Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World

by Eric Metaxas

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Metaxas is a scrupulous chronicler and has an eye for a good story. . . . full, instructive, and pacey.” —The Washington Post

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Eric Metaxas comes a brilliant and inspiring biography of the most influential man in modern history, Martin Luther, in time for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation
 
On All Hallow’s Eve in 1517, a young monk named Martin Luther posted a document he hoped would spark an academic debate, but that instead ignited a conflagration that would forever destroy the world he knew. Five hundred years after Luther’s now famous Ninety-five Theses appeared, Eric Metaxas, acclaimed biographer of the bestselling Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery, paints a startling portrait of the wild figure whose adamantine faith cracked the edifice of Western Christendom and dragged medieval Europe into the future. Written in riveting prose and impeccably researched, Martin Luther tells the searing tale of a humble man who, by bringing ugly truths to the highest seats of power, caused the explosion whose sound is still ringing in our ears. Luther’s monumental faith and courage gave birth to the ideals of liberty, equality, and individualism that today lie at the heart of all modern life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101980026
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/02/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	496
Sales rank:	50,289
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Eric Metaxas is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Can Keep It, Bonhoeffer, Amazing Grace, and Miracles. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The New Yorker, and Metaxas has appeared as a cultural commentator on CNN, the Fox News Channel, and MSNBC. He is the host of The Eric Metaxas Show, a nationally syndicated daily radio show. Metaxas is also the founder and host of Socrates in the City, the acclaimed series of conversations on “life, God, and other small topics,” featuring Malcolm Gladwell, Dick Cavett, and Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, among many others. He is a senior fellow and lecturer at large at the King’s College in New York City, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

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Table of Contents

Map xi

Chronology xiii

Introduction Pastor, Rebel, Prophet, Monk 1

Chapter 1 Beyond the Myths 7

Chapter 2 Lightning Strikes 31

Chapter 3 The Great Change 50

Chapter 4 A Monk at Wittenberg 67

Chapter 5 The "Cloaca" Experience 93

Chapter 6 The Theses Are Posted 107

Chapter 7 The Diet at Augsburg 140

Chapter 8 The Leipzig Debate 164

Chapter 9 The Bull Against Luther 193

Chapter 10 The Diet of Worms 202

Chapter 11 Enemy of the Empire 218

Chapter 12 The Wartburg 237

Chapter 13 The Revolution Is Near 261

Chapter 14 Luther Returns 276

Chapter 15 Monsters, Nuns, and Martyrs 297

Chapter 16 Fanaticism and Violence 311

Chapter 17 Love and Marriage 338

Chapter 18 Erasmus, Controversy, Music 356

Chapter 19 The Plague and Anfechtungen Return 378

Chapter 20 The Reformation Comes of Age 390

Chapter 21 Confronting Death 410

Chapter 22 "We Are Beggars. This Is True." 421

Epilogue The Man Who Created the Future 433

Acknowledgments 447

Appendix: Frederick's Dream 449

Notes 453

Bibliography 463

Index 465

Editorial Reviews

The details of Luther's life and of his struggles against the status quo are related with verve, and with a genuine talent for rendering the intricacies of late medieval theology approachable to those who may have never encountered it before. Metaxas knows how to tell a story and how to develop characters, and this talent makes his narrative at once gripping and accessible.

The New York Times Book Review - Carlos Eire

08/14/2017
This is a highly readable, fast-paced biography of Luther with some peculiar omissions. Metaxas follows a fairly basic chronological path, starting with Luther’s childhood and ending with his death. While Metaxas ostentatiously announces his work as going “beyond the myth”, there seems to be little new here, and Metaxas’s claims to originality are mostly backed by his commentary on the work of previous historians (particularly Erik Erikson) rather than by his own new interpretations of historical material. Metaxas admirably sets the scene for the later convulsions within the church now known as the Protestant Reformation: Luther’s rise to prominence in Wittenberg, Germany; his disillusionment with the church; the posting of his theses; the Leipzig debate; and the Diet of Worms. But the book also notably downplays some of the more contentious aspects of Luther’s work, including his diatribes against Jews, which are given fewer than 10 pages, and Luther’s council to Philip of Hesse regarding his bigamous marriage, which isn’t mentioned at all. These blank spaces make it difficult to see Metaxas’s work as a critical evaluation of Luther and render this volume of doubtful use to scholars. General readers may enjoy the cheerful tone of Metaxas’s writing. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A meticulously researched and detailed account of Luther’s life and times . . . a very human portrait. . . . Metaxas is a scrupulous chronicler and has an eye for a good story. The result is full, instructive, and pacey.”
—The Washington Post

“Metaxas knows how to tell a story and how to develop characters, and this talent makes his narrative at once gripping and accessible . . . an excellent glimpse of the whole of Luther’s life.”
—The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

“Mr. Metaxas has a knack for capturing the heart and mind of his subjects . . . his conclusions about the 16th-century revolutionary are uniquely Metaxas, a deep and thoughtful writer with much to teach the world.”
—The Washington Times

