The newest title in the Atonement in Confessional Lutheran Theology series is being added to the set of books that will be given for free to the first 100 couples or individual attenders of the Faith of Our Fathers conference on “The Gospel Shows the Father’s Grace” to arrive at the conference.
The proper understanding of the Law of God is essential for a Christian. Unfortunately, there has been much disagreement in American Lutheranism concerning the role of the Law in the Church. Last year’s conference focused on the dangers of antinomianism, the importance of the third use of the law, and how these topics have impacted the Missouri Synod’s preaching and teaching in recent years.
This year’s conference will focus on the beautiful harmony of God’s Law and Gospel and how His promises shape the Christian life. As recently sainted John Warwick Montgomery said, “The answer to antinomianism, social-gospel legalism, and existential relativism lies not only in the proper distinction between Law and Gospel, as C. F. W. Walther so effectively stressed, but also in the proper harmony of Law and Gospel, as set forth in the classic doctrine of the Third Use of the Law.”
Over two days at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Collinsville, IL, February 28-March 1, 2025, conference-goers will learn about and discuss God’s Law and Gospel, preaching, growth, and struggle in the Christian life, and what the Lutheran Confessions have to say about all these matters. The conference is for both laity and pastors.
Speakers and preachers include: Rev. Dr. Benjamin T. Ball, Rev. Dr. John S. Bruss, Rev. Dr. Thomas J. Egger, Rev. Dr. Gifford A. Grobien, Rev. Andrew J. Preus, Rev. William C. Weedon, Rev. Andy Wright, Rev. Andrew L. Packer, Rev. David P. Ramirez, and Rev. Joshua V. Scheer.
Synoptic Text™ is producing a series of books on Atonement in Confessional Lutheran Theology. Previously the series included:
- Atonement in Confessional Lutheran Theology: Franz Pieper
- Atonement in Confessional Lutheran Theology: Chorus of Voices
Now the third title in the series has been released:
In the foreword to this new volume, The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, President of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, says “Dr. Kilcrease is a reliable, clear and faithful guide.” With the abiding confession that is in accordance with Scripture and the Lutheran confessions in the 1580 Book of Concord, Harrison says Kilcrease “patiently and calmly takes the reader through the labyrinth of the history of the dogmas of atonement, justification, including numerous insufficient approaches recognized by Luther and Gerhard, philosophical influences driving Kant and Schleiermacher, affecting von Hoffmann and the ‘Radical Lutherans’ of our time. … This collection is essential for anyone attempting to decipher the issues swirling about this central dogma of the justification of the sinner before God and desiring to be faithful to the confessionally Lutheran witness to the truth.”
One hundred sets of Franz Pieper, Chorus of Voices, and now Jack D. Kilcrease will be given away on a first-come-first-served basis, by couple or individual, arriving at the conference.
The Franz Pieper title includes biographical sketches of Pieper by Theodore Graebner and W. H. T. Dau, three of Pieper’s writings on atonement, a foreword by Jack D. Kilcrease, and bibliographies of Pieper’s works and on atonement.
The Chorus of Voices title includes writings on atonement and reconciliation by, in alphabetical order by last name: W. H. T. Dau, Theodore Engelder, George O. Evenson, Martin H. Franzmann, Johann Gerhard, A. L. Graebner, David Hollaz, Leonhard Hutter, Leander S. Keyser, E. W. A. Koehler, Johann König, Robert D. Preus, Rolf D. Preus, Johannes Quenstedt, Heinrich Schmid, and George Stoeckhardt. Their writings include citations and quotations of Johann Gerhard, David Hollaz, Leonhard Hutter, Johann Köenig, and Johannes Quenstedt.
The new Jack D. Kilcrease volume presents an anthology of Kilcrease’s writings on atonement including:
- Martin Luther’s Unique Contribution to Western Atonement Theology
- The Centrality of Substitutionary Atonement
- Johann Gerhard, the Socinians, and Modern Rejections of Substitutionary Atonement
- Heilsgeschicte and Atonement in the Theology of Johannes Christian Konrad von Hofmann (1810-1877): An Exposition and Critique
- Gerhard Forde: A Short Appreciation and Critique
- Gerhard Forde’s Theology of Atonement and Justification: A Confessional Lutheran Response
- Gerhard Forde’s Doctrine of the Law: A Confessional Lutheran Critique
- Justification or Atonement? A Brief Comment on the Methodology of the Central Dogma Theory
- What Radical Lutherans Can Learn from Waltherian Lutherans
- Atonement in Franz Pieper: Context and Confession
Added is a summary and commentary on Kilcrease’s The Doctrine of the Atonement from Luther to Forde by Rev. Dennis E. McFadden. Register to attend and arrive among the first 100 couples or individuals to receive this set of books for free.