Martin Luther: A Very Short Introduction

ISBN-13: 9780199574339 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 144 str.

Scott H Hendrix

Opis

When Martin Luther posted his Ninety-Five Theses (reputedly nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg), he unwittingly launch a movement that would dramatically change the course of European history. This superb short introduction to Martin Luther, written by a leading authority on Luther and the Reformation, presents this pivotal figure as historians now see him. Instead of singling him out as a modern hero, historian Scott Hendrix emphasizes the context in which Luther worked, the colleagues who supported him, and the opponents who adamantly opposed his agenda for change. The author explains the religious reformation and Luther's importance without ignoring the political and cultural forces, like princely power and Islam, which led the reformation down paths Luther could neither foresee nor influence. The book pays tribute to Luther's genius but also recognizes the self-righteous attitude that alienated contemporaries. The author offers a unique explanation for that attitude and for Luther's anti-Jewish writings, which are especially hard to comprehend after the Holocaust.

Recenzje

This is a great addition to OUP's 'Very Short Introductions' series of books, which manages to pack a huge amount of fascinating and useful material into just over a hundred small pages. ... The author is clearly aware of a vast amount of scholarly discussion and secondary literature on Luther and has an enviable ability to summarise and critique it in short compass, and he does a good job of helping us appreciate the historical distance between us and Luther.

O autorze

Scott H. Hendrix is Professor Emeritus of Reformation History at Princeton Theological Seminary. He currently chairs the Continuation Committee of the International Congress for Luther Research. His publications include Luther and the Papacy: Stages in A Reformation Conflict (1981), Tradition and Authority in the Reformation (1996), Preaching the Reformation (2003), and Luther (2009).