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> I’ve been part of this religion for a good 2 months now ... Firstly, I feel as though I’m losing touch with God ...

Have you ever been in a new relationship where, for a few months, all you can think about is the other person? Everything is new and exciting and the novelty makes it interesting?

This is that, only with religion.

Much of your religious life is going to be quotidian, just regular daily life, like any long-term relationship. You aren't going to feel any particular way each day.

I have two book recommendations for you, apart from the good suggestions you've mentioned here. They aren't specifically "Lutheran" books, but I think they'll help you think about this.

• A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, by Peterson
• Acedia and Me, by Norris

I would recommend Martin Luther's To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation (1520) and On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church (1520). These came around the time Luther realized that Rome was going to oppose any reform of the church, and so instead in the first of these, he decides to appeal to secular rulers to instigate change. The second is a more thorough treatment of the seven sacraments, which takes up the topic in detail as well.

While both texts can be found online, I would recommend trying to get a copy of them in the Annotated Luther series, as the historical background and scholarly notes help make these texts much more accessible. To the Christian Nobility can be found in Volume 1, whereas On the Babylonian Captivity is in Volume 3. I recognize they can be a bit pricey for some, so if you're only going to get one, grab the first volume. While To the Christian Nobility is the less detailed text on this topic, every work in that volume is an absolute banger. You'll be glad to have every one.

I grew up in Evangelical but not Charismatic churches, and dabbled in charismatics. I'm an ELCA Lutheran. I love that we focus both on the finite and the infinite - God's Kingdom on Earth and the one to come. We seek to practice Grace. We seek to trust God even with mysterys.

The Holy Spirit doesn't get emphasised as much as I like, so you might miss that.

And if you have no stomach for social liberalism, you'll want to think about his carefully. The ELCA ordains LGBTetc and performs same sex weddings.

I found this book useful: https://www.amazon.com/Lutheran-Trump-Cards-Playing-Century-ebook/dp/B00ROT1DA6

https://www.amazon.de/christliche-Gottesbild-Vergangenheit-Gegenwart-Umri%C3%9Fzeichnung/dp/B002ROXWYS/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sad_ib_w4_sqv?crid=3OFNG3XU4279E&keywords=das+christliche+gottesbild+in+vergangenheit+und+gegenwart&qid=1653731473&rr..., was not that difficult...

But why should Allen have the ultimate key to Luther? Why does it make more sense to read about the source material, than to read read the source material? To understand a person you need to study the person and his surroundings as well as his works. What somebody wrote 400 years later might open a new perspective, but will not get you closer.

You're actually right that Luther and Melanchthon differed on the topic of virtue ethics! Joel Biermann wrote a whole book about it a few years ago, arguing that Lutherans need to take Melanchthon's more classically-philosophical view seriously. This caused some consternation in people who hold your view of things.

I think it's important to emphasize that Lutherans follow the Lutheran tradition, which has developed over time. We do not follow Luther himself.

Luther was a person who can and was often mistaken, particularly when arguing heatedly. There are many ways that Luther would not be a fully-compliant Lutheran, and that's okay.

You can't get much more serious than Bruce Metzger, and his <em>The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance</em> remains a classic on the topic. It is definitely written for an academic audience, but when you say you want a serious scholar's work, I presume that's what you are interested in reading.

To read Luther on this topic, I would recommend purchasing (or otherwise finding) a copy of <em>The Annotated Luther, Volume I: Roots of Reform</em>. This series offers key writings of Luther's in a modern translation with helpful annotations to make sense of certain historical and theological elements which could otherwise impede a reader without sufficient background. The reason to select this volume is that almost all the writings in it pertain to this topic, but especially these three, which I would recommend you read:

• On the Freedom of a Christian. Judged in terms of accessibility and clarity, is arguably Luther's best work on justification by faith alone. Here, he explains why it is that one can only be saved by grace through faith, and just as importantly, why that is good news and what it means for the Christian life.
• The 95 Theses or Disputation for Clarifying the Power of Indulgences. These are important for making sense of the system of justification by faith alone by understanding the system Luther was rejecting. Note: Luther wrote explanations for each thesis, which are worth reading alongside it.
• Treatise on Good Works. A helpful piece that helps further explain what justification by faith means, one that speaks to a oft levied but ignorant criticism that we mean to do away with good works.

Again, you can find these writings elsewhere—probably on the internet for free—but the translations will be dated, and it is often difficult to find unbiased, scholarly information about these topics on the web. The annotated Luther series is one I have used in the classroom and find very helpful when trying to approach these texts for self-study.

> I’m particularly open to any books that would help me grapple with my general sense of misanthropy (which I has definitely increased since the pandemic and election).

THIS ONE, Pastrix by Nadia Bolz-Weber. It's at least partly about that specific subject.

You would also probably like Sara Miles, Sarah Bessey, and Kate Bowler.

Here are two that could do with some more love:

Kazoh Kitamori. Japanese Lutheran theologian writing in the post-WWII era. His <em>Theology of the Pain of God</em> is easily one of my favorite works of theology from the modern era. If you want something grounded in theologians you know (Luther, Kierkegaard, Kant) but still very unique, Kitamore is for you.

Johannes Bugenhagen. Frequently overlooked even by those accustomed to attending to ignored figures of the Reformation, Bugenhagen was the pastor of the city church in Wittenberg during Luther's time, making him Luther's pastor. He lived into that role not just in fact but in spirit. His sermons and other writings are extraordinarily pastoral and thoughtful, and scholars are still trying to make sense of just how important he was to the reforming culture in Wittenberg. Many of works just recently came into English translation, making him accessible to many for the first time.

> Turns out, nobody's gone to the Good Place for centuries because the points system focuses so much on this exact problem.

I feel like this is actually closer to what I learned as the Protestant all-sins-are-equally-sinful sort of ethics than what I'd like to see. Acts can be more or less bad and the same act can also be more or less good, at the same time.

I agree with The Good Place that an ethical model that would condemn a person for buying the apple is absurd... but that's because I can evaluate the situation in light of its remoteness, the intentions and knowledge of the buyer, the effect of the decision on the evil, how free the decision is, etc.

Buying the organic apple directly from a known wife-beating farmer at his farm stand when other options are freely available would certainly be in a different points category than the stated scenario.

> a simple one-size-fits-all appeal to authority won't help us

I'd like a one-size-fits-all default model at least, a sort of framework that laypeople can quickly apply to ethical decisions. Laypeople need a model we can all agree on so that we can have the discussion at all. "Is this remote or proximate cooperation with evil? Is there a good component to it? Let's discuss. How should our behavior reflect our conclusion?"

If the model produces outcomes that are clearly absurd in some situation, we can (since we are not Catholics) swap out what model we use for that specific decision, but we ought to need to be explicit about the swap.

> There are Lutheran theologians in the past and present who have developed Lutheran ethical frameworks.

I haven't read Bonhoeffer's Ethics, though I have it and really ought to do so.

I did read Joel Biermann's <em>A Case for Character</em>, in which he argues that virtue ethics are not incompatible with Lutheranism and that we should adopt that framework.