Ngien probes the depths of Luther's writing on the primary texts of the Small and Large Catechisms, uncovering a Trinitarian grammar of faith grounded in the Creed and further explicated in the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. "God's most earnest purpose is to be our God," Luther writes in his commentary on the first commandment. From these core teachings, argues Ngien, springs and understanding of the entire substance of the Bible: the knowledge of our illness under the law, the provision of medicine in the Creed, and the appropriation of the cure which faith grasps by the Lord's Prayer. A leading scholar of Luther's biblical theology, Ngien draws on a vast array of sources to compose a cogent and comprehensive analysis of this grammar of faith that forms the backbone of the Lutheran witness. Building upon scholarship that traces the historical development of Luther's Trinitarian theology, Ngien invites us into how Luther then applies Trinitarian discourse to theological themes such as creation, redemption, and sanctification. Ngien's careful exegesis demonstrates that for Luther, the crucial element is not so much about what we know of God doctrinally as it is about what that knowledge does in, to, and through us. No doctrine of God is ever complete unless it shows its relevance to practical life and action. Readers will leave Ngien's work satisfied they understand both the how and the why of God's most earnest purpose.
Dennis Ngien is research professor of theology at Tyndale University and distinguished professor at the Institute of Lutheran Theology's Christ School of Theology. Formerly the Alister E. McGrath Chair of Christian Thought and Spirituality at Tyndale, he is the author of several books, including Paragon of Excellence: Luther's Sermons on 1 Peter (Fortress, 2023) and Fruit for the Soul: Luther on the Lament Psalms (Fortress, 2015).
Foreword by Graham Tomlin Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: God's Most Earnest Purpose and the Grammar of Faith in Luther Chapter 1: Rooted in Tradition: Luther's Doctrine of the Trinity Chapter 2: God's Most Earnest Purpose in the Ten Commandments Chapter 3: God's Most Earnest Purpose in Creation Chapter 4: God's Most Earnest Purpose in Redemption Chapter 5: God's Most Earnest Purpose in Sanctification Chapter 6 God's Most Earnest Purpose in the Lord's Prayer Conclusion: Let the Gospel Lead the Way Afterword by Jeffrey G. Silcock Bibliography Index
Systematic theologians have bemoaned the fact that Luther produced no comprehensive dogmatics. However, echoing the heart of Luther's teachings, Ngien gives us a succinct outline of the Reformer's faith, flowing from the Trinitarian dynamics implicit in Luther's understanding of the gospel, mirroring and fleshing out his catechisms. Readers will find that Ngien provides an insightful and nuanced approach to Luther's doctrine of God and how it bears upon daily life. --Mark Mattes, Lutheran Bible Institute chair and professor of theology, Grand View University In attending to Luther's Trinitarian grammar of faith, Ngien draws out the neglected riches of Luther's account of the self-giving of God and its centrality to our identity as those loved by God, accepted by Christ, and renewed by the Spirit. Characterized by deep learning, remarkably fresh insights, and pastoral sensitivity, God's Most Earnest Purpose will reward all who want to love God above all else with the love that God deposits in us by the Spirit, who is himself love. --Christopher R. J. Holmes, professor of systematic theology, University of Otago Dennis Ngien brings his detailed knowledge of Luther's theology to bear on the issue, rather neglected in English-speaking study, of the content of Luther's catechetical instruction from the late 1520s. This reading is informed by understanding the Reformer's soteriological emphases as being ultimately Trinitarian, personalist, and relational, such that soteriology is no "mere doctrine" but an invitation to a life of trust and communion with the Lord of life, who is Father, Son, and Spirit. This includes the work of the Holy Spirit in believers' sanctification: "the Third Article is most important" (Luther). This is a carefully and deeply researched book that seeks to communicate something of the realities that Luther, the famous professor of biblical theology, sought to convey. --Mark W. Elliott, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto In God's Most Earnest Purpose, Dennis Ngien masterfully brings together a panoply of Luther scholarship and contemporary systematic theology. Against those, like Karl Holl and Adolf von Harnack, who claimed that the Trinity was only marginal to Luther's thinking, Ngien is able to successfully show the centrality of the Trinity to Luther's concepts of salvation and the Christian life. --Jack D. Kilcrease, professor of historical and systematic theology, Christ School of Theology A fine achievement, representing the culmination of a career immersed in Reformation theology. Ngien illuminates the deep Trinitarian foundations of Luther's soteriology, offering a compelling interpretation of the great Reformer's doctrine of God. This is a book of careful scholarship, but it also radiates with the same passion and spiritual urgency that one finds in Luther's proclamation of the gospel. --James E. Pedlar, Bastian Chair of Wesley Studies, Tyndale Seminary Ngien's succinct interpretation of Luther's catechisms according to a "Trinitarian grammar of faith" allows the reader to appreciate the magisterial Reformer as precisely the theologian he aspired to be: not an "innovator," but a faithful exegete of the church's biblically grounded doctrinal tradition. --Bernd Wannenwetsch, honorary professor of systematic theology and ethics, Freie Theologische Hochschule, Geissen An excellent account of Luther's "Trinitarian grammar of salvation" which brings out clearly the internal consistency of Luther's approach to the work of God in the world and in believers, and especially its implications for the life of faith. This book both advances our scholarly understanding of Luther and our pastoral understanding of his contemporary significance. --Alister McGrath, senior research fellow, Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion, emeritus Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, and emeritus fellow, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford
