A disillusioned Martin Luther was losing his faith until he experienced freedom of conscience with the gospel of grace that he found from his un-authorized re-reading of the Scriptures. This experience stimulated Luther's desire to free the Christian religion from teachings that could burden the human soul. In doing so, he offered a grammar for a Christian theology that is both mystical and liberating. Kirsi Stjerna here offers a contemporary reading of Luther's vision of a religion that is guided by concerns for freedom. Her study first considers Luther's understanding of the profound tension in human experience as simultaneously broken and holy; and second, how he aimed to orient Christians to live with freedom from despair via the security found in being grounded in God. Offering a critical reading of Luther's central insights and teachings, Stjerna invites readers to engage with Luther's story and contemplate the relevance of his theology in contemporary discourse on religion.

‘Kirsi Stjerna invites us to engage with Martin Luther rather than only to admire him. She illuminates his insights, explains his struggles, and does not shy away from mentioning his shortcomings. This is a book about a deeply human Reformer who was grounded in a spirituality of freedom. Stjerna unfolds the main topics of Luther’s theology. This marvelous book can serve as an introduction for beginners as well as a resource for experts.’

Volker Leppin - Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology, Yale University

‘For decades, Kirsi Stjerna has been a bridgebuilder between European and North American Luther studies. In this volume, she offers a rich elaboration of core themes of the Reformation, focusing on experience and emotion, body and spirituality, lived religion and church doctrine. Luther and Religion shows how theological visions emerge from personal and historical struggles.’

Risto Saarinen - Professor of Ecumenics, University of Helsinki

‘I cannot think of a scholar better equipped to introduce Martin Luther and the significance of his theological insights to 21st century readers, than Professor Kirsi Stjerne. Luther and Religion is based on solid knowledge of the subject matter, and extensive experience of teaching it. In this book, contemporary readers will be encountered by a 16th century theologian, while formed by his own historical context, changed his way of doing theology because of his experience of discovering a gracious God. Stjerna, who has a profound passion for what she is writing about, is not only interested in helping her readers to engage with Luther and his theological contributions, but to encourage them to ask critical questions rooted in their own experience. Anyone who is interested in the image and language about God today, will find in Luther, as portrayed in Stjerna’s book, an important and valuable dialogue partner.’

Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir - Professor, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, The University of Iceland, and Vice-President of The Lutheran World Federation

‘A new, fresh Luther emerges from the pages of this meticulously researched and beautifully written theological survey and intellectual biography: a thinker whose concerns with freedom and faith resonate with the complexity of our contemporary, pluralizing world. I learned to appreciate aspects of a Luther I was completely unaware of-his mystical, democratizing apprehension of God’s love, his attention to the equality between men and women in creation and processes of justification. Stjerna’s invaluable study shows why Luther still matters, five hundred years after his earth-shattering ideas started shaping a modernity we are very much still within.’

Devin Zuber - , Associate Professor of American Studies, Religion, & Literature, Graduate Theological Union

‘Martin Luther profoundly changed the religious landscape of Western Christianity. Stjerna’s book reintroduces Luther and his religious themes through the lens of freedom, providing an accessible and comprehensive oversight of his key themes and making the case for the continuing study of Luther as a pivotal figure in Christian religious studies and a relevant thinker in today’s multi-religious landscape.’

Kayko Driedger Hesslein - William Hordern Professor of Theology, Lutheran Theological Seminary Saskatoon

‘In our own troubled world, scholar Kirsi Stjerna offers an invitation to engage Scripture and Martin Luther’s theology again-encouraging readers to read the Word through the lens of their own experience just as Martin Luther once did. This book presents Luther’s story as an invitation to the reader to find her place in the conversation with God through Scripture today.’

Jennifer Hockenbery - Executive Director, Women of the ELCA and the Editor of Journal of Lutheran Ethics

‘The Luther we meet in this insightful volume is grounded firmly in his late medieval context, with a theology and spirituality that challenge many of our instinctive assumptions about religion. Yet the Luther of these pages is also relevant to some of today’s most pressing religious questions, from freedom to suffering to gender to religious difference. Lucid and engaging, this book will be accessible for those new to Luther and provocative and eye-opening for those who have been reading him for decades.’

Carl S. Hughes - Pastor Gerhard A. & Marion Poehlmann Professor of Theology, Texas Lutheran University