Martin Luther

November 15, 2015

Hendrix (emeritus, reformation history, Princeton Theological Seminary; Recultivating the Vineyard) crafts a finely written narrative from nearly 2,600 authentic letters and historical or ecclesiastical documents. These findings reveal Martin Luther (1483-1546) as a man of his time with great talent, integrity, courage, and commitment, but whose irascible tendencies and fears distorted his vision as he became anti-Semitic and also sided against the rebelling peasants despite his earlier support for their positions. Luther comes to see himself as called to rescue biblical truth (as he interpreted it) from medieval distortions and to prepare people for the eschaton. Hendrix focuses on his subject's human interactions (the personal, ecclesiastical, and political) and on Luther's contradictions and weaknesses as well as his courageous persistence in doing what he believed to be God's will. VERDICT This carefully documented, fast-paced telling will delight readers of biography, history, and fiction; historians, theologians, and psychologists may gain deeper insights into how flaws in personality and the zeitgeist itself often prejudice the pursuit of truth.--Carolyn Craft, emerita, Longwood Univ., Farmville, VA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 15, 2015
After the rediscovery of his late anti-Semitic writings and his homeland's descent into Nazism, the twentieth century wasn't kind to Martin Luther. With astonishing conciseness, Hendrix goes a long way toward restoring the reputation of the father of the Reformation. Giving equal weight to Luther's personal life, career, political obligations, and thought, Hendrix conjures a man worthy of legendizing who yet loved and honored common people and common life. From initial disgust with the sixteenth-century papacy's moneygrubbing, Luther came to see that the church's problems lay in its corporate-imperial structure and trappings, including priestly celibacy, monasticism, hierarchy, and, fundamentally, the doctrine that good works brought salvation. No, he said, faith in Christ's sacrifice was what mattered; good works only expressed that faith. His ideas so impressed his time that theythe ideasas much as any followers thrust leadership upon him. He had the necessary grit, but one of Hendrix's special efforts is to demonstrate how Luther was enabled by those he convinced, crucially including several wealthy, powerful, devout princes. Though extraordinary, he was a man of his time, who gave as bad as he got in debate and polemic, which explains his deep incivility toward the Jews. He never suggested, let alone approved, anything approaching the Final Solution. He expected the end of the world momentarily, and he was anxious, often offensively. A fine, sturdy biography.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)