Published in Finland in 1983, Two Kinds of Love is the second of Tuomo Mannermaa's provocative books offering a distinctly different interpretation of Martin Luther's theology. The other, Christ Present in Faith, was published by Fortress Press in 2005. In Two Kinds of Love, Mannermaa unfolds Luther's understanding of love as the key to the reformer's theology of grace. Human love orients toward that "which is lovable to it"-- toward that which is already "good and beautiful"-- and, as such, comes into being only through "the prestige and glory of the loved one." In contrast, God's love, which "does not find but creates the lovable in its object," is a pure gift of grace, which makes possible our love for God and for one another. Mannermaa spearheaded the Finnish Luther Research project for more than twenty years, and more than any other is responsible for the unique perspective on Luther contributed to Luther scholarship by the Finnish School. Two Kinds of Love concludes with an afterword, reviewing Finnish Luther Research since 1977.

Mannermaa's revisionist work on justification in Luther's theology--a notable contribution from one of the most influential Finnish scholars of Luther studies-- is now available in English. His book opens up new interpretive questions for historical theology with striking implications for ecumenism, ethics, and spirituality. He writes, "the idea of the divine life in Christ which is present in faith lies at the very center of the theology of the Reformer." He argues that later Lutheran interpretation of this teaching has portrayed justification as more mechanical and forensic than Luther did, underestimated the extent to which God's righteousness is also ours, and obscured the radical personal transformation that Luther attributed to justification.