Lutheran Book Review

      The Theology and Life of Robert David Preus: Papers Presented at the Congress on the Lutheran Confessions, Itasca, Illinois, April 8-10, 1999. St. Louis: The Luther Academy, 2009. 142 Pages. Paper. $15.95. http://www.lutheracademy.com/   http://theacl.org/TheACL/Home.html   http://www.logia.org/ (LHP)   The Theology of the Cross: Reflections on His Cross and Ours (Impact Series) . Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 2008. 283 Pages. Paper. $17.99. http://www.nph.net/ (LHP).   Wright, N. T. Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009. 279 Pages. Cloth. $25.00. http://academic.ivpress.com/ (LHP)   Nichols, Stephen J. What Is Vocation? (Basics of the Faith series). Phillipsburg, NJ: PandR, 2010. 31 Pages. Paper/Staple-bound. $3.99. http://www.prpbooks.com/ (LHP) Saltzman, Russell E. The Pastor's Page and Other Small Essays . Delhi, New York: The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, 2010. 100 Pages. Paper. $6.50. htt

  Driscoll, Mark and Gerry Breshears. Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe . Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2010. 463 Pages. Cloth. $22.99. http://www.relit.org/ http://www.crossway.org / (P).   Mueller, Steven P. Called to Believe, Teach, and Confess: An Introduction to Doctrinal Theology (Called by the Gospel). Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2005. 574 Pages. Paper. $55.00. http://www.wipfandstock.com/ (P)     Whether the seminary's department is called "Systematic," "Dogmatic," or "Doctrinal" Theology, Christians should embrace as study of what the Bible says, especially when everything God's Word says about a specific topic or issue is organized in one place.   I am not talking about "winds of doctrine" or mere "human doctrine." The best dogmatics texts treat the sedes doctrinae, "seat of the doctrine," as the source of what Christians teach. This has been caricatured into "proof texting," at best, and, at wors

Page CXVI. Hymns IV. Gilbert, AZ: Page CXVI, 2011. mp3 audio download. $9.99. http://pagecxvi.com/ (H)

  Page CXVI. Hymns. Gilbert, AZ: Page CXVI, 2009. mp3 audio download. $6.99. http://pagecxvi.com/ (H)   Page CXVI. Hymns II. Gilbert, AZ: Page CXVI, 2010. mp3 audio download. $6.99. http://pagecxvi.com/ (H)   Page CXVI. Hymns III. Gilbert, AZ: Page CXVI, 2010. mp3 audio download. $6.99. http://pagecxvi.com/ (H)   Hymns are being rediscovered in American churches. This is a good thing! Why the name Page CXVI ? The name comes from a reference to page 116 in our copy of The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis. It is a poignant passage where Aslan begins to sing Narnia into creation out of a black void. It starts, "In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction is was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. The

      Luther, Martin. Edited and translated by Holger Sonntag. Solus Decalogus Est Aeternus: Martin Luther's Complete Antinomian Theses and Disputations. Minneapolis: Cygnus Series/Lutheran Press, 2008. 409 Pages. Paper. $15.50. www.lutheranpress.com (LHP)   Luther, Martin. Translated by Holger Sonntag. Edited and Arranged by Paul Strawn. Christians Can Be Soldiers: From Martin Luther's Whether Soldiers Too Can Be in a Holy Estate . Minneapolis: Lutheran Press, 2010. 123 Pages. Paper. $6.00.  www.lutheranpress.com (LHP)   Luther, Martin. Translated by Holger Sonntag. Adapted by Paul Strawn. Convicted by the Spirit: From Martin Luther's Postil 235 - John 16:8-13). Minneapolis: Lutheran Press, 2009. 105 Pages. Paper. $.6.00. www.lutheranpress.com (LHP)   Luther, Martin. Edited by Christopher Boyd Brown. Sermons V (Luther's Works, Volume 58.) St. Louis: Concordia, 2010. 489 Pages. Cloth. $49.99. http://www.cph.org (LHP)     I've said it once and I'll say it a

    Potter, David. Man of Sorrows Glorious King. 2010. Omaha: David Potter, 2010. mp3 audio download. $12.00. http://davidpotter.bandcamp.com/album/man-of-sorrows-glorious-king (H)     The Church's hymnody is being rediscovered and reinterpreted around the country. This review of Man of Sorrows Glorious King is one of a series of reviews that focus on this resurgence of hymnody.   It is my assertion that this trend is a good thing.    And here's how I think it is happening.   The generation of children raised in megachurches is coming of age. They tire of worship trappings of their Baby Boomer parents (like the boomers tired of traditional Christian worship in the 1960's, give or take a decade).   Then what? They look for something older, something more constant, more sure. So I see various artists, groups, and congregations look at the oldest worship books in their particular tradition for theological depth. And they seem to be finding it in hymns.   As a Lutheran Chris