Martin Luther: A Life (Penguin Lives) [Paperback]

Martin E. Marty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2008 | Series: Penguin Lives

Called “The most influential interpreter of American religion” by Bill Moyers, renowned historian and Lutheran pastor Martin Marty portrays the religious reformer Martin Luther as a man of conscience and courage who risked death to ignite the historic reformation of the Church. Luther’s arguments, including his “95 theses,” changed the destiny of Christendom, the shape of Christianity, and gave rise to new freedoms in church and state. Marty explores the records left by Luther of his inner struggles and his conflicts with the Holy Roman Empire to find a man engaged in a lifelong passionate search for not only the grace of God, but also for the assurance that it was directed toward each individual.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marty, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago and winner of the National Book Award for Righteous Empire, offers a sterling biography of history's irascible reformer. In concise, accessible style, Marty outlines Luther's life and times, gauging why this man changed the face of Europe and Western Christianity. Marty excels in distilling debates that were matters of life and death 500 years ago but seem obscure to Christians today. Although the celibacy of the clergy is a controversy that no contemporary reader will need explained, other issues such as infant baptism, communion in both kinds (the laity receiving both the bread and the wine) and justification by grace through faith are made accessible by Marty's skillful narration. He depicts Luther as a "man of extremes," bound up in contradictions. Marty wryly notes that Luther's biographer is doomed to qualify any statement about him with the phrase "at the same time." The theologian was tender, yet at the same time blustery and arrogant; he could be a superbly cogent thinker, yet near the end of his life he published a horrific attack on Jews that unthinkingly drew upon "traditional Christian rumors" and "whispered claims" about alleged Jewish atrocities. Even his beliefs seemed rife with contradiction: Christians were simultaneously justified and sinners; they were perfectly free but bound in service to all; God was both revealed and inscrutable. Marty is sensitive to Luther's deep, lifelong quest for theological assurance and his struggles with doubt. This is the best brief biography of Luther ever penned.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Renowned historian of religion (and Lutheran minister) Marty, author of multivolume studies, here gives us a short, vivid biography. His portrait confirms Luther's stubborn integrity; he was serious about Scripture as the sole authority for Christian practice, and that led him to repudiate clerical hierarchy and priestly celibacy, and to declare the priesthood of all believers and the goodness of God's gift of the body. He was, however, humanly contradictory, "a man of conservative outlook," Marty says, "but also a person of radical expression." He identified and sympathized with the common people yet so feared disorder that he sided with the abusive barons during the Peasants' War of 1524-25 rather than possibly overturn secular authority, even when it flouted Christian morals. Of course, he had his further reasons: utopian firebrand Thomas Muntzer was inciting the peasants to murderous class warfare, which Luther couldn't tolerate. Anti-Semitic in old age, he disgusted even his right-hand man, Philip Melancthon. Warts and all, however, Luther remains intrinsically admirable, a bulwark of conscience as well as faith. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (August 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143114301
• ISBN-13: 978-0143114307
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( L ) > Luther, Martin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but use as a supplementary text, December 29, 2004

By 

Orthodox Lutheran Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martin Luther: A Penguin Life (Penguin Lives Biographies) (Hardcover)

In November 2000, Penguin Group approached Martin Marty to write a biography on Martin Luther. He agreed and approached such a biography with no set agenda or niche he wished to fill that other biographies had left fallow. Yet throughout the book, one finds Marty talking about Luther as a Jacob (from the Old Testament account of Jacob wresting with God by the Jabbok River), as one who wrestled with God his entire life.

On one level, I found Marty's biography a complete joy to read. It straddles the fence between a theological development of Luther like that of Althaus or Lohse and a chronological, easy-to-read biography like that of Roland Bainton. This middle ground of Marty's book turns out to be a glowing success--but in a few ways, also a gloomy failure.

Marty succeeds getting into the mind of Luther as no other easy-to-read biography does. Early in the book, he highlights more than others do the influence on Martin Luther by Usingen and Trutvetter, two professors of Luther who were followers of Ockham. It was probably through them that the Sola Scriptura principle was planted into Luther's mind, which lay dormant until his struggles with Roman Catholicism forced that seed to spout and take root. Marty with clarity explains Luther's idea of Anfechtung (of inner struggle and anxiety), of a Christian being a theologian of the cross, and even the functions of Law and Gospel in the life of a person. Other biographies may touch on these topics, but not in the way Marty does--so that even a layperson or casual reader can grasp what Luther was getting at.

Strewn so informally throughout the book are golden nuggets of Luther's theology and insights that other biographies may not mention--or get wrong, if mentioned! Luther calling the church a "mouth-house," his understanding of vocation, the idea of a "hidden God," and other areas too many to mention are nestled within the book, waiting for the reader to unwrap. In Chapter Three (of four chapters), "Living the Faith," Marty hits his stride--bringing to light the challenges of early Lutheranism and also the educational reforms of Luther. There were times when reading this biography I cried out in delight, "Marty, I can kiss that bald head of yours!"

Marty so touches on the human side of Luther as well. After Luther's daughter Magdalena died, Marty makes known that Luther "was inconsolable and almost lost the ability to sustain the life of faith. He even spoke of losing his faith for a time, something he never did when he faced and had to fear the hatred and power of popes, emperors, and princes" (pg. 111). Marty's description of Luther's relationship with his wife, Katy, is well done and Marty's "connecting of the dots" from such scanty historical information is stupendous. But take note: this is no putting-Luther-on-a-pedestal biography. Marty even brings out some of Luther's peculiarities, but never in a voyeuristic or gossipy way. Near the end of the book, he brings out Luther's polemic writings against anyone he saw as an enemy of the Gospel, in particular, the Papacy, Muslims, and Jews (pgs 162-173). In context, one can see that Luther was not anti-Semitic--but that he viciously attacked all enemies of the Gospel.

