Lutheran Book Review

  Quick Summaries are pithy paragraph-long reviews of releases that cross our LBR desk.  These are reviews for when you don't have all day to decide whether a resource is worth your time, money, storage space, or trouble. Hawn, C. Michael, editor. Forewords by Carlton R. Young. Foreword by Mary Louise Bringle. Preface by Brian Hehn.  Sing with Understanding: Introduction to Theology in Christian Congregational Song (Third Edition).  Chicago: GIA Publications, 2022. 488 Pages. Paper with extensive online resources. $34.95.  https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/sing-with-understanding-third-edition-book-g10721 Webber, Christopher L.  Songs of Justice, Peace, and Love: The Sharon Hymnal.  Chicago: World Library Publications, 2022. 266 Pages. Spiral. $29.95.   https://www.giamusic.com/store/resource/songs-of-justice-peace-and-love-print-003434 Mann, Robert C.  The Church Sings Its Faith.  Chicago: GIA Publications, 2022. 237 Pages. Paper. $29.95.  https://www.giamusic.com/store/reso

Giertz, Bo. Translated by Bror Erickson.  New Testament Devotional Commentary, Volume I: Matthew, Mark, Luke.  Irvine: 1517 Publishing: 2022. 379 Pages. Paper. $34.95.  https://shop.1517.org/products/add-to-wishlist-the-new-testament-devotional-commentary-volume-1-matthew-mark-and-luke Giertz, Bo. Translated by Bror Erickson.  New Testament Devotional Commentary, Volume II: John, Acts, Romans.  Irvine: 1517 Publishing: 2022. 439 Pages. Paper. $31.95.  https://shop.1517.org/products/the-new-testament-devotional-commentary-volume-2-john-acts-romans-1-2-corinthians Giertz, Bo. Translated by Bror Erickson.  A Shepherd's Letter: The Faith Once and For All Delivered to the Evangelical Church.  Irvine: 1517 Publishing: 2022. 212 Pages. Paper. $18.95.  https://shop.1517.org/products/a-shepherds-letter-the-faith-once-and-for-all-delivered-to-the-saints Today's review features works by Bo Giertz, previously most well-known as the author of Hammer of God , a novel that teaches well the pr

Hains, Todd R. Foreword by Robert Kolb. Martin Luther and the Rule of Faith: Reading God's Word for God's People (New Explorations in Theology). Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2022. 240 Pages. Paper. $40.00.  https://www.ivpress.com/martin-luther-and-the-rule-of-faith Farney, Kirk D. Foreword by Mark A. Noll.  Ministers of a New Medium: Broadcasting Theology in the Radio Ministries of Fulton J. Sheen and Walter A. Maier .  Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2022. 368 Pages. Cloth with dustjacket. $40.00.  https://www.ivpress.com/ministers-of-a-new-medium Both titles here are from IVP Academic. Both involve teaching the faith. With regard to the book on Luther, the pattern he established in the 16th Century, and with regard to second book, learning how two religious radio broadcasters established patterns in the 20th Century. Martin Luther considered the reading of God's word to be his primary task as a theologian, a pastor, and a Christian. Though he is often portrayed as reading t

Keating, Ray.  Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel .   Long Island: Keating Reports,  2022. 370  Pages. Paper. Kindle Available. $21.99. (Also available signed and in bundles at author site)   https://raykeatingonline.com/products/cathedral Keating, Ray.  Persecution: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel (The Pastor Stephen Grant Series Book 16).  Long Island: Keating Reports, 2022. 370 Pages. Kindle. $9.99. Paper. $21.99. (Also available signed and in bundles at author site)  https://raykeatingonline.com/products/persecution The two novels today are an addition to all those depicted above. Ray Keating is branching out again. Author of the engaging Pastor Stephen Grant Novel series, Keating is worldbuilding again with the novel Cathedral , first in a new series, Alliance of Saint Michael. Cathedral: An Alliance of Saint Michael Novel is Ray Keating’s sixteenth work of fiction, and the first in the Alliance of Saint Michael series.    The Alliance of Saint Michael brings together men

Green, Lowell C. Foreword by Scott Keith.  How Melanchthon Helped Luther Discover the Gospel: The Doctrine of Justification in the Reformation . Irvine: 1517 Publishing: 2021. 243 Pages. Paper. $19.95.  https://shop.1517.org/products/how-melanchthon-helped-luther-discover-the-gospel Melanchthon, Philipp. Edited by William P. Weaver, Stefan Strohm, and Volkhard Wels.  Opera Omnia: Opera Philosophica Volume 2/2 Principal Writings on Rhetoric.  Berlin: DE GRUYTER, 2017. Cloth over board. €125.19/$154.99.  https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110561197/html We focus on two very different volumes here. One is an introduction to Melancthon. The second is a very helpful academic book that should bear fruit in seminaries, colleges, high schools, and beyond in teaching rhetoric to young people.  Our first title is a reprint of a book some have called a classic. Note the new introduction by Scott Keith. This book is not claiming Melanchthon rediscovered the gospel. That honor belon

Wilkinson, Robert J.  Tetragrammaton: Western Christians and the Hebrew Name of God From the Beginnings to the Seventeenth Century (Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, Volume: 179) . Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2015. 587 Pages. Hardcover. (e-Book available.) $297.00.  https://brill.com/view/title/26914 There are few helpful books on the four-letter Divine Name in Hebrew and its use (or non-use) by Christians. Yes, journal articles abound, but I've struggled to find the answers I've wanted consistently, efficiently, and affordably. Tetragrammaton: Western Christians and the Hebrew Name of God From the Beginnings to the Seventeenth Century  fills an important gap for most seminary-level libraries and scholarly study.  Questions abound. Shall the Name be said aloud that we may pray, praise, and give thanks? Must it only and always be presented as יְהוָ֥ה? Is YHWH acceptable?  Should the name be replaced with a pious substitute? What of HERR, SENOR, Lord, LORD, and  Lor