This reference offers a concise, well-written overview of Lutheranism's history, from The Book of Concord to the present. Grtisch explores the sect, examining the basic struggle among Lutherans who consider themselves heirs to a reform movement and Lutherans who see themselves as members of a denomination. Numerous photos and illustrations accompany the text.

Rejected in the sixteenth century by both Protestants and Catholics, yet hailed by Marxist historians as a forerunner of the Marxist revolution, this volume tells M?ntzer's story and offers a critical assessment of him in light of his extant works, with particular attention to the religious foundations of his revolutionary program.

Eric Gritsch, a renowned historian, a pastor, and a theologian for half a century, offers Christianity a reality check, exposing four historical movements that have weakened, and abused the core of the Christian tradition. These movements represent wayward views on the relationships between Christians and Jews; Between the authority of Scripture and tradition; Between the church and worldly power, and between faith and morals.

Description: Professor Heussi? I Thought You are a Book is an entertaining account of six decades of graduate education with the subtitle A Memoir of Memorable Theological Educators, 1950-2010. In personal encounters as well as in books, academic icons appear on the horizon of memory: Viktor Frankl in Vienna, Karl Barth in Basel, Carl Jung in Zurich, Reinhold Niebuhr in New York, Paul Tillich at Harvard, and the doctor father Roland Bainton at Yale. They are mixed with has-beens, upstarts, and other special professorial characters. In this memoir of Lutheran scholar, Eric Gritsch, these...

In this book Eric W. Gritsch, a Lutheran and a distinguished Luther scholar, faces the glaring ugliness of Martin Luther's anti- Semitism head-on, describing Luther's journey from initial attempts to proselytize Jews to an appallingly racist position, which he apparently held until his death.
Comprehensively laying out the textual evidence for Luther's virulent anti-Semitism, Gritsch traces the development of Luther's thinking in relation to his experiences, external influences, and theological convictions. Revealing greater impending danger with each step, Martin Luther's...

Russian political history and Russian church history are tied together very tightly. One cannot properly understand the overall history of Russia without considering the role of the Orthodox Church in Russia.
Cross and Kremlin uniquely surveys both the history and the contemporary situation of the Russian Orthodox Church. The first chapter gives a concise chronology from the tenth century through the present day. The following chapters highlight several important issues and aspects of Russian Orthodoxy -- church-state relations, theology, ecclesiastical structure, monasticism,...

Description: This book offers a swift trek through two millennia of Christendom, with all the information provided by boring textbooks. The author presents the Christian story within the framework of a warning of Jesus in his famous Sermon on the Mount: ""You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt becomes dumb, with what shall one salt?"" (Matt 5:13). The story is told with wit, spiked by satire and a gallows humor. There are three chapters (symbolizing the Trinity), each encompassing seven centuries (symbolizing the seven days of creation), with four parts in each chapter (symbolizing...

This book is a collection of seven Good Friday homilies by the late Rev. Dr. Eric W. Gritsch. Due to the fact that this respected historian, writer, teacher, and preacher rarely wrote his sermons, this book of printed meditations will be a treasured addition to any library. Here Gritsch captures the essence of Christian theology, highlighting the concepts with his understanding of human history and human foibles. The insights and wit for which this beloved teacher is known abound in this small volume. In this collection, the seven last words of Christ from the cross are made relevant for...