Handbook of Consolations: For the Fears and Trials That Oppress Us in the Stuggle with Death

This book (together with Johann Spangenberg's 'A Booklet of Comfort for the Sick & on the Christian Knight') is a must-read for anyone facing death or having to comfort one near death. Living in an age of uncertainty when the plague or pneumonia or the simplest illness or injury could bring death, combined with ravages of wars, brought Christians to appreciate deeply the comfort of the only One who can bring true comfort, peace and strength in any tribulation or suffering in life - Jesus Christ who reveals Himself and delivers Himself, the Holy Spirit and all His blessings through His holy Word and Sacraments. These books not only point a person to Jesus and His temporal and eternal comfort, but give practical suggestions about how to deal with doubts, confusion about God's Word regarding issues of death, dying and everlasting life.I highly recommend this book for everyone, young and old, healthy and sick.

Johann Gerhard was one of the premier theologians of his time, and he writes this accessible book to help those fearing death. It is a fantastic example of using Scripture, theology, and church history to comfort those in hard circumstances. Also, as a pastor frequently ministering to the sick and dying, it is a fantastic resource 400 years later.

A careful, accurate, and highly readable work that is wonderfully typeset. This book faces head on our every deathly concern and fear in a personal and conversational way to help us face death knowing there is a glorious life ahead. The book is a gift of the Holy Spirit and is exactly what Jesus meant when he said he was sending the Comforter. Thank God, because without our pastors and teachers we too would be left to face a certain death with uncertain consequences. My faith comes from God but this book helps me to nurture and grow his gift in the hope of the glory to come.

Life is precious but knowing that it is also important to know the end game. Johann Gerhand does not apologize for the tenets of Lutheranism so if you're not on board with that you'll probably have to really think over some very personal assumptions of your spiritual formation. That being said, this slim volume is a gold mine of understanding how to compassionately minister to the dying,

Johann Gerhard is a master in devotions/meditations. As a pastor I use this book almost every day and have loaned it many times. Buy any writings of Johann Gerhard - you will not be disappointed.

Very useful and valuable.

Wipf and Stock sent me a review copy of Handbook of Consolations for the Fears and Trials That Oppress Us in the Struggle with Death by Johann Gerhard.A few years ago my wife gave birth to still-born twins and we were visited by four pastors. Two of the pastors were Lutheran and two were not.One of the non-Lutheran pastors had already met with us earlier on in the pregnancy when my wife was having complications and read a Scriptural passage that made it sound as if he thought the twins were having problems because we were making an idol of them. After the twins died he read a Scriptural passage that didn't seem to apply to the situation and never bothered to try to apply it to our situation.When the other non-Lutheran pastor heard we were having complications with the pregnancy he called my wife up and told her to get her tubes tied. When the twins died he came to the hospital and told my wife to be careful about what she did or how she acted because there were unbelieving nurses there (since it was a Roman Catholic hospital he assumed they must all be unbelievers). He did not read the Scriptures to us at all.The two Lutheran pastors who visited us acted much differently. They had different personalities. But they both read the Scriptures to us and applied the Gospel to us in our own unique situation and they did it in a very personal way. One of the pastors especially showed a great deal of honor to our sons' bodies. For these pastors, the Scriptures were not a collection of stories about a sovereign God in the sky but an icon of Christ. The Gospel was applied to my wife and me personally.That is what you will find in the Handbook of Consolations--a very personal application of the Gospel to the different fears that people have while they are dying. It's not a collection of nice things to say, a book that takes the promises of Jesus seriously and applies them to the individual's concerns. There are forty-six sections and they cover just about every fear that someone might have when he is dying.I do take issue with a few passages in the book. There are a number of times where the author seems to be applying the Law when the Gospel is called for and there are few times where it seems like the author is directing the person inwards to see if they have "true" faith rather than directing the person to Christ. There is a section (pp.63-64) where Gerhard makes the claim that the believer is spared the pains of death. Gerhard does not provide much support for this position and could fill the believer with absolute horror who starts feeling excruciating pain as he is dying. In a section on page 70, Gerhard is trying to comfort those who are worried about the physical concerns of family members that are being left behind but Gerhard claims that "He will not allow those who believe in Him to die from hunger." He doesn't provide any Biblical support for this claim and I wonder what terror it could provide to the believer who starves to death. There are a couple of passages where it sounds as if Gerhard simply believes that our physical bodies are useless and something we need to be delivered from but in other passages he does speak of the bodily resurrection.All in all, this is an excellent book and would be extraordinarily helpful for pastors and others who minister to the dying.