An Uncompromising Gospel: Lutheranism's First Identity Crisis and Lessons for Today

by Wade Johnston

Martin Luther, with preached and written word, unleashed the unconditional and uncompromising gospel of God’s love for sinners in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. He exposed both man’s lost condition and Christ’s unfathomable love with unrelenting persistence and unmistakable clarity.

Bound in sin, only Christ could set the sinner free, and Luther held Christ before his students, hearers, and readers. That message marked and formed his students and coworkers, and yet after his death bitter disputes broke out about some of the most central aspects of his theology. Debates cut to the very heart of the Reformation, and this while its future hung precariously in the balance.

An Uncompromising Gospel highlights Luther’s key theological teachings, details the controversies that broke out over them after his death, and provides important lessons for our own day, as Christians still struggle to grasp and hold forth the love of Christ for sinners dead in trespasses and sins.

As Lutheranism in specific, and Christianity as a whole, struggle to find and articulate their identity in challenging times yet once again, An Uncompromising Gospel provides helpful reminders about what the chief task and message of the church are and ought to be as it presses forward in God’s grace and with the good news of Christ Jesus.

123 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 25, 2017

Reviews

[Jeremiah Gumm · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent summary of the early controversies of the post-Luther era with a primary focus on how each of these controversies comes back to the key teaching of God's Word--that we are justified (declared not guilty) by God's grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone as found in Scripture alone. Dr. Johnston provides an intriguing introduction to Luther's Heidelberg Disputation and his On the Bondage of the Will, setting the stage for the summary of the controversies. Dr. Johnston's introduction of these two works of Luther leaves the reader eager to read them for himself. Finally, Dr. Johnston provides pertinent applications from these historical controversies for our own time. An Uncompromising Gospel is resource well worth the read.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnston basically writes what he wants. He writes good stuff, so the book is enjoyable. But it’s an organizational mess. My hunch is this was his doctoral dissertation, or he pulled everything from his past essays.

He does the following: riffs on Luther’s writings for a while, rambles about historical figures of the Protestant reformation, emphasizes the importance of denying synergism in the free will / justification discussion, and ends with some thoughts on pressures to change the liturgical worship service.

[Justin Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding read! Johnston goes through the theology of Luther flips through the history and theological issues of Flacius, and ties it all together in the confessions and application to today. This is a book I will come back to constantly.

[Connor Longaphie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly amazing

[Knut Kåre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gir et nyttig bakteppe for lutherske stridigheter på siste halvdel av 1500-tallet, ikke minst striden om adiafora.