A Lutheran Toolkit by Ken Sundet Jones

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Lutheran Toolkit by Ken Sundet Jones Steven Bielenberg A Lutheran Toolkit. By Ken Sundet Jones. Irvine, California: 1517 Publishing, 2020. 84 pp. No matter your calling in life, you have tools in your toolbox. In this brief work, Ken Sundet Jones lays out the most useful tools for us to share what God has done for us through his Son, Jesus Christ: crucial ideas such as the hidden and revealed God, original sin, justification by faith, law and gospel, sacraments, and vocation. As he demonstrates the features of each tool, Jones gives a brief overview [End Page 107] of Reformation history, the high points of Luther's development as a theologian, and the Reformer's key works. Jones uses the articles of the Augsburg Confession to organize the tools and to show where they overlap in their creative work. Who is God? Why did Christ come? How does this affect the way I live? Throughout, Jones sheds light on these questions with fresh illustrations in a manner that is winsome and engaging. As he discusses God in Article I, Jones uses the childhood game of Sardines to explain the problem of the hidden God. Indiana Jones' cry of warning underlines the power and glory of God revealed when the lid of the ark is lifted up in a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark. This variety of illustrations continues throughout the book and is helpful for the reader who is familiar with Lutheran theology as well as the reader who comes to it with fresh eyes. This book would be useful in undergraduate classes, a pastor's discussion group, or as a small group topic. It will clarify the Lutheran views of God, Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit to those who are new to them or approaching them from another faith tradition. Steven Bielenberg King of Kings Lutheran Church and School Roseville, Minnesota Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc.