Luther in Context [Paperback]

David C. Steinmetz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996

Places Luther's thought in the context of his theological predecessors and contemporaries, introducing themes and problems that concerned Luther. Includes three new essays.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

David Steinmetz offers an insightful glimpse into the thought and theology of Martin Luther. This expanded edition contains three additional essays, one of which is appearing in English for the first time

Reviews of the First Edition

ìThis attractive collection . . . blends careful, current scholarship with an eminently readable style to create an enlightening guide to Martin Lutherís religious thought.î óJournal of Religion

ìExplores with elegance some of the fundamental loci of Reformation theology in a logical progression and with a refreshing method. . . . The essays illuminate the issues at stake and the range of choices available to and taken by Luther and his partners in the dialogue, often thereby clarifying differences that still exist within Western Christianity.î óSixteenth Century Journal

ìSteinmetz masterfully exhibits the novelty of Lutherís reformation insights against representatives of the theological landscape of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. . . . Exceptionally well-written and lucid.î óLutheran Quarterly

ìDavid Steinmetz has provided an invaluable guide for the study of Luther. . . . It is not only a tribute to Martin Luther and to his enduring contributions these hundreds of years after his birth, but it is a witness as well to how a scholar like Steinmetz can make those contributions readily available and accessible to the broader Christian world and to the interested reader.î óAsbury Theological Journal

ìProfessor Steinmetz . . . is a master at cutting through the complexities of late medieval and early Protestant thought and illuminating key issues in fresh and exciting ways. This book will benefit both students and specialists.î óRestoration Quarterly

ìWhoever seeks to find out more about Luther in the late medieval theological context is well advised to study Steinmetzí essays.î óTheology Today

ìThe lectures are carefully informed, developed with an obvious interest in the listener or reader, and have a depth about them that should draw further interest. Steinmetz represents an American Luther scholarship finally coming into its own.î óInterpretation

David C. Steinmetz (Th.D., Harvard University) is Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of the history of Christianity at Duke Divinity School and a former president of the American Society of Church History. He is the author of Luther and Staupitz and Calvin in Context, and serves as the general editor of the Oxford Studies in Historical Theology series. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

David C. Steinmetz (Th.D., Harvard University) is Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of the history of Christianity at Duke Divinity School and a former president of the American Society of Church History. He is the author of a number of books, including Luther and Staupitz and Calvin in Context. He also serves as the general editor of the Oxford Studies in Historical Theology series. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 146 pages
• Publisher: Baker Book House (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801020824
• ISBN-13: 978-0801020827
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,079,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual History At Its Best!, January 6, 2001

By 

Edmund Lau Kok Ming (Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Luther in Context (Paperback)

There are Social Historians and there are Intellectual Historians. It is a sad thing that people today seems to prefer the findings of the Social Historians over the Intellectual Historians. For example, the Reformation is today analysed by many from the perspectives of economic pressures, political climate and social conditioning when the most crucial perspective of analysis should be centered upon the "Battle of Ideas".

This book seeks to do just that. Steinmetz shows Luther as someone born to Theology as much as Bach was born to Music! More than that, Steinmetz's Luther is a fighter - a wrestler! Like Jacob of old, here we see Luther contending with his "contemporaries" - by that I mean the characters and ideas that more than any social concerns or pressures occupied his thoughts and demanded an appropriate response. We see Luther versus Abraham, Luther versus Isaiah, Luther versus Paul, Luther versus Augustine, Luther versus Ockham, Luther versus Erasmus and ultimately we see Luther versus himself and Luther versus God!

In short, we see Luther's beliefs as the product of conflict/crisis - much unlike the convenient/functional sort we see in many today. Reading this book allows me to see many Lutheran doctrines with far greater clarity than ever - e.g. the Hidden God, the Bondage of the Will, etc. I see Luther as someone like Jacob in the Book of Genesis holding on to the LORD, clinging on for his dear life! Then I see Luther limping away after his fights... a better man, a defeated man, a victorious man, a rebel and a worshipper. Israel.

Read Althaus' "Theology of Martin Luther" as your primer on Lutheranism. Then read this book to see everything in clearer perspective and context. I dare you to remain cool and disinterested after experiencing these vigorous battles of the mind and spirit.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authentic Luther, May 30, 2006

By 

Readalots (South Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Luther in Context (Paperback)

David Steinmetz brings an excellent study with "Luther In Context" (2002). This 195-page paperback offers 20 pages of informative endnotes and a helpful 7-page index. Steinmetz writes authentic Luther!

Steinmetz brings a very readable style presenting a fresh new look at the originator of the Protestant Reformation. The book is replete with Luther theology (from salvation by grace alone, to only Scripture, to virtue arrives only through grace). Luther is diligently compared to Aquinas, Pelagians, Occamists and Anabaptists (and found superior to each). The book's discussions range from Augustinian doctrines that influenced Luther's early thinking, to the Zwinglian controversies that required Luther's later response (Luther strongly disliked the militant Protestant Ulrich Zwingli), to Luther's own commentary on Scripture (bringing, for me, his best Protestant effort).

Steinmetz teaches the great Reformer's reasons for translating Scripture form Latin into German. We discover Luther's "Two Kingdoms" for 16th century political theory. The author submits chapter 9- "Luther and the Drunkenness of Noah"- to effectively demonstate how Brother Martin went about Scriptural exegesis.

Perhaps Steinmetz makes his best effort with chapter 8- "Luther and Calvin on Church and Tradition". This is a brilliant presentation hosting Luther and Calvin together. We hear of the brief theological inter-play between the two Reformation icons (Luther was almost two generations older than Calvin). Steinmetz's account makes one wish for a presence during the Luther-Calvin 1539 conversation.

This book is recommended to all students of the Reformation, Luther readers, students of Church history and those curious about Martin Luther. Amazon.com's price is good, order yours soon.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars informative, March 31, 2010

By 

jacqueline boronell (plant city, florida, US) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Luther in Context (Paperback)

thank you, this book was very clean and unmarked. I will purchase more from this company in the future.