Alister E. McGrath, Luther’s Theology of the Cross: Martin Luther’s Theological Breakthrough.

2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011, 252 pp.

Published some twenty-five years after the first edition, McGrath’s revised work on the
groundbreaking theology of Martin Luther comes as a welcome reprise of the original. Focused
on the immensely significant decade of 1509-19 in Luther’s own development as a leader in the
Protestant Reformation, McGrath seeks to identify the ways in which the German theologian not
only bears with the tradition of practical theology from his Augustinian Order but also breaks
with or expands upon the theological foundations he was given there. For this task, he
endeavours to trace the course of Luther’s understanding of justification as it develops and
evolves to account for his growing appreciation for the righteousness of God from the epistle to
the Romans. What resulted in those formative years of Luther’s struggle was his greatest
contribution to the reforming theology of his generation: his theologia crucis (‘theology of the
cross’). In two parts consisting of five chapters, McGrath charts Luther’s development of that
theme from the origins of his thought in the spiritual practices, theological currents and
philosophical schools of thought representative of Late Medieval Augustinian theology up to the
decisive shifts in his thinking indicative of his discovery of God’s righteousness and his
breakthrough to faith from Romans chapter 1. A fascinating journey indeed it was. As the field
of scholarship on Martin Luther specifically and Reformation history in general has itself
developed and changed a great deal in the last few decades, McGrath’s revised edition seeks to
account for these new aspects of Luther research (e.g. a new appreciation for the spiritual
theology and devotion of the Augustinian order from which he came) and at the same time do its
part to keep this lively debate going. McGrath’s book remains a great resource for understanding
the essence of Luther’s enduring legacy.

Taylor Worley, Ph.D.

Union University