If you have any interest in Luther's theology you should read Bengt Hoffman's Theology of the Heart. it is a reworking of the 1976, Luther and the Mystics. Here are some reviews:
      Theology of the Heart is a much needed brilliant and scholarly corrective and a counter-balance to an overly intellectualized Lutheran theological rationalism. At the same time it is the author's heartfelt testimony to       Martin Luther's lifelong embrace of Christus mysticus--the transforming experience of God-in-Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Dr. Hoffman takes the blinders off the interpreters' words about the great Reformer to reveal the depth and soul of blessed Martin Luther, Doctor Ecclesiae in the Great Tradition of the Church.

      The Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Bakken, Pastor and Physician, Author of: The Journey Into God: Healing and Christian Faith

     The late Professor Bengt Hägglund, Lund, Sweden, wrote a review of "Hjärtats Teologi" [Theology of the Heart], which was published in Kyrkfack, 1990. Below is Pearl Hoffman's English translation of the review.

      "In Theology of the Heart one encounters a partially new and unexpected portrayal of Luther, a portrayal that is rich in new and unconventional formulations of theological realities. The title, Theology of the Heart,       is appropriate because language about the 'heart,' meaning the center of the human personality-that which seeks and turns to the eternal and invisible, is actually central to Martin Luther's thought. A vivid example of this can be found in Luther's comments on the first commandment in his Large Catechism. In just a few pages Luther uses the word 'heart' twenty-four times.

      The word 'mysticism' as used in the subtitle of the new book should be understood in its wider meaning. There is a strong tradition in Luther research that references to mysticism should be firmly rejected. The       assumption was that mysticism belonged to the medieval Roman Catholic tradition and hence was not relevant to evangelical Lutheran theology.
      Bengt Hoffman and other contemporary researchers have demonstrated that Luther himself had a very differentiated view of mysticism. Whereas he sharply rejected the speculative mysticism of Dionysius Areopagite, Luther could appreciatively identify with representatives of so-called German mysticism, especially Johannes Tauler and the anonymous author of Theologia Germanica. In fact, the latter book was the first book that Luther published after his break with Rome.

      Especially in earlier times descriptions of Luther's theology stressed justification by faith as an objective imputation of Christ's atonement. The insight that faith-the Christian's justification-is, at the same time, a dynamic power that renews the soul fell by the wayside. Bengt Hoffman describes the results of that neglect in traditional theological research from the seventeenth century to contemporary Lutheran theologians. The       author wants to show the significance that inner experience, the mystical, has in Luther's theology.

      The manner in which the outer and the inner are linked in Luther's theology has often been misinterpreted. Emphasis has been placed on the phrase that he used to describe justification, imputation of Christ's deed, as       something objective, that is to say, outside of us; alternately, expression of faith as a feeling of comfort, as inner experience, has been stressed. It is assumed that these are conflicting views. But in Luther's      understanding of faith the outer, for example, the word and sacraments, is a visible, concrete reality that influences a person's innermost, the heart. The outer and the inner belong together, are one spiritual reality.
      Faith cannot be understood in rational categories alone; faith relates to feeling, to that which moves the heart, the entire person. Therefore, in many cases, mystical language is useful, sometimes even more adequate than intellectual terminology.

      Bengt Hoffman also has demonstrated that, for Luther, the spiritual and the invisible were real, even if they are only indirectly available to our senses and understanding. The author quotes many unusual and surprising Luther texts that deal with the work of angels and demons and with healing through laying on of hands and prayer, among others. The references to Luther's thoughts about life after death are especially interesting.

      Ethics is another component of Luther's theology that receives a new emphasis from the author's vantage point. As the "outer" word is linked to the human's innermost, so faith as inner conversion is linked closely to life in the world. It is only the Holy Spirit, living in the heart through faith, that can transform a life to accord with truth, to obedience to God's commandments, and to love for others.

      One can understand from these comments that Bengt Hoffman's book gives the reader a multi-faceted picture of Luther's theology. It is probably more rewarding if it is read not as an introduction to Luther's thought, but       rather as a commentary for those who are already familiar with Luther's thought or for those who study Luther's thought in his own writings or in texts on the subject."

Quotes from Theology of the Heart
  
     

 On healing, from p. 47.
      In 1528, during a period of illness, Luther wrote to a friend ?Christ has so far triumphed. I commend myself to the prayers of yourself and the brethren. I have healed others, I cannot heal myself.? Indirectly Luther poses the question whether prayer and healing must necessarily result in physical improvement. It appears that Luther would answer'no' to this query. The main point is the relation to Christ. The British healer, Dorothy Kerin, writes on this matter: ?Our beloved Lord did not come to  take away all pain from the earth, but he did come to share it, all of it, whenever he can get to it.?
      WB [Dr. Luther?s letters] 4, 319, 7-11 (1528).
      Dorothy Kerin, Fulfilling (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1969), p. 52.


      On Life after Death, from p. 55.
      In Martin Luther?s writings one finds much evidence his faith also embraced the conviction that life continues after death, not in sleep or semi-sleep, but in a wakeful condition. This thought often emerges when the Reformer wants to depict a true Christian?s martyrdom. Most of the time we are probably unaware that for decades Martin Luther lived under the constant threat of plots against his life and therefore martyrdom became a part of his picture of the lot of a Christian. A part of faith?s triumph over a world that seems to have all the advantages on its side is precisely the ?knowledge? that life continues after physical death. Perhaps the martyr awaits a sentence.      He is to be hanged, beheaded, burned, or drowned. Then, too, a road stretches out before him that he must walk. . . . a way that he cannot see, on which feet cannot tread, on which he cannot travel by wagon. Yet, one commonly says: ?He is departing, he is gone.? But this is not to be 
taken in a physical or literal sense . . . our reasoning ceases to function and neither knows nor understands how the transition from this life to that one takes place, much less how and by what means it is to be attained. (W[Luther?s writings] 45: 494, 21-35 (1537). LW 24: 37-38.)


      On being human, from p. 76 and p. 88.
      I am a human being; that is indeed more than to have the title of prince.
      (Luther in his writings--W 45; 15, 3-4 (1537)
      Sadhu Sundar Singh told the following: 'It became clear to me that the heart of man is God's throne and castle. When he deigns to live there heaven begins, and God's kingdom is there." Luther translated Jesus' words 
about the Kingdom in the manner of the mystics: entos hymon means "inwardly in you." In spite of fact that the words were directed to a group of insensitive Pharisees--or perhaps just because of it--Luther took for granted that an echo from that world always lingers in the valleys of    our heart. However, for lengthy periods the sound of that echo is distorted by our sinful acts. Nevertheless, we can hear that tone not least from Luther?s own story about his mystical salvation experience, his liberation from the difficult struggle with the meaning of ?God?s      righteousness.?


      In conclusion, p. 263.
      Our focus on ?the mystical Christ? and ?the mystical Incarnation? in Luther?s testimony has brought us to the central point and the secret in his battle for his own and the church?s liberation. Although he, at least on the surface, fought against a clericalism that ossified the message, whereas we fight against a secularism that dissolves it, perhaps we recognize here our own longing after wholeness in God and to be useful among men. What is more, perhaps there is confirmation of our feeling that Christ, in friendship and majesty, is never far from us.