the central one of which is the proper distinction between law and gospel. Elert called this central theme the "evangelischer Ansatz," the "gospel point of departure" or the "gospel entry point." He also called it "the confessional constant," which he found to be "effective" through all the historical changes of Lutheranism, a constant "that is operative beyond individual connections and, as a dominant force, either determines or helps determine the outcome." As he traced this historical dynamic, he judged that the "evangelischer Ansatz" had been strongest in Luther's theology, was properly developed in the Augsburg Confession and its Apology, was partly strengthened and partly weakened in the writings of Philip Melanchthon, was partly renewed and partly distorted in Formula of Concord, and was significantly distorted in the periods of Lutheran Orthodoxy, Pietism, and Rationalism. The second volume follows the same historical trajectory from the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century, but this time Elert focuses on the social teachings and social consequences of Lutheranism. During the 1930s, Elert worked on developing the principles for a contemporary-Lutheran, systematic summary of Christian teaching. This work, which began with his assumption of the chair in systematic theology at Erlangen in 1932, culminated in the publication of his 700-page Der christliche Glaube [Christian Dogmatics] in 1940. His colleague, Paul Althaus, deemed this book "the first great contradiction... against the theology of Karl Barth from the Lutheran side." The purpose of dogmatics, according to Elert, is to find within the normative content of biblical proclamation that point at which it "confronts contemporary human beings most immediately with the reality of its subject matter," and to ward off misunderstandings. The distinction between law and gospel is the organizing principle of the work as a whole. This principle was the decisive issue in Elert's criticism of Barth's theology and the Barmen Declaration. In Elert's view, the latter lacks a proper understanding of the revelation of God's law. Whereas the Barmen Declaration states that "Jesus Christ... is the one Word of God whom we must hear and to whom we must give trust and obedience in life and in death," Elert stressed that God always addresses every human being in two words, law and gospel, and that these two words are qualitatively different from each other. Over against Barth's essay, "Gospel and Law," Elert argued that we must first understand that we stand under God's law before