“A new magisterial biography . . . another epic work [from Eric Metaxas] . . . Extensively researched . . . A beautifully balanced separation of fact from fiction.”
—Hugh Hewitt
 
“If you had to make a list of five people who shaped the modern West, Martin Luther would be on it. Yet almost everything you think you know about Luther is wrong, as Eric Metaxas shows in this brilliant biography. This is an amazing story, beautifully told. You’ll emerge wiser.”
—Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight
 
“When Martin Luther made it possible to read the Bible for yourself, he did more than anyone else to create the future. Read this book for yourself to understand the story we’re all still living through.”
—Peter Thiel, cofounder of PayPal, entrepreneur, and author of Zero to One
 
“A marvelous, brilliant book that is equal parts biography, theology, political philosophy, and cultural history. With a light and rapid touch that nonetheless is capable of conveying deep truths and insights, Metaxas deftly blends these many elements into a narrative that reads as compellingly as a novel. I imagine that Luther himself—not an easy man to please—would be deeply impressed by this master portraiture.”
—Mark Helprin, bestselling author of Winter’s Tale and A Soldier of the Great War

“Brilliant . . . powerful . . . a must read.”
—Mike Huckabee
 
“A very, very good book.”
—Fox News

“Metaxas’s Martin Luther is a breathtaking achievement and a gripping read. Bold, fast-paced, and magisterial like its hero, yet always stylish and witty like its author, this account blows the cobwebs off long-settled expectations, and helps us to understand the man who shook the medieval world and helped to shape the modern world.”
—Os Guinness, author of Impossible People

“Eric Metaxas has blessed us with yet another indispensable biography. With his customary verve and elegance, profound reverence, and biting wit, Metaxas’s Martin Luther is an education in the meaning of man’s relation to God. It makes Luther’s life come alive and illuminates how deeply that life has affected our own.”
—Bret Lott, bestselling author of Jewel and nonfiction editor of Crazyhorse magazine
 
“As with his seminal work on Bonhoeffer, Eric Metaxas, in this extraordinary work on Martin Luther, reveals those nuances that made Luther the force that he was. As the details gather in the book, you soon feel the presence of the man himself.”
—Dr. Gerald L. Schroeder, lecturer and teacher at College of Jewish Studies Aish HaTorah’s Discovery Seminar
 
“This massive but eminently readable biography of Luther deserves no less an adjective than ‘formidable.’ Eric Metaxas is to religious biographers what Pixar is to cartoons.”
—Peter Kreeft, author of Catholics and Protestants: What Can We Learn from Each Other?
 
“Extraordinary. A tour de force.”
—Johnnie Moore, Jr., founder of The Kairos Company

“If you wish to know why Martin Luther is remembered as one of the most consequential figures in history, and why Eric Metaxas has emerged as one of the most prominent storytellers of our generation, you’ll find the answers in this book. Eric’s skill as a writer and biographer are on full display here, even as he corrects the myths and secures the history of a monk who changed the world.”
—John Stonestreet, president of the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview

“One of the most engaging, inspiring, and entertaining books on Luther I've ever read. Every page a joy.”
—J.D. Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC

“Deeply researched and surprising.”
—Tampa Bay Times

“Metaxas is the best storyteller among the Luther biographers.”
—WORLD magazine

“Outstanding . . . full of clever turns of phrase and humor that makes the incredible story of Luther all the more accessible.”
—ChristianHeadlines.com

“A biography designed to peel back the myths and reveal Luther as the fascinating and influential man he was . . . A fast, easy read.”
—The Houston Chronicle
 
“Metaxas offers something different and special . . . the author’s fast-paced style and attention to interesting details sets this 450-page book apart.”
—Institute for Faith, Work & Economics

“Turns some centuries-long legends upside down.”
—The Blaze
 
“A masterful portrait of a seminal figure.” 
—Booklist (starred review)

“A meaty autobiography of the Reformation leader. Metaxas brings his flair for epic biography that was on such impressive display in his 2010 book, Bonhoeffer . . . Metaxas offers something different and special.” 
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
 
“Highly readable, fast-paced . . . cheerful.” 
—Publishers Weekly
 

From the Publisher

★ 11/15/2017
The 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation has spawned a plethora of books, including several biographies of the movement's founder, Martin Luther. In addition, there are several classics such as Roland Bainton's Here I Stand. Metaxas (Bonhoeffer; Amazing Grace) adds to these by attempting to capture the motivations and impact of this larger-than-life figure in a volume that will appeal to general readers. Key to Metaxas's effort is relaying the facts of Luther's life while dispelling some of the myths. Rather than delving too deeply, the author clearly explains the basic theological issues and even some of the political climate behind the theological debates. He sums up Luther's impact by stating "the quintessentially modern idea of the individual…the more recent ideas of pluralism, religious liberty, and self-government all entered history through the door that Luther opened to the future in which we now live." The author shows the human side of Luther by relaying his foibles and emotions but does not examine in depth some of the problem areas, such as his treatment of the Anabaptists and others who disagreed with his theology. VERDICT Anyone interested in religious history will thoroughly enjoy this readable biography. Highly recommended.—Ray Arnett, Anderson, SC

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