The ancient author of Ecclesiastes wrote, Of making many books there is no end, and that is undeniably true as we consider Martin Luther. With the sole exception of Jesus Christ, more books have been written about Luther than about any other person who has ever lived. In 1983, the 500th anniversary of his birth, more than 320 books and journal articles focused on the reformer. And this year marks the 500th anniversary of the putative beginning of the Protestant Reformation when, on October 31, 1517, Luther nailed his 95 theses on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg.Given how many volumes have examined Luther in the half-millennium since he lived, it is not surprising when another excites little more than a yawn: how hard it is to plumb new depths of this challenging personality; how difficult to bring forward some insight that has not already appeared multiple times. Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet manages this remarkable feat, and Lyndal Roper offers here an admirably researched and winsomely written treatment of the powerhouse of the Reformation. It serves up profound insights into the man whose struggles ended up shattering the unity of the church and initiating a new period in European history.
Source: Luther’s World | The Weekly Standard
