Hammer of God [Paperback]

Bo Giertz (Author), Clifford A. Nelson (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1973

What are the outward manifestations of an inspired faith? Is it possible to be truly saved and still be constantly aware of the presence of sin? May a minister of God's Word experience the same human frailties that trouble his parishioners? Here is a powerful novel on the theme of spiritual regeneration. Three Swedish pastors learn the necessity of relying on God's grace and promises the hard way -- through failing in their pastoral duties, through public humiliation, through self-doubt, through an inability to accept God's promise of forgiveness and sonship in their own lives, and through divisions and quarreling among their parishioners. Ultimately, each rejects the temptations of self-serving pride and over-reliance on works and permits the Holy Spirit to work through him for the glory of God and the continued ministry of the gospel.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bo Giertz, a Christian theologian and author, is Bishop Emeritus of the diocese of Gothenburg, Sweden. An internationally respected clergyman, he has published several books and numerous articles on the subject of religious doctrine and Christian life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers (January 1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806613106
• ISBN-13: 978-0806613109
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #590,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Scandinavian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Stories of Three Pastors, January 8, 1998

By 

John L. Hoh Jr. "Author and Theologian" (Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hammer of God (Paperback)

"Hammer of God" is set in Sweden, when the Swedish Lutheran Church was struggling for its identity. There were many who felt that the "rigid/dead orthodoxy" no longer served a purpose in people's lives. Naturally, nature abhors a vacuum. In place of orthodoxy came two schools of thought: rationalism (scientific thought) and pietism. This masterful volume follows three recent seminary graduates serving their first parishes. Obviously, their mentors are of the "dead orthodoxy" bent. The young pastors feel that the people should be more scientific or live more perfect lives. Needless to say, the new approaches do not work out. Touching is the old soldier, in the throes of senility, barking out fighting orders and using profanity. The young pastor soon realizes that it is by God's grace that we are saved, not in building a better life to become more perfect. This book was required reading at a small Lutheran seminary I attended in Mankato, MN (as was Walther's "The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel."). I will forever be indebted to the professor who required us to read this book. It was very enlightening and graphically displayed Christian faith in action in everyday life.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To be read and reread, April 9, 2001

By 

Extollager (Mayville, ND United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hammer of God (Paperback)

I am about through my third reading within less than ten years of this novel. Aside from themes mentioned by previous commentators, the recreation of rural Sweden should commend this book to some readers. THE HAMMER makes me want to learn more about Swedish history.

The translation reads very well, as if the book had been written in English.

I have thousands of books. If I had to dispose of all but 200 of them, I'm sure I would keep this one. I would like to get extra copies to give away.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "The best Law/Gospel narrative ever written!", August 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hammer of God (Paperback)

THE HAMMER OF GOD [Original: STENGRUNDEN (1941)] has been rightly called "the best Law/Gospel narrative ever written" (The Rev. David Mulder, Director of Leadership Development for the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod). At the tender age of 36, and as an associate pastor in rural Småland, Sweden, Bo Harlad Giertz wrote a book which battles those forces which would seek to destroy historical Confessional Lutheranism then and now. Through the stories of three young pastors from different time-periods, he "earnestly contend[s] for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (p. 321, see Jude 3). As such, Giertz fights heterodoxy through three novellas and in three foms: neology (p. 40), New Evangelicalism/Pietism (pp. 147-148), and Liberalism (pp. 267-268). With Henric Schartau's (1757-1825) doctrine of the Order of Grace as the foundation (see the first novella, pp. 3-131 [especially pp. 116-117], as well as pp. 202ff., p. 267, p. 295, p. 334, etc.) and Augsburg Confession IV & V as the backbone, Giertz shows what it is to be a "rätt präst" ("true/right pastor"): one who is a believer himself, preaches the Gospel in its purity, and administers the sacraments according to the Lord's Word (Augsburg Confession VII). A "true pastor," standing firm in the time-tested Holy Word & Holy Liturgy of the Church (p. 201, pp. 210-211, p. 332), is equipped to care for souls by rightly dividing Law and Gospel (p. 124). To be such a pastor is the prayer of Pastor Torvik in the third novella (p. 335; an autobiographical character?) and should indeed be the prayer of every pastor. The theology of the book is summarized in a fantastic & powerful sermon (pp. 313-320) that every pastor could fruitfully borrow for some Sunday morning Divine Service ("gudstjänst"). Also, every pastor (and lay person) should read this stunning work regularly, though it is rather strange that the last chapter ("I syndares ställe" ["In the Place of Sinners"]) was not translated.

Mainly due to his writings, such as THE HAMMER OF GOD, Giertz went on to become the Bishop of the Göteborg Diocese (1949-70). Both due to his age and position, this was a shock: bishops were commonly selelcted from among Cathedral Deans and University Chairmen of Theology. He also became the leader of the Confessional movement in Sweden ("Kyrklig Samling Kring Bibel o. Bekännelse" ["Churchly Gathering Around Bible and Confession"]) and served as vice president of the Lutheran World Federation (1957-63).