Austin, ed., Mixed Blessings: The Theologians Who Shaped Us (Mark Mattes) 39\/3
Oswald Bayer, Promissio: The Reformational Turn in Luther\u2019s Theology (Philip Cary) 39\/4
Andreas Bergman, The Certainty of Salvation in the\u00a0 heology of Martin Chemnitz. (Mark Mattes) 39\/4
James Brauer, Music: God\u2019s Mysterious Gift (Larry Rast) 39\/2
Ulrich Bubenheimer, ed. by Thomas Kaufmann and Alejandro Zorzin, Wittenberg 1517-1522 (Anna Marie Johnson) 39\/1
Kent Burreson and Beth Hoeltke, Lay Me in God’s Good Earth: A Christian Approach to Death and Burial (David Drebes) 39\/2
W. Gordon Campbell, ed., Martin Luther\u2019s Bible: Perspectives on a Rich Legacy\u00a0(Gordon Jensen) 39\/1
Maria Cr\u0103ciun, et al., eds., Prayer Books and Piety in Late Medieval and Early Modern\u00a0Europe (Mary Jane Haemig) 39\/1
Richard Cross, Early Scholastic Christology: 1050 \u2013 1250 (Mark Mattes) 39\/3
Andrew D. DeCort, Bonhoeffer\u2019s New Beginning: Ethics after Devastation (Mark\u00a0Brocker) 39\/3
Samuel Yonas Deressa and Mary Sue Dreier, eds., Forming Leaders for the Public\u00a0Church: Vocation in Twenty-First Century Societies (David Lumpp) 39\/2
Robert J. Dobie, The Fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien (Timothy Leitzke) 39\/2
Tim Niklas-Ehlers, Melanchthons religionspolitisches Agieren zwischen Interim und\u00a0Passauer Vertrag (1550-1552) (Timothy Wengert) 39\/3
Roger Eigenfeld, Paul Harrington and Duane Paetznick, Behind the Pulpit: Three\u00a0Seasoned Lutheran Pastors Share Their Megachurch Stories (Mark Mattes) 39\/4
Daniel Esparza, Forgiving Philosophy: Augustine, Kierkegaard and Arendt on the\u00a0Question of Forgiveness (David Coe) 39\/4
Gunther Frank, et al., eds., Totus Noster: Augustinus zwischen den Konfessionen (Erik\u00a0Herrmann) 39\/1
Emily Fisher Gray, Wrestling with the Reformation in Augsburg 1530 (Mark Tranvik)\u00a039\/1
Paul Graff, A History of the Dissolution of the Ancient Liturgical Forms in the Lutheran\u00a0Church of Germany (Daniel Grimminger) 39\/4
Gracia Grindal, Mindekirken-Against the Current (Philip Nesvig) 39\/1
Gracia Grindal, What a Fellowship: Remembering Augsburg Seminary and the Lutheran\u00a0Free Church (Christopher Richmann) 39\/4
N.F.S. Grundtvig, ed. by Niehls Lyhne Jensen, A Grundtvig Anthology: Selections from\u00a0the writings of N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) (Kristofer Phan Coffman) 39\/4
Patrick Hayden-Roy, The Luther Myth: The Image of Martin Luther from Religious\u00a0Reformer to V\u00f6lkisch Icon (Robert Kolb) 39\/4
Matthew Heckel, His Spear Through My Side into Luther. Calvin\u2019s Relationship to\u00a0Luther\u2019s Doctrine of the Will (Mark Mattes) 39\/3
Margarethe Hopf, Ein Osservatore Romano f\u00fcr die evangelische Kirche in Deutschland:\u00a0Der Konzilsbeobachter Edmund Schlink im Spannungsfeld der Interessen\u00a0(Matthew Becker) 39\/3
Theodore Hopkins and Robert Kolb, The Christian Faith: A Lutheran Exposition (2nd ed.)\u00a0(Mark Mattes) 39\/2
Carl S. Hughes, Clouds of the Cross in Luther and Kierkegaard: Revelation as\u00a0Unknowing (Peder Jothen) 39\/3
Hans Joachim Iwand, Luther\u2019s Theology: A Translation of Hans Joachim Iwand\u2019s\u00a0Posthumous Works (Jack Kilcrease) 39\/3
Thomas Jacobson, Pain in the Belly: The Haugean Witness in American Lutheranism\u00a0(Maria Erling) 39\/1
Brach Jennings, Transfiguring a Theologia Crucis through James Cone (Aaron Klink)\u00a039\/2
Veli-Matti K\u00e4rkk\u00e4inen, I Believe. Help My Unbelief!: Christian Beliefs for a Religiously\u00a0Pluralistic and Secular World (Mark Mattes) 39\/2
Ralph Keen, Elizabeth Palmer, and Daniel Owings, Reading Certainty: Exegesis and\u00a0Epistemology on the Threshold of Modernity, Essays Honoring the Scholarship of\u00a0Susan E. Schreiner (Martin Lohrmann) 39\/1
James A. Kellerman et al., eds., Athens and Wittenberg: Poetry, Philosophy and Luther’s\u00a0Legacy (Benjamin Mayes) 39\/1
Matthew D. Kirkpatrick, Bonhoeffer for the Church: An Introduction (Mark Brocker)\u00a039\/1
Armin Kohnle, Kurf\u00fcrst Friedrich der Weise von Sachsen (1463-1525) (Robert Kolb)\u00a039\/1
Robert Kolb, Face to Face: Martin Luther\u2019s View of Reality (Andreas Stegmann) 39\/4
James G. Kroemer, A Crusade against the Turks as a Means of Reforming the Church:\u00a0Two Camaldolese Hermits\u2019 Advice for Pope Leo X (Paul Strauss) 39\/4
Robin Leaver, ed., A New Song We Now Begin: Celebrating the Half Millennium of\u00a0Lutheran Hymnals 1524-2024 (Steven Wente) 39\/4
