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Martin Luther: A Life (Penguin Lives)

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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.

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.

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.

Lutheran minister and historian Martin Marty writes a brief, but complete biography of Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation. Marty covers the life of Luther from birth and childhood until his death. Though overly detailed in some spots and sketchy in others, this biography gives the reader a fairly objective view the famous monk turned revolutionary. We learn about Luther's inner struggles through intensive research of his personal journals, letters, and subsequent biographies immediately after his death. A faithful monk and teacher, Martin Luther advocated the doctrine of the `priesthood of all believers' and `justification through faith alone.' This was in direct defiance of the Roman Catholic Church, which stressed the special power of the Pope and priests to intervene with God on behalf of the people. Though tolerated for years by Rome, he was eventually excommunicated and lived the rest of his under a death sentence. Some details about Luther's life were fascinating. He married a nun that he helped to escape from a convent. They had six children. He maintained relationships with powerful political figures during his long career. He grew bitter during old age and withdrew from public life. Disturbingly, Luther wrote several tracts condemning Jews that were later used by others to justify anti-Semitism. Throughout the biography, Marty depicts Luther as a man of extremes. He was both an erudite scholar and a fiery debater; harsh with critics, but loved by his students and followers; and a revolutionary that would not support violent peasant uprisings. Marty gives an excellent history lesson on the politics and religious controversies of the day. Understanding the political strife between the Germanic states and Roman Pope is critical to understanding the life and work of Martin Luther. Although slow in the beginning, this biography of history's most overlooked revolutionary is a complete and informative read.

What do you breed when you unite the two Martins: eminent historian Martin Marty and eminent historical figure Martin Luther? An artful narrative told with brevity and eloquence.

Martin Marty's "Martin Luther" offers the "lay reader" an accurate, readable introduction to Luther's stormy life. Though Marty is Lutheran, his writing is not a book about "Saint Luther."

Marty excels when he distills Luther's life into his anfectungen: his spiritual depression, doubt, and "spiritual separation anxiety." Luther battled the inner terror of doubts about his acceptance before God. These inner battles propelled him to wage war against a system that he believed exacerbated such doubts.

Being part of the Penguin Life series, one can't expect a treatise or a dissertation. Those wanting more depth would appreciate Oberman's "Luther: Man Between God and the Devil." Those wanting more "positives," might enjoy Bainton's classic "Here I Stand."

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Martin Luther: A Study in Christian Soul Care and Spiritual Direction" and of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction." He is also the author of "Soul Physicians" and "Spiritual Friends."

It is hard to believe that for one of the single most important figures in western history, whose collected works run to fifty-five volumes, there are only three or four biographies now in print in English. But so it is for Martin Luther, which makes this biography by Martin Marty a welcome addition. Marty's volume takes its place in the Penguin Lives series, a series which tries to match famous figures with well known authors for the general audience.

Marty takes as his guiding theme Luther's lifelong struggle with God: "God present and God absent, God too near and God too far, the God of wrath and the God of love, God weak and God almighty, God real and God as illusion, God hidden and God revealed." The German word upon which Marty fastens this theme is Anfechtungen, a word that is hard to translate but very easy indeed for people to appreciate: "the spiritual assaults that Luther said kept people from finding certainty in a loving God." Anfechtungen, said Luther, precipitated a "delicious despair" or crisis of certainty for which the believer could only cast himself upon the mercy of God. For the believer, in Luther's scheme, there is a sure security of faith, but no certainty free of struggle, doubt, anxiety, fears and spiritual warfare. At the end of the day, though, the believer rests in the knowledge that God in Christ says to us, "I am more certain to you than your own heart and conscience."

Marty takes us through the major passages of Luther's life: his time in the monastery, his home, the emerging Protestant church, his life as a university scholar and writer, and his civic life in politics. It used to be that Roland Bainton's biography Here I Stand (1950) was the standard life of Luther. Marty's wonderful volume is likely to take its place.

I've enjoyed every one of the Penguin Lives books that I've picked up so far. History isn't my primary field of study, so I've not the time to delve into the 1000 page tomes. The series, thus, sort of fills in a gap. It allows a bit of an entrance into these important lives for casual readers like myself.

The Martin Luther volume by Martin Marty is, so far, the best of the series that I've read. Luther led a truly fascinating life, and the condensed nature of this short biography makes the biography at moments read like an adventure. That's not to say that Marty sacrificed scholarship in order to make the subject more interesting. Luther's life was adventuresome in many ways, and his personal struggles, the devopment of his thought, and the culture of ideas that influenced him are all probed insightfully. I particularly appreciated Marty's use of the metaphor of Jacob wrestling God as a comprehensive string for tying together and understanding Luther's life.

This was really a strong little work. It definitely works for what it was intended. Without simply being a cliffs notes biography, it serves an entry point into Luther's life and theology for the intelligent reader.

Martin Marty's new biography is an excellent starting point on the study of that oft larger-than-life Theologian and churchman, Luther, that changed not only the face of Christianity forever but that of the Western world. However, it is only a primer, to wet the appetite of those who will need to dig deeper to more fuly understand Luther, his times, his Theology and his effect on the world.

Here is another fine entry in the "Penguin Lives" series of short biographies. This is from Martin Marty, America's pre-eminent scholar of religion. His account of Luther's life is comprehensible, thorough and to the point. Luther left a mixed legacy. He promoted the use of reason and freedom of conscience in a world where those qualities were scarce. He also helped provoke the bloody peasant revolts and then sided with his patrons, the German princes, in suppressing them. He was also a grotesque, public anti-Semite. His emphasis on faith and grace over works and consequences gives you, as someone once said, "permission to live", to breathe freely and make mistakes. But he was also so self-absorbed in his struggles with conscience that he seems not to have realized that for most people, a degree of guilt is not a bad thing, the "natural man" being what he is. For better or worse, modern consciousness is to a larger extent a gift from Luther; the "curse" of knowing that there are two or more sides to most issues. Without him, democracy and capitalism would have been unimaginable.

Marty portrays Luther with fairness, objectivity, and clarity. Though he doesn't get much into the free will/no free will theology, he does delve into other aspects of Luther's fascinating life. Beautifully written and an excellent resource for any Christian library.