Martin Luther’s Christmas Book edited by Roland H. Bainton is a brief, readable collection of some of Luther’s thinking on Christmas and the meaning it holds for believers. Bainton has culled excerpts from approximately 30 years’ worth of Luther’s sermons and has organized them in a somewhat sequential manner representing the progression of God coming to earth as man.

While you might expect this book to be heavy, it is instead full of the depth of beauty present for all people in the planned and purposeful act of God sending the Redeemer of the World through a young and lowly virgin, celebrated not by the leading religious people of Jesus’ time but by the most common and foreign.

Through the thoughtful choosing and layout of editor Roland Bainton, we hear a gentler voice than perhaps we customarily associate with Luther, reminding us of the profound simplicity of the Gospel for all men.

“I would not have you contemplate the deity of Christ, but rather his flesh. Look upon the baby Jesus. Divinity may terrify man. Inexpressible majesty will crush him. That is why Christ took on our humanity, save for sin, that he should not terrify us but rather that with love and favor he should console and confirm”( p.33).

As you contemplate the beauty behind the Nativity this season, Bainton’s book may well help you strip away some of the more familiar aspects and dwell more deeply upon the deep and abiding love expressed by our God to all people as He orchestrated the arrival of our Deliverer.

Roland H. Bainton has also edited a collection of Luther’s writings in Martin Lutherʼs Easter Book. In his introduction, Bainton asserts that “in order to be widely read in our day, he [Martin Luther] will have to be excerpted.” What follows is an accessible and well-organized presentation of some of Lutherʼs sermons and lectures on the Gospels, translated by Bainton.

The excerpts are organized around the central themes of Easter, the journey to Jerusalem, Lordʼs Supper, and the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus. Passages of Scripture tied to Lutherʼs lectures and sermons are interwoven throughout the excerpts and serve to highlight his conviction of the importance of the Gospel to the Christian.

Baintonʼs presentation allows the reader to focus on phrases that highlight foundational teachings of the Lutheran faith. It makes accessible the simplicity and complexity of the Gospel as seen through Lutherʼs eyes. While the sheer volume of Lutherʼs writings may seem too much to tackle, Bainton, through Martin Lutherʼs Easter Book, gives any reader the opportunity to access his words.

I think this would gratify Luther in that it makes explanation of the Gospel and Christʼs work on the cross easily available to all. More people may have the opportunity to know that through His death and resurrection, “all that was of the old Adam and the law was dead and done away. Now that I no longer see an angry judge, but that God has given his Son for me, I behold upon the cross the fiery, fatherly love of God” (p.79).

Janelle Mellgren
AFLBS Alumnus
Bloomington, MN

Order your copy of Martin Luther’s Christmas Book here: Ambassador Publications Online Store 

Order your copy of Martin Luther’s Easter Book here: Ambassador Publications Online Store