ContentsIntroduction: God's Word Endures Forever: The Wittenberg School of Exegesis1. The Bible in the World of Luther's Childhood and Youth2. In the Beginning God Said: Luther's Understanding of the Word of God3. Nowhere More Present Than in Scripture: Luther's Perception of What the Bible Is4. Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: Luther's Hermeneutical Framework5. Search the Scriptures: Luther as Professor6. Faith Comes by Hearing: Luther the Preacher7. Teaching All Nations: Luther as Translator8. Instruction in Sound Teaching: The Wittenberg Curriculum, the Wittenberg Commentary, the Wittenberg Colleagues9. Searching the Scriptures the Wittenberg Way: Sixteenth-Century Tools for Study of the Bible10. Biographical Interlude: The Later Wittenberg Commentators11. Formulas for Speaking Circumspectly and Avoiding Offense: Hermeneutics for Exegesis and Preaching among Luther's Students12. Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth: The Late Reformation Wittenberg Commentaries13. In Season, Out of Season: The Forms and Methods of Late Reformation Preaching in the Wittenberg Circle14. With a Firm Grasp of the Word: The Message of Late Reformation ProclamationThe Enduring Word of God: Concluding ReflectionIndexes

"While Luther rightly dominates Lutheranism as the single most important theological leader of the movement, he neither emerged from a vacuum nor operated as a Reformer in isolation. Instead, he was part of the vibrant intellectual ferment of his time, particularly as that was instantiated in the University of Wittenberg. Drawing on a lifetime of study not only of Luther himself but also of the Wittenberg School of which Luther was a part, Robert Kolb here offers a superb contextual analysis of Luther's biblical exegesis and theology both in his own day and as they were subsequently developed by his students. For those interested in the history of exegesis, the thought of Martin Luther, and the formation of post-Luther Lutheranism, this book is a treat."--Carl R. Trueman, Grove City College"This is perhaps Robert Kolb's best work on Martin Luther. Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God presents the Wittenberg Reformer at the center of a circle of colleagues and students engaged in a fresh approach to the Bible that would reshape Christian piety. The scope of Kolb's book is remarkable, spanning Luther's early exposure to the Scriptures in the milieu of late-medieval spirituality, his reform of biblical interpretation and preaching in the university, his collaboration with others to use the Bible as a renewed source for Christian faith and life, and the often-unexamined next generation of Lutherans who helped change the religious map of Europe. Kolb invites the reader into a world of theologians, pastors, and Reformers who are captivated by the Bible and aspire to give the Word of God a hearing in a tumultuous age. His book stands as an invitation to do further research in the history of biblical interpretation: to trace the connections between the world of the Reformation and later developments in the handling of the Bible in the early modern period. Students of the Reformation at every level will benefit from Martin Luther and the Enduring Word of God and be grateful for Robert Kolb as a teacher and guide."--Erik Herrmann, Center for Reformation Research, Concordia Seminary"I began reading Kolb's work about forty years ago as a doctoral student. Today what amazes me most is how he keeps getting better: more meticulous in his research, more lucid in his writing, and more penetrating in his analysis. This new book is quite simply his best! Indispensable for understanding Luther's lifelong and greatest obsession."--Denis R. Janz, Loyola University New Orleans