1748 portrait of Bach, showing him holding a copy of the six-part canon BWV 1076
See Wikipedia for an extensive introduction to Bach's life and music
See this issue of Christian History Magazine for its several articles on 'The Gospel According to J.S. Bach'.
For more on the Hymns of Our Faith, see our Library Guide on Music and the Hymns of Faith
While not a 'theologian', Bach is included in this series of bibliographies as one whose music has had significant influence on a host of theologians, from his day and onward. (e.g. Albert Schweitzer/AS2; Bonhoeffer; Jaroslav Pelikan; Lutheran Theologians in general)
Select Full-Text Articles from ATLA Religion on the Theology of Bach's Music: 
Theology in Bach's Music--ATLA Religion Database
Johann Sebastian Bach as Musician and Atonement Theologian, by Paul Copan in The Worldview Bulletin Newsletter; Bach: A Theologian at the Workplace, by J. Camire
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St. Matthew Passion (2021) by
"This book of biblical scholarship explores the passion story in its four very distinct Gospel versions alongside its musical appropriation by Johann Sebastian Bach's in his oratorio. It probes the founding myth of the Christian West as not merely the sacrifice of a god (by a god), but also the abandonment of a son by a father, due to a creation gone awry that left humanity to fend on its own"
J. S. Bach's Material and Spiritual Treasures : a Theological Perspective (2021) by
An innovative study of the ways in which theological themes related to earthly and heavenly 'treasures' and Bach's own apparent attentiveness to the spiritual values related to money intertwined in his sacred music. In Johann Sebastian Bach's Lutheran church setting, various biblical ideas were communicated through sermons and songs to encourage parishioners to emulate Christian doctrine in their own lives. Such narratives are based on an understanding that one's lifetime on earth is a temporal passageway to eternity after death, where souls are sent either to heaven or hell based on one's belief or unbelief. Throughout J. S. Bach's Material and Spiritual Treasures, Bach scholar Noelle M. Heber explores theological themes related to earthly and heavenly 'treasures' in Bach's sacred music through an examination of selected texts from Bach's personal theological library. Thebook's storyline is organised around biblical concepts that are accented in Lutheran thought and in Bach's church compositions, such as the poverty and treasure of Christ and parables that contrast material and spiritual riches. While focused primarily on the greater theological framework, Heber presents an updated survey of Bach's own financial situation and considers his apparent attentiveness to spiritual values related to money. This multifaceted study investigates intertwining biblical ideologies and practical everyday matters in a way that features both Bach's religious context and his humanity. This book will appeal to musicologists, theologians, musicians, students, and Bach enthusiasts. NOELLE M. HEBER is a violinist and musicologist. She holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Utrecht University (The Netherlands).
Bach through the year : the church music of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Revised Common Lectionary by
Bach Through the Year The Church Music of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Revised Common Lectionary SECOND EDITION The church cantatas of J. S. Bach were designed, composed, and performed to enhance and interpret the message of the Bible to worshippers in the congregations which Bach served. The Lutheran Church of 18th-century Germany appointed specific biblical texts to be read each Sunday and festival day of the year. This series of appointed readings, one from the New Testament letters and the other from one of the four gospels, was the lectionary. The lectionary readings determined the day’s theme for the sermon, hymns, organ music, and the cantata. Although Bach clearly indicated the occasion on which most of his cantatas were performed, the readings, and therefore the theme of the day, do not necessarily coincide with the readings and themes of the modern church. The Revised Common Lectionary, in widespread use today among churches in North America, appoints three readings for each Sunday, rotating them in a three-year cycle. For that reason, Bach Through the Year has reassigned the cantatas, as well as the motets, passions, and oratorios, to the Sundays and festivals with whose current readings and themes they most closely correspond. In each commentary, the relationship between a lectionary reading, usually the gospel, and the designated cantata is highlighted.
