Martin Luther - Eric Metaxas
Audiobook narrated by the author.
I knew next to nothing about Martin Luther before beginning this book, only that he was famous for starting the Reformation and did so by nailing his 95 Theses to the door of a church. There is a lot more to him than that!
The thing that struck me most, while listening to this book, was how little Martin Luther intended to be controversial; as Metaxas argues, Luther wrote the 95 Theses in Latin (the scholarly language) because he intended to have a scholarly debate, not a revolution. It was only when his theses were translated into German and distributed by others that he was forced to defend them in public, thus going further than he intended. As things escalated, and Luther made more and more controversial statements (controversial to the ears of the established church of the day), there came a point where Luther gained a real peace with what was happening, because it was 'obvious that God was in it.' If that was the case, then 'whatever happened', even if Luther was killed for his statements, Luther could still be at peace because it was God's will.
Wow. That is a challenge.
Towards the end of Luther's life, he did make occasional controversial - and even troubling - statements and became even more argumentative than he had been as a younger man. Metaxas doesn't seek to brush over these, but also carefully points out the times in which Luther lived, as well as highlighting how some of Luther's most troublesome writings contradict Luther's own earlier more moderate views. Metaxas argues that - whatever reason Luther had for being so crotchety - his overall worldview was a good one, and the whole should not be dismissed because of some questionable writings. It also is a good reminder that no-one is without fault, even one so prominent as Martin Luther.
Eric Metaxas is a good writer, narrates the audiobook version clearly and confidently, and is a very thorough researcher. Although in researching him for this review I find that some of his own politics are a bit outside my comfort zone, I also found his biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, about Dietrich Bonhoeffer - a German theologian executed by the Nazis during World War 2 - quite powerful. Someday I'll re-read it and post a review, but it will take a while - these sort of books take a while to 'chew' on.
Martin Luther is no different. I have only mentioned one positive and one negative from Luther's life in this review, but there are far more challenging (in a good way) aspects to Luther's life that I would love to dwell on for longer. This can sometimes be hard with an audiobook, and I guess one of the main compliments I can give the work as a whole is that it has left me with the desire to hunt out a physical copy for future reference.
Completed 22 April 2024.
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