Reddit reviews The Oxford Illustrated History of the Reformation

Hi, me again! I'm going to recommend four very different resources for this! Other than the first one, it's no particular order.

First, Pastrix by Nadia Bolz-Weber. Nadia is a Lutheran pastor in the ELCA who runs a somewhat "experimental" church in the Denver area. She's fairly unconventional as a pastor (the book opens with "Shit!"), but I think she presents a really solid exposition of what it means to be Lutheran regardless of your political orientation. There's a pastor here who subs at my church periodically who was Nadia's intern for a bit.

Second, The Oxford Illustrated History of the Reformation is probably the best intro-level history overview that exists on the subject. It's not just limited to Lutherans, of course, since we weren't the entire Reformation, but he goes into great detail. If you prefer your history in spoken form, the "Great Courses" lectures on Luther are also fantastic.

Third, Christopraxis by Andrew Root is a fantastic overview of what it means to live according to Luther's "theology of the cross", especially if you're suffering or know people who are suffering. The book is "practical theology", meaning that it doesn't get bogged down with definitions. Root is a professor at Luther Seminary in Minnesota.

Fourth, the ELCA social statements which are available in full online. These are the ELCA's "position statements" on things like human sexuality, abortion, peace, and other topics that are important in our society. These documents come out of the general assemblies of the ELCA, which are churchwide meetings every three years. Obviously, people disagree on putting these things into practice. As such, they're more intended as frameworks of thought, ways to make thoughtful decisions about these topics, and not so much dogma about the topics themselves.