Theology for the pew, not the ivory tower.
Books and adult Bible studies for ordinary Christians — written by a layman, for the pew. Whether you want to read Scripture with more confidence, recover from a tradition that wore you out, or hear a word of grace in the middle of a long struggle, start here.
- Start here
For Bible Readers
You want to read Scripture with more confidence — and teach it to others.
- Ad Fontes
- Ad Fontes: The Old Testament Text
- Just Enough Greek
- The Bible study series
- Start here
For Weary Evangelicals
You love Jesus, but something about your church tradition stopped adding up.
- The Hollow Altar
- The Altar Call, the Anxious Bench, and the Empty Pew
- Grace Withheld
- Start here
For the Struggling
You're a Christian — and you still struggle. These books are for you.
- THORN
- KEPT
- A MAN OF BLOOD
New essays and answers
You Are Egypt
The critique is sound. Where it goes wrong is in the diagnosis of the cause, and therefore in the prescription of the cure.
Read →The Wordless Book and the Baptized Child
Good News Clubs look like the most unobjectionable thing in the world. But CEF has published exactly what it believes, it requires its workers to reaffirm that doctrine every year, and article five of …
Read →Why Did Jesus Descend into Hell?
The creed's 'descended into hell' translates descendit ad inferos, the realm of the dead, not the place of torment.
Read →Depart, Unclean Spirit
Luther cut the salt, the spit, the oil, and the candle from the baptismal rite. He kept the exorcism. Two centuries later his heirs kept everything he had cut and dropped the one thing he refused to. …
Read →
Dispensationalism — a field guide
A free, in-depth web guide to dispensationalism, the rapture, the millennium, Israel and the Church, and Christian Zionism — what the system teaches, and what confessional Lutherans confess instead. No download; read it in your browser.
Just Enough Greek
50 Words Every Confessional Lutheran Should Know
Fifty Greek words that open up the New Testament — no seminary required.
The Hollow Altar
A Confessional Lutheran Invitation to Weary Evangelicals
For evangelicals who are tired — an invitation to something older, deeper, and full of grace.
THORN
A Lutheran Word for the Christian Who Struggles
For the Christian who still struggles — and wonders what that means.
Three series, written for real congregations
Letters to the Church Under Pressure
Four New Testament letters for Christians holding fast in a hostile world.
- Epistle of Straw? — James
- Strangers and Exiles — 1 Peter
- That You May Know — 1–3 John
- Something Better — Hebrews
The Pauline Captivity Letters
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon — written from chains, full of Christ.
- In Christ — Ephesians
- To Live Is Christ — Philippians
- Christ in You — Colossians
- Brother in Christ — Philemon
The Things Concerning Himself
Finding Christ in the Old Testament, as He Himself taught (Luke 24:27).
- Genesis — Genesis
- Psalms — Psalms
- Isaiah — Isaiah
- The Twelve — Hosea–Malachi