Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World  by Eric Metaxes

Martin Luther is often regarded as the “initiator” of the Protestant Reformation. Therefore, many hardcore Protestants hold his memory in awe whereas some staunch Catholics still consider him one of the most prevalent enemies in the history of the faith.  Eric Metaxes’ wonderful biography is definitely in the “former” category as it paints the man in a positive light, but one of the wonderful things about reading about the life of Martin Luther is to discover that he really never set out to be a radical leader to bring about reforms to the Holy Catholic Church.   He just sort of happened to be at the right place and at the right time.

Originally a Catholic friar living in a monastery, Martin Luther was literally a tortured soul.  He lived in constant fear that he wasn’t living up to God’s standards and no matter how he tried, he was constantly in fear of the destination of his soul.  We find him constantly in the confession chambers confessing every possible sin that he could recall.  When he couldn’t recall any particular sins during confession (how much trouble can you get into living in a monastery?), he would confess that his soul was consumed with pride – since he couldn’t think of anything to confess.  Such was the life of this young monk.

History tells us that Luther began the reformation by dramatically hammering his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg chapel. The visions one conjures up can be quite staggering, and it would probably make the great makings of a key episode in a Netflix docu-drama.  However the author tells us that the actual event was far less extraordinary than history has led us to believe.  Apparently, nailing (he actually glued) his theses on the door of the chapel was rather like attaching a flyer on a bulletin board, and his 95 points were essentially a point of contention that he wished to address with only one of his particular brethren of the cloth.  However, once a lot of eyes read what Luther had posted, the word spread.  It helped that around this time there was the invention of something called the printing press. A modern-day analogy would be an innocent video that gets posted on YouTube that eventually “goes viral”.

It should be made known that the intention of these 95 theses was not intended to start the reformation, but was rather an honest inquiring about the practice of indulgences, which seemed to have gotten completely out of control during this period in history. One particular story the author tells: The practice of indulgences had gotten so out of control, that priests began to sell them to absolve people of their FUTURE sins.  So one parishioner purchases an indulgence for a future sin, and then proceeds to knock the priest out cold and steal all of his money.  Anyway, once Luther’s ninety-five theses goes viral (so to speak) it seems as though his thoughts and concerns are a far cry from unique.  This is why the reformation takes hold.  Someone (Luther) simply says out loud what most were feeling but weren’t courageous enough to say.

So the light of the power keg is now lit.  Luther soon gains momentum and confidence in his movement, and things only escalate from here.  The author then leads us through more events that highlight the reformation.  We read about the crazy idea of making the Bible being able to be read by anyone, the notion that all should be able to sing during the mass, and much more heavy topics such as transubstantiation.  When the author gets to such topics as this last one, it does wear a bit, but he’s smart enough not to dwell too much on specifics.

We also read a lot about Luther’s home life. He married a former nun (who he helped escape from a convent.  Yes, you read that right. Escape.) and seemed to be plagued by an awful lot of health issues during his advanced years. Sometimes the author gets a bit detailed with the morbid particulars of Luther’s sufferings, but this is probably because Luther, himself, made many notations of his distress during his illnesses.  Most of Luther’s life, though, he never comes across as a dangerous radical.  In fact, he seems to want to hold many of the active participants of the Reformation on a bit of a leash.  He warns them that, although justifiably angry, all need to show the love and reverence of Christ during such times.  Many times these pleas go on deaf ears, and Luther seems to shun much of the hostilities.   I would make the argument that things haven’t changed that much in 500 years, but let’s not go there.

To be fair, there are times, particularly in Luther’s later life when his writings become quite acrimonious, vitriolic, and hostile.  He seems to have crossed some sort of bitterness barrier during his last several years towards the church and also towards the Jews.  This can be a bit much to stomach, and one can’t fault many of today’s Catholics that point to such sentiments and claim the man wasn’t the hero that many have made him out to be.  The author never makes excuses for Luther’s behavior, but tries to put such things in context.  We’re talking about a society 500 years in the past, and there were superstitions aplenty when it came to those who didn’t claim to be Christian.

This book felt as though it was the perfect length.  I want to guess it was about 450 pages (excluding the index and notes etc.) and it was fairly easy to assimilate all of the unfamiliar names and places.  The author even includes an early image of the 95 theses (along with the English translation).  I highly recommend this book.  I suppose a staunch Catholic might have issues with the man and this tale, but it’s worth mentioning that many of the reforms that Luther brought about have actually been since implemented by the Catholic church.  Not all, of course, but many of the day-to-day expectations have been changed and even encouraged.  Catholics, for example, are taught to read their Bible as well as sing during appropriate times during the mass.

So the subject matter when discussing Martin Luther will always ruffle feathers of certain individuals on both sides of the theological fence, but this is a history lesson that needs to be told.  I would just end my review by, again, stating that this book does have a Protestant spin, and if one wants a full picture, they should probably read a notable work or two that shows opposite sentiments of the man, and can therefore come to their own conclusion.