- Paperback: 432 pages
- Publisher: Penguin UK; New edition edition (Mar 28 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0141391219
- ISBN-13: 978-0141391212
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 13.5 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,655,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Book Description
"I cannot. I will not recant. Here I stand". Accused of heresy, threatened with excommunication and death, Martin Luther spoke these fateful words as he took his unyielding position against the abuses of the medieval church. This text is a biography of the man who, because of his unshakeable faith in his god, became the instigator and chief architect of the Protestant Reformation.
About the Author
Roland H Bainton was Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale University. His other books include The Age of the Reformation, The Church of Our Fathers, and The Medieval Church.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Food for thought,
By
This review is from: Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Paperback)
This is a philosophical biography of Martin Luther. Although it provides some details about Luther's personal life, early upbringing and later family life, the focus of the book is on Luther's struggle to reform the Catholic church. The book is dense with summaries of Luther's writings, and it appears in a relatively small font, so it is not a quick or light read. It assumes a familiarity with Christian ideals and scripture; nevertheless, you don't need to be a Bible scholar to appreciate its discussion. This book is filled with passages that made me stop, think and reflect, and then dog-ear the page for return visits. Bainton quotes Luther: "Faith is a living, restless thing. It cannot be inoperative. We are not saved by works; but if there be no works, there must be something amiss with faith." Later, "Music is to be praised as second only to the Word of God because by her all the emotions swayed...The Holy Spirit himself pays tribute to music when he records that the evil spirit of Saul was exorcised as David played upon his harp....This precious gift has been bestowed on men alone to remind them that they are created to praise and magnify the Lord." Through reading this book, I became much more aware of the tremendous influence that Luther had on shaping numerous aspects of modern Western society. Anyone with any interest in any form of Christianity should become acquainted with the ideas of Martin Luther, and reading this book would be a good start.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A life in review,
By
This review is from: Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Paperback)
"Here I Stand" is a fine biography of the 16th Century Reformer Martin Luther. It encapsulates the full range of his emotions and struggles as he led the Reformation, and it also summarizes his key teachings. Bainton has a nice way of showing the progression of Martin Luther's thought, as in the earlier chapters the reader witnesses the struggle Luther underwent to free himself of the medieval Roman Catholic church's accretions to the Word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see Luther's profound awakening to the Gospel, as he began to see in Christ the merciful and righteous God who grants salvation freely through faith. Then eventually we see the mature Luther, who has been freed of the false teachings and traditions of the medieval church. Bainton shows us Luther's boldness and courage as a reformer, and also his deep humility and his failings. This book shows us a picture of a man who was used by God to restore the church to the Word of God alone, to faith alone in Christ alone by grace alone.The places where Bainton is weakest in this book is in his descriptions of how Luther understood the sacraments (baptism and communion) and how he understood the two realms of church and government. He doesn't quite explain these correctly in the Lutheran sense. But otherwise he has a helpful balance of the factors that influenced Luther and the reformation: social, political, historical, and most importantly theological factors. And the story is supplemented with personal stories showing his love for his wife and family, and his desire for a peaceful reform of the church. Above all Luther acted on the sure confidence in the Word of God as revealed in the Scriptures.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
static,
By A Customer
This review is from: Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Paperback)
I felt that this bio engauge to much in the theology and not enough in a narrative of action. Luther lead a dangerous and exciting life both mentally and consequently physically. I never sensed the danger in this book, and the theology could be over bearing and cumbersome. A better bio is by J.H. Merle D'Aubigne--The life and Times of Martin Luther. There you hear more of the debates from the participants' mouths and follow more closely Luther's journey--it is exciting--as it should be.
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