By 1517 Staff

12/29/25

17mins

1517's Favorite Books from 2025

Below is a list of our favorite theological books - across all categories - from 2025. A special thanks to our contributors who submitted titles, wrote summaries and full reviews for these books and more throughout the year.

The Scandal and Splendor of the Savior’s Birth

Bradley Gray

12/26/25

The Scandal and Splendor of the Savior’s Birth

Every sinner can trace their salvation back to this moment when the Savior was born in accordance with the Word of God so that all of God’s words would be realized.

What to Preach and Not to Preach at Christmas

Steven Paulson

12/25/25

What to Preach and Not to Preach at Christmas

Christmas is not for remembering, thinking, pondering, trying to make sure you are really celebrating it properly, or for wondering whether you truly have faith.

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David Schmitt

02/05/23

Gospel: Matthew 5:13-20 (Epiphany 5: Series A)

God has the power to take that which is small, that which is overlooked, that which is despised, and use it to create something wonderful.

Kevin Hale

02/01/23

Law and Gospel in 2 Corinthians 3

Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.

Bradley Gray

01/31/23

Remembered and Redeemed

Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.

Dan Weber

01/29/23

Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12 (Epiphany 4: Series A)

I hope your people expect and even demand this of you. But how we proclaim the central message, that can (and probably should) vary.

Bruce Hillman

01/27/23

I Don't Want Eternal Life, It's Too Long

I think the problem with the idea of eternity is that we do not have any direct experience of it, but we encounter enough of its possibility to be unsettling.

Bradley Gray

01/25/23

Consider Jesus

All of Scripture, every last syllable of it, is meant to drive us to "consider Jesus," the One who comes to "make us right" by gifting us his righteousness.

Robert Kolb

01/24/23

God and His Human Creatures in Luther’s Sermons on Genesis

This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023). Now available for purchase.

Donavon Riley

01/23/23

And From That Very Hour, You Are Healed

Jesus not only healed her daughter, but he also gave himself to her. Wherever she went from then on, he was with her.

Wade Johnston

01/20/23

The Gospel for Morons

Morons though we all have been, there is nothing we need that Christ hasn’t given us.

Robert Kolb

01/17/23

Our Theology - Luther’s Two Kinds of Righteousness: A Personal Reflection

This is an excerpt from “The Alien and the Proper: Luther's Two-Fold Righteousness in Controversy, Ministry, and Citizenship,” edited by Robert Kolb (1517 Publishing, 2023).

Ryan Couch

01/16/23

I Believe in the Forgiveness of Sins

God gives us the power and authority to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to burdened sinners who entrust us with their pain, guilt, and defeat.

Dan Weber

01/14/23

Gospel: Matthew 4:12-25 (Epiphany 3: Series A)

Though it may feel to us like the darkness is winning, God’s Word reveals the darkness is waning. The Light of the world has come.

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