Lectures on the Minor Prophets I

Luther’s Works: The American Edition, published by Concordia and Fortress Press between 1955 and 1986, comprises fifty-five volumes. These are a selection representing only about a third of Luther’s works in the Latin and German of the standard Weimar Edition, not including the German Bible. Luther's lectures on the minor prophets are hardly minor. In fact, they are so prolific as to require three volumes. The first, Hosea-Malachi, is compiled from the so-called Altenburg manuscript, and complemented with a Zwickau manuscript and a Wittenburg manuscript. These pieces put together present a complete set of commentaries on these minor prophets. These lectures occupied Luther's lecture time at the university for about two years, March 1524 to early spring 1526. At this time Luther was decried the source of all problems concerning the Reformation movement. But as responsibilities, anxieties, enmities, and threats increased, Luther's confidence in the message of Scripture also rose to meet every test. These lectures reflect the crucible in Luther's life during their deliverance. Just as these lectures give insight into these minor prophets, so do they reveal the life of this lecturer at this defining moment in the Reformation movement. This volume of lectures on the Minor Prophets covers Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi.