This volume provides two of Martin Luther's most significant writings on prayer. In Little Prayer Book (1522), Luther seeks to reform the theology and practice of prayer in clear and understandable language for all people by encouraging simple, direct prayer to God, who promises to hear the one who prays. Luther focuses on the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, and Lord's Prayer, giving his treatment of prayer a catechetical feel that would later provide the structure of his catechisms.In A Simple Way to Pray (1535), Luther offers his barber and all other readers insights into his own prayer life. He organizes his comments around the seven petitions of the prayer Jesus taught to his disciples. He also uses the Ten Commandments and the Apostles' Creed as resources for prayer. He sets out to "kindle a fire in the heart" and increase the reader's eagerness for prayer.This volume is excerpted from The Annotated Luther series, volume 4 (Pastoral Writings). Each volume and selection in the series contains new introductions, extensive annotations, illustrations, and notes to help shed light on Luther's context and to interpret his writings for today.

This valuable contribution to the debate about the relation of religion to the modern city fills an important gap in the historiography of early nineteenth-century religious life. It is a pioneering study of local churches in the urban environment. Based on extensive archival research of churches in Manchester and London in the years 1810-60, it considers the work and thought of ministers who held to a high Calvinistic form of theology. Exploration of this little studied and often derided grouping reveals that their role in the religious and social life of these cities was highly active and responsive, and merits serious reappraisal.

Martin Luther King's observation that 11 a.m. on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week remains all too true. Christians addressing racism in American society must begin with a frank assessment of how race figures in the churches themselves, leading activist Joseph Barndt argues. This practical and important volume extends the insights of Barndt's earlier, more general work to address the race situation in the churches and to equip people there to be agents for change in and beyond their church communities. A hallmark of Barndt's analysis is his keen grasp of the deep yet checkered legacy that American church and church bodies inherit on this question. Yet Barndt also lifts up the ways in which their prophetic work has proved a catalyst for progress in American race relations, and he clearly shows why and how churches can inculcate an anti-racist commitment into their collective lives. Contents Adobe Acrobat Document Preface Adobe Acrobat Document Introduction Adobe Acrobat Document Chapter 1 Adobe Acrobat Document Samples require Adobe Acrobat Reader Having trouble downloading and viewing PDF samples? "Becoming an Anti-Racist Church offers one the opportunity to comprehend and terminate racism in the church through self analysis and the discernment of God's intention for an inclusive church. The book includes practical ideas and a rich list of resources for those who are serious about institutional change." -Sherman G. Hicks Executive Director, Multicultural Ministries Evangelical Lutheran Church in America "Barndt's new book provides an informed, incisive, and passionate analysis of the challenge racism poses to our collective ability to live out our faith. His title is explicit: this is an achievable objective for the Christian church of the twenty-first century. And Barndt provides here the theological, biblical, social, and historical underpinnings for this belief in accessible, persuasive language. This is a remarkable accomplishment considering Christian complicity in the structures and ideologies of racial oppression. People of faith who read this work will find both motivation and method to accomplish the task of building an anti-racist church." -Victor M. Rodriguez Professor and Former Chair of the Chicano and Latino Studies Department California State University, Long Beach