Robert L. Lee, From Freedom to Life: A History of the Association of Free Lutheran\u00a0Congregations (Thomas Jacobson) 39\/2
Volker Leppin, Sola: Christ, Grace, Faith, and Scripture Alone in Martin Luther\u2019s\u00a0Theology (Guillermo Hansen) 39\/2
Johannes Ljungberg and Erik Sidenvall, Religious Enlightenment in the Eighteenth\u00a0Century Nordic Countries: Reason and Orthodoxy (Derek Nelson) 39\/3
Birgit Luscher, Ludwig Wurster und die Nuernberger Augustiner zur Reformationszeit\u00a0(Robert Christman) 39\/4
John Maxfield, Becoming Lutheran: The Community of Brunswick from Evangelical\u00a0Reform to Lutheran Culture (Timothy Schmeling) 39\/2
Alistair McGrath, The Nature of Christian Doctrine: Its Origins, Development, and\u00a0Function (Mark Mattes) 39\/1
Gilbert Meilaender, Christian Ethics: A Short Companion (William Fredstrom) 39\/1\u00a0
Sini Mikkola, Body and Gender in Martin Luther’s Anthropology (1520-1530) (Kirsi\u00a0Stjerna) 39\/3
Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, Follow your Bliss and Other Lies about Calling (Mark\u00a0Tranvik) 39\/4
Derek Nelson, et al., eds., Bodies Inhabiting the World: Scandinavian Creation Theology\u00a0and the Question of Home (Craig Nessan) 39\/2
Gunnar Nerheim, Norsemen deep in the Heart of Texas: Norwegian Immigrants, 1845-1900 (DeAne Lagerquist) 39\/3
Thomas O\u2019Meara, Toward a Cosmic Theology (Ben Wintress) 39\/4
Christian Preus, ed., The Magdeburg Confession (John Maxfield) 39\/4
Melinda Quivik, Worship at a Crossroads: Racism and Segregated Sundays (Jan Schnell)\u00a039\/4
Paul Rorem, Singing Church History: Introducing the Christian Story through Hymn\u00a0Texts (Richard Johnson) 39\/1
Johannes Schilling, ed., Briefkultur der Reformationszeit (Amy Nelson Burnett) 39\/1
Derek L. Stauff, Lutheran Music and the Thirty Years War: Confession, Politics,\u00a0Devotion (Paul Westermeyer) 39\/4
Andreas Stegmann, Der Text des Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses: Zu Text- und\u00a0Rezeptionsgeschichte (Martin Lohrmann) 39\/4
Bodil Stenseth, Muus vs. Muus: The Scandal that Shook Norwegian America (Mark\u00a0Granquist) 39\/2
John Strommen, GPS: Finding Direction on your Faith and Life Journey: How Luther\u2019s\u00a0Theology Connects Faith to Life (Russ Lackey) 39\/1
Chris Suehr, Lost Lutherans: Perspectives on American Religious Decline (Richard\u00a0Johnson) 39\/4
Manfred Svensson, The Aristotelian Tradition in Early Modern Protestantism (Carl\u00a0Springer) 39\/1
James Thomas, A Rumor of Black Lutherans: The Formation of Black Leadership in\u00a0Early American Lutheranism (Maria Erling) 39\/4
Olli-Pekka Vainio, Luther Under Scrutiny (Mark Mattes) 39\/3
Gene Veith, Embracing your Lutheran Identity (Suzanne Hequet) 39\/4\u00a0
Jennifer Wasmuth, \u201cWyr gleuben all an eynen Gott\u201d: Das NiceanoConstantinopolitanum in seiner Bedeutung fuer Martin Luther und Philipp\u00a0Melanchthon (Robert Kolb) 39\/3
Roisin Watson, The Beauty of Belief: Decorating the W\u00fcrttemberg Church during the\u00a0Reformation (Aaron Klink) 39\/4
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, Women and the Reformations: A Global History (Vincent\u00a0Evener) 39\/4
Sarah Wilson, Seven Ways of Looking at the Transfiguration (Russ Lackey) 39\/3\u00a0
Norman Wirzba, Agrarian Spirit: Cultivating Faith, Community, and the Land (William\u00a0Fredstrom) 39\/1
Jennifer Wojciechowski, Women and the Christian Story (Mary Anderson) 39\/1
Pa Yaw, Martin Luther\u2019s Theology of Two Kingdoms in Buddhist and Christian\u00a0Communities (Eric Trozzo) 39\/4
Benjamin Ziemann, Hitler\u2019s Personal Prisoner: The Life of Martin Niemoeller (Beth\u00a0Griech-Polelle) 39\/4

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviews published in 2025 As of December 31, 2025, 33 additional reviews had been edited, and awaited publication. Some of these may have been published by the time you read this report. As of December 31, 2025, 32 reviews had been assigned and not yet submitted. I appreciate staff, council, and board willingness to review […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7951"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7963,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7951\/revisions\/7963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutheranquarterly.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}