Despite all the precious jewels awaiting their discovery, Marty leaves untold much of the social and political background going on in Luther's life. So one unfamiliar with historic events and the "lay of the land" would be confused, not knowing who is doing what to whom in which context. For instance, Marty writes on the later souring relationship between Luther and Karlstadt: "Karlstadt, who failed to hold the audience in the Leipzig Debate . . ." (pg. 79). Yet, the biography earlier did not even mention Karlstadt in the Leipzig Debate; from Marty's earlier recounting, one would think that it was simply a debate between Johannes Eck and Luther.

When Marty covers the Peasants' War (pgs. 96-98), he does so accurately--but incompletely: he leaves unsaid Luther's earlier efforts to mediate peace before the revolt was in full effect. Luther believed that the peasants in the end would be crushed, and if they rebelled, they would incur God's wrath, since rebellion goes against to His Word. So Luther pleaded to the peasants not to rebel. In the infancy of the rebellion, he also pleaded with the Saxon court to act swiftly against any conflict provoked by the Zwickau prophets, fearing that the discord would grow and destroy both the ruler and the ruled.

In a few places, Marty allows his personal views to supplant those of Luther. As an example, Marty's higher-critical views of the Bible come through when he writes: "The Scripture was an infallible guide to salvation, even though, contra to the views of the scholastics, in [Luther's] understanding its writers could and did make mistakes when writing on earthly matters" (pg. 83).

Although what Marty's biography gets right is done so well, I cannot recommend this book as the first biography of Luther to read. One should first learn the broader historical movements of the Reformation, perhaps by reading Kittleson's biography. After that, then one should read Oberman's Luther: Man Between God and the Devil. And as tertiary texts, Marty's and Nestingen's recent biographies should be read savor the insights into Luther's mind.

Through Kittleson, one would be well rounded on the Reformation with Luther as its instigator and main character. Through Oberman, a reader would get insight into the medieval world, Luther's torment over sin, and his battles with the devil. Finally, through Marty and Nestingen, one would receive wonderful insights into Luther's theology without reading tomes of his voluminous writings.

38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Martin on Martin: The Rest of the Story, February 9, 2004

By 

John F. Krueger (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martin Luther: A Penguin Life (Penguin Lives Biographies) (Hardcover)

Martin Luther was the great Protestant Reformer. Martin Marty is one of the great Lutheran theologians of our time. In Martin Luther: Penguin Lives, Martin (the younger) paints an excellent picture of Martin (the Luther) that goes far beyond the movie. Not only does Dr. Marty finish the story of the movie, but he also takes the measure of the man in a surprisingly unbiased manner.

The common thread between the movie and the book is the German word Anfechtungen, which is depicted in the movie as "conversations with the devil" and more accurately depicted in the book as plumbing the depths of a tortured soul. It is from these depths that the linchpin of Luther's theology, justification by grace through faith, has its roots - for Luther, it was his way to climb out of those depths alive.

Dr. Marty pulls no punches; despite his Lutheran pedigree, he excoriates Luther for his anti-Semitism (on the basis of both Christian behavior and bad scholarship) and his habit of lobbing grenades in unneeded and unwarranted directions (such as Erasmus and Henry VIII). In addition, he questions Luther's behavior during the Peasant Revolt of 1524-25 (unlike the movie) without moralizing or answering the questions for the reader.

This is a very accurate biography of Luther. It does not have the sappiness of Roland Bainton's "classic" biography (which was taken to the nth degree in the old b&w movie we "old Lutherans" saw in confirmation class) or the movie's portrayal of Luther as a dynamic hero (which was probably necessary for cinematic purposes).

What it does have are Luther's struggles with himself, the Roman church and other reformers. It also has an excellent overview of Luther's vast writings, and places them in context, not only of the development of the Lutheran church but also of his place and time. I feel that it is important and worthwhile to see Luther's struggles with finding eternal truths in his era and that his struggles were not significantly different from ours (except that we have more toys and less truth).

I have only had sporadic contact with Martin Marty's work; I have had more contact with folks like Paul Westermeyer and Marva Dawn in the realm of Lutheran worship and music, who were greatly influenced by him. This is the first "full length" look I have had at his work. Although as a Lutheran musician I would have liked to see more about Luther's hymns (which are a versified and surprisingly complete overview of his theology) and perhaps a bit more about his relationship with Philip Melanchthon (the later discredited "brains" of the Lutheran reformation), I found the book to be a very well written overview of the man, his beliefs, and his work. Amazingly enough, it is also a fairly fast read, which speaks well of Dr. Marty's ability to keep "lofty theological questions" readable and relevant. It is a "must read" for Lutherans and a good read for anyone else.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine intro to a great life, March 15, 2004

By 

JKJ (Midwestern USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martin Luther: A Penguin Life (Penguin Lives Biographies) (Hardcover)

Having grown up Lutheran, I've know the facts of Luther's life practically from the cradle, and in our day we had to virtually memorize his Small Catechism when we were confirmed. Since then I've read other, longer bios and all were fine. But this one is excellent, though brief--or perhaps because it's brief. I learned even more about the man and his thinking, though I already knew a reasonable amount. This would also be a fine introduction for anyone who doesn't know much about Luther. It's concise and very well written, and neither idolizes nor condemns a complex man who did much to shape life as we now know it. I'm recommending it to all my friends, Lutheran and otherwise.