Luther’s Works Volume 76: Church Postil II

Luther’s collected sermons for the church year were originally published in two series: the Church Postil and the House Postil. These were among his most popular works. Aside from his catechisms, they did more to teach people the Reformation than any other book. The new translation of the Church Postil follows the last edition of Luther’s life, from 1540–1544, and includes Luther’s often-extensive revisions to his own work, with significant variant readings from earlier editions translated in the footnotes.

This volume includes the sermons on the Epistle and Gospel readings from New Year through Holy Week, plus “Meditation on the Holy Suffering of Christ” and “Sermon on Confession and the Sacrament.” The appendix contains Luther’s prefaces to earlier editions of the Church Postil. All the sermons include footnotes indicating Luther’s edits over the course of his life, all rendered in clear, lucid English.

Benefits of Luther’s Works, American Edition, vol. 76 (Church Postil II):

1. Accurate and clear translation. (An early 20th-century version of these sermons was inaccurate and stilted.)
2. Presents the Church Postil as the mature Luther wanted it to be:
-Includes Luther’s often-extensive revisions to his own work, with significant variant readings from earlier editions translated in the footnotes.
-Includes the version of the summer sermons that Luther approved (Cruciger’s edition, not Roth’s edition).
-Epistles and Gospels are interspersed as they were originally printed, showing the progression of Luther’s teaching through the course of the church year. (The early 20th-century Lenker version followed the revisionist 1700 edition of Philipp Jakob Spener, not Luther’s mature, final edition of 1540 and 1544.)
3. Includes the careful, explanatory introductions and footnotes that have become a hallmark of Luther’s Works: American Edition.
4. Includes cross-references and a table showing where Luther’s sermons can be found in the German originals.
5. Fully indexed.

Edited by Benjamin T.G. Mayes and James L. Langebartels.