The Rev. Dr. William R. Russell, a specialist in the life and work of Martin Luther, works at the intersection of the academy and the church, where he interprets the Reformer’s chief insights for modern audiences. With a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and an M.Div. from Luther Seminary, Russell has served in a variety of academic and pastoral ministry settings and authored/translated 11 books and dozens of articles and reviews. A sought-after speaker, he has addressed audiences from Canada to Brazil, Malaysia to Nigeria, Norway to South Africa. His latest books are: What to do During an Epidemic by Martin Luther, (ALPB.org, 2021), The Ninety-Five Theses and Other Writings by Martin Luther, (New York: Penguin Random House, 2017), aka, “The Penguin Classics Luther”, and Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, Revised Third Edition (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012).
Book Review: Montgomery: A White Preacher’s Memoir by Robert S. Graetz
[1] Robert Graetz’s memoir echoes through the years, from mid-1950’s Alabama, to the present. And we would do well to note the resonances in 2025, the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott. [2] Graetz wrote his memoir in his early 60s, reflecting on the tumultuous events that had happened 35 years prior. He could’ve […]
Martin Luther’s Understanding of the Conscience, “Coram Deo” (…and the ELCA’s Sexuality Study)
July 2005: Conscience and Community (Volume 5 Issue 7)
“…Conscience is not the power to do works, but to judge them. The proper work of conscience (as Paul says in Romans 2[:15]), is to accuse or excuse, to make guilty or guiltless, uncertain or certain. Its purpose is not to do, but to pass judgment on what has been done and what should be […]