Fortress Press

Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe: Profiles, Texts, and Contexts

Kirsi I. Stjerna (Editor)

This volume provides an expansive view of women negotiating their faith, voice, and agency in the religious scene of the sixteenth-century Reformations. Biographical chapters are accompanied by "in her voice" text samples, images, theme articles, and recommended readings. Features the work of thirty-four international experts in the field.

Lutherans in America: A New History

Mark A. Granquist (Author)

In this lively and engaging new history, Granquist brings to light not only the institutions that Lutherans founded and sustained but the people that lived within them. This shows the complete story—not only the policies and the politics, but the piety and the practical experiences of the Lutheran men and women who lived and worked in the American context.

Wealth and Poverty in Early Christianity

George Kalantzis (Editor), Helen Rhee (Volume Editor)

Wealth and Poverty in Early Christianity is part of Ad Fontes: Early Christian Sources, a series designed to present ancient Christian texts essential to an understanding of Christian theology, ecclesiology, and practice. This volume is designed to introduce the reader to the broad range of texts that reflect early Christian thoughts and practices on the topic of wealth and poverty.

The Freedom of a Christian, 1520: The Annotated Luther Study Edition

Timothy J. Wengert (Editor)

Timothy J. Wengert skillfully sheds light on Luther's popular treatise. As controversy concerning his writings grew, Luther wrote a reconciliation-minded letter to Pope Leo X (1475-1521). To this letter he appended a nonpolemical tract describing the heart of his beliefs, The Freedom of a Christian.

The Reformation to the Modern Church: A Reader in Christian Theology

Keith D. Stanglin (Editor)

Engagement with primary sources is an essential part of effective teaching and learning in the church history or theology course. And yet, pulling together and distilling the right readings can be challenging. In this all-new primary-source anthology, Keith D. Stanglin has done the heavy lifting for a new generation of classrooms. Stanglin has edited and introduced over 100 selections to create a reader that orients students to the ebb and flow of thought that moves out from the pre-Reformation period.

A Widower's Lament: The Pious Meditations of Johann Christoph Oelhafen

Ronald K. Rittgers (Author)

This book deals with Christian lament in the late Reformation by exploring the efforts of a talented yet little-known layman to cope with the death of his beloved wife. It provides full access to the remarkable work of private devotion that he authored to express his lament.

A work of haunting candor and searching faith, The Pious Meditations furnishes insight into life in the past as well as resources for life in the present.

The Herods: Murder, Politics, and the Art of Succession

Bruce Chilton (Author)

The Herods explores the Herodian rule from Herod the Great's father, Antipater, until the dynastic sunset with Bereniké, Herod's great-granddaughter, describing the theocratic aims that motivated Herod and his progeny, and the groups and factions within Judaism and Christianity that often defined themselves in opposition to the Herodian project.

Introduction to the History of Christianity in the United States: Revised and Expanded Edition

Nancy Koester (Author)

The history of Christianity in the United States is a fascinating and lively story. In this revised and expanded account, Nancy Koester introduces students to the major events and movements that influenced the tradition.

A People's History of Christianity: One Volume Student Edition

Denis R. Janz (General Editor)

The essential material from A People's History of Christianity is available for classroom use covering topics of Early Christianity.

One Life to Give: Martyrdom and the Making of the American Revolution

John Fanestil (Author)

One Life to Give explores the spiritual origins of the American Revolution: martyrdom. John Fanestil traces the deep history of the tradition of martyrdom from its classical and Christian origins to the onset of the Revolutionary War. Ultimately, he articulates how the tradition of American martyrdom animated countless personal commitments to American independence, and thereby to the war. Only by understanding the inextricable role played by martyrdom can we fully grasp the origins of the American Revolution.

Moral Formation and the Virtuous Life

Paul M. Blowers (Editor)

In Moral Formation and the Virtuous Life, volume editor Paul M. Blowers has translated and gathered several key texts from early Christian sources to explore the broad themes of moral conscience and ethics. This volume is part of Ad Fontes: Early Christian Sources, a series designed to present ancient Christian texts essential to an understanding of Christian theology, ecclesiology, and practice. The series aims to provide volumes that are relevant for a variety of courses.

Church and Empire

George Kalantzis (Editor), Maria E. Doerfler (Editor)

The history of the church's relationship with governing authorities unfolds from its beginnings at the intersection of apprehension and acceptance, collaboration and separation. This volume is dedicated to helping students chart this complex narrative through early Christian writings from the first six centuries of the Common Era. Church and Empire is part of Ad Fontes: Early Christian Sources, a series designed to present ancient Christian texts essential to an understanding of Christian theology, ecclesiology, and practice. 

Treatise on Good Works, 1520: The Annotated Luther Study Edition

Timothy J. Wengert (Editor)

Timothy J. Wengert shows Luther's Treatise on Good Works to be one of the clearest introductions to Luther's reforming work and theology. Luther's goal was to commend a new, down-to-earth piety to all Christians through a radically different meaning of good works that would transform the way believers practiced their faith.

Introduction to the History of Christianity: Second Edition, Course Pack

Tim Dowley (Editor)

The most popular introduction to Christianity ever published, Dowley's work tells in an engaging way the dramatic, intriguing, and often surprising story of Christians in...

A History of Luther Seminary: 1869-2019

Mark A. Granquist (Author)

Church historian and Luther faculty member Mark Granquist provides a new and comprehensive history of Luther Seminary just in time for the celebration of the institution's 150th anniversary (1869-2019). It also explores recent history, analyzes the challenges faced by the ELCA, and the major shifts in theological education in the early 21st century, and includes a gallery of photos chronicling Luther's history.

The Large Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther, 1529: The Annotated Luther Study Edition

Kirsi I. Stjerna (Editor)

With great detail, Kirsi I. Stjerna introduces and annotates Luther's Large Catechism, in which the reformer set out to offer a new compass for religious life. He believed all Christian people—laity and clergy—needed a guide to comprehend the basic biblical, creedal, and sacramental teachings.

Exploring Church History

Derek Cooper (Author)

Derek Cooper invites readers to consider the purpose and significance of church history in the lives of individuals and communities today. Cooper brings history to life by emphasizing how past events, individuals, and movements shape how we understand the world around us.

Understandings of the Church

George Kalantzis (Editor), Everett Ferguson (Editor)

Understandings of the Church explores the ways imagery is used by biblical writers and early Christian teachers such as Cyprian, Ignatius of Antioch, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen to describe the concept of church. Ad Fontes: Early Christian Sources is a series designed to present ancient Christian texts essential to an understanding of Christian theology, ecclesiology, and practice. Developed in light of recent patristic scholarship for new generations of students of theology, the volumes will provide a representative sampling of theological contributions from both East and West.

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520: The Annotated Luther Study Edition

Erik H. Herrmann (Editor), Paul W. Robinson (Editor)

In his The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther set forth a reconsideration of the sacramental Christian life that centered on the word. His thesis is that the papacy had distorted the sacraments with its own traditions and regulations, transforming them into a system of control and coercion.

The Bondage of the Will, 1525 (abridged): The Annotated Luther Study Edition

Volker Leppin (Editor), Kirsi I. Stjerna (Editor)

In autumn 1525, Luther wrote The Bondage of the Will as a response to humanist and theologian Erasmus of Rotterdam, who had criticized Luther's teachings in the diatribe On Free Will. Luther's argument on the matter of the bound and free will poses a challenge and an invitation for constructive contemporary theology.