Andrew Hussman

This sermon on the Good Shepherd, taken from Ernst Bizer’s Predigten des Johannes Brenz, was delivered by Johannes Brenz on the second Sunday after Easter in 1539. Brenz explains what Christ means by calling himself the Good Shepherd, who the thieves are, and how we are like sheep. He also uses the example of a shepherd to provide some valuable applications for those who hold positions of responsibility at home, in the church, and in the secular world.

In this third and final sermon on the Lord’s Supper, Johannes Brenz discusses how we should prepare ourselves to receive the Lord’s Supper. He explains how contrition, confession, and satisfaction, terms which have been misused by the Roman Catholic Church, can be properly used to help us prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper.

Franz Pieper expounds on the meaning of “fearing God’s Word” in the sense of revering it and treating it as holy and as God wants us to treat it. He warns against trying to rationalize God’s Word, as the Zwinglians in Luther’s time did and even Lutherans in Pieper’s day were doing. True Christian unity only exists when there is agreement in doctrine and practice. This article is the Forward to volume 35 of Lehre und Wehre¸ January and February 1889, pp. 1-6, 33-37.

This is the second of three sermons on the Lord’s Supper by Johannes Brenz. After discussing in the first sermon what the Lord’s Supper is, he now proceeds to explain its use as a reassurance of the forgiveness of sins and provides several examples of how it can be applied.

This sermon comes from a book of sermons by Johannes Brenz that was published in 1556. It is the first of three that he preached on Maundy Thursday on the doctrine and applications of the Lord's Supper. In this first sermon Brenz expounds on the truth of Christ's real presence in the Lord's Supper and assures us of the confidence we can have in our omnipotent God who keeps his promises. The other two sermons, which will appear in later issues, will cover the blessings of the Lord's Supper and the proper preparation for receiving it.

This section on the image of God in man is taken from Matthias Hafenreffer’s Loci Theologici of 1603. It is found in book three, which deals with the doctrine of man, the first state of man, his state before the fall, the third locus of that section. In it Hafenreffer shows from Scripture what the image of God is and what it is not, the value of this doctrine, and the errors to be avoided.

This essay written by August Pieper, entitled Quo propior Luthero, eo melior theologus, appeared in volume 14 of Theologische Quartalschrift in 1917, in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the 95 Theses and the Reformation. While holding true to the doctrine of sola Scriptura, Pieper distinguishes Martin Luther from great men of other eras by highlighting his simple, child-like faith and trust in God and the Word. He discusses why it is essential for both church leaders and laypeople to continue to study Luther and provides several different approaches to studying Luther effectively.