Text: English, German (translation)

The Bible: Now I Get It! : A Form-Criticism Handbook

Lohfink, Gerhard

Religion & Spirituality

DOUBLEDAY

The author calls the present-day church to once again be the "contrast society," which attracts non-believers by living what it preaches and by being different without being narrowly sectarian.

Jesus and Community: The Social Dimensions of Christian Faith

Fortress Press

The work of God goes on (The Bible for Christian life)

AUGSBURG FORTRESS* PUBLISHERS

The author calls the present-day church to once again be the "contrast society," which attracts non-believers by living what it preaches and by being different without being narrowly sectarian.

Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith

Paulist Press

The Christians of Europe are still gathering in their big old churches. But the communities are getting smaller, and many things that used to be natural are falling apart. Christianity is no longer a form of life for many baptized persons. And for many others, the question of God or of the Church has become insignificant. However, it is noteworthy that the number of those who are newly asking about the Christian faith is growing. You want to get to know him better. They want to know what Christianity really is. Of course, much more would be true about the Christian faith. But in these fifty letters, the most important things are said. +

The Christian Faith Explained in 50 Letters

Are not all religions equally close to and equally far from God? Why, then, the Church? Gerhard Lohfink poses these questions with scholarly reliability and on the basis of his own experience of community in Does God Need the Church? In 1982 Father Lohfink wrote Wie hat Jesus Gemeinde gewollt? (translated into English as Jesus and Community) to show, on the basis of the New Testament, that faith is founded in a community that distinguishes itself in clear contours from the rest of society. In that book he also described a sequence of events that moved directly from commonality to a community that was readily accessible to every group of people and was made legitimate by Jesus himself. Only later did Father Lohfink learn, within a new horizon of experience, that such a description is not the way to community. The story of the gathering of the people of God, from Abraham until today, never took place according to such a model. Today Father Lohfink states that he would not write Wie hat Jesus Gemeinde gewollt? the same way. The situation of belief and believers has undergone a shift: the question of the Church has become much more urgent. Church life is declining and the religions are returning, often in new guises. In light of these shifts and the change in his own view of community, Father Lohfink inquires in Does God Need the Church? of Israel's theology, Jesus' praxis, the experiences of the early Christian communities, and of what is appearing in the Church today. These inquiries lead to an amazing history involving God and the world - a history that God presses forward with the aid of a single people and that always turns out differently from what they think and plan.

Does God Need the Church?: Toward a Theology of the People of God (Michael Glazier Books)

Christian Books & Bibles

Catholicism

Michael Glazier

Can Christians still pray the Our Father in the twenty-first century? We can, and we must. Gerhard Lohfink breaks open its strange phrases like “hallowed be thy name,” its off-putting language like “Father” and “kingdom,” and its apparently harsh demands like forgive us as we have forgiven those who hurt us—all to shed light on Jesus’ original words and their meaning. By probing what the prayer meant for Jesus and his first disciples in their world Lohfink calls us to allow the Our Father to break open our own minds and hearts to its infinite invitation and challenge for our time and for all ages.

The Our Father: A New Reading

Ministry & Evangelism

Liturgical Press

Can Christians still pray the Our Father in the twenty-first century? We can, and we must. Gerhard Lohfink breaks open its strange phrases like “hallowed be thy name,” its off-putting language like “Father” and “kingdom,” and its apparently harsh demands like forgive us as we have forgiven those who hurt us—all to shed light on Jesus’ original words and their meaning. By probing what the prayer meant for Jesus and his first disciples in their world Lohfink calls us to allow the Our Father to break open our own minds and hearts to its infinite invitation and challenge for our time and for all ages.

Review\n“Gerhard Lohfink offers yet another new text that is fully biblical, theological, liturgical, and practical in his presentation of Christian theology for our time. Every page challenges the reader to reconsider, to pray again scriptural texts that have too soon been filed under ‘been there, studied that’ in our minds. Lohfink’s paragraphs sharpen knowledge and faith with a ‘both/and’ dialectic that is harder to put down than a favorite novel.” 
Eileen C. Burke-Sullivan, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, Creighton University\nIn this book New Testament scholar Gerhard Lohfink interprets a spectrum of biblical texts, some familiar, others not. He explores them in a spirit of curiosity, questions them insistently, and confronts them with the realities of our present day, from COVID-19 to the inner loneliness experienced by so many.\nIn light of central biblical texts Lohfink asks: What would a life look like today if it were wholly in the world and at the same time wholly in God—sweeping joyously between heaven and earth—aware of the immeasurable breadth of the universe and still able to marvel at the tiniest flower—knowing the depths of the human heart and being comforted by a child’s smile?\nThis book takes up the colorful threads of many Old and New Testament texts and weaves from them a many-hued tapestry of biblical theology. It reveals things unknown, sheds new light on things known, and is full of surprises. It speaks not only to the curious or the “nones” who want to know more about the Christian message; it is addressed to everyone who senses a desire to understand the Bible better and more deeply.

Between Heaven and Earth: New Explorations of Great Biblical Texts

What Jesus taught through his preaching made an unforgettable impression upon his disciples. But it was the many succinctly formulated sayings of Jesus that stood out from the start because of their clear structure and vividness. In The Most Important Words of Jesus, renowned scholar Gerhard Lohfink focuses on the power, beauty, and seriousness of these seventy central sayings of the Lord.\nWhen the Church confesses that Jesus is not only truly human but also truly God, that means he is the perfect image of God, God’s definitive word. It rests on the majestic claim that revealed itself, modestly, discreetly, and yet clearly, in every one of the seventy “sayings” or logia of Jesus. In this book, Lohfink helps us to understand what Jesus is talking about in these sharply defined words.

The Most Important Words of Jesus

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lohfink, Gerhard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Lohfink, Gerhard

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lohfink, Gerhard. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Bible: Now I Get It! : A Form-Criticism Handbook

Jesus and Community: The Social Dimensions of Christian Faith

The work of God goes on (The Bible for Christian life)

Jesus and Community: The Social Dimension of Christian Faith

The Christian Faith Explained in 50 Letters

Does God Need the Church?: Toward a Theology of the People of God (Michael Glazier Books)

The Our Father: A New Reading

The Our Father: A New Reading

Between Heaven and Earth: New Explorations of Great Biblical Texts

The Most Important Words of Jesus