Martin Luther: A Life
Overview
Martin Luther: A Life tells the dramatic story of the renegade monk whose heroic personal struggle ignited a revolution and shook Christendom to its foundations.
Through vivid anecdotes and lively historical descriptions, Martin Luther: A Life captures the turbulent times and historic events through which Luther lived as well as his profound vision of God. A fast-moving narrative, it shows how his stinging criticisms of the Christian church struck a deep and liberating chord in the German people and led to the momentous change we know as the Reformation.
For all who wish to understand Luther the man, the rebel, and the visionary, James Nestingen’s account also offers insight into Luther’s momentous contributions to the Western world and his personal encounter with God, the Christian scriptures, and the relentless demands of his own conscience.
In the Logos edition of Martin Luther: A Life, you get easy access to Scripture texts and to a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Hovering over Scripture references links you instantly to the verse you’re looking for, and with Passage Guides, Word Studies, and a wealth of other tools from Logos, you can delve into God’s Word like never before!
- Insight into Luther’s momentous contributions to the Western world
- Luther’s personal encounter with God
- Anecdotes and historical descriptions
Top Highlights
“As he continued to think about the phrase, he wrote, ‘I noticed the context of the words, namely, ‘The justice of God is revealed in it; as it is written, the just shall live by faith.’ Then and there, I began to understand the justice of God as that by which the righteous man lives by the gift of God, namely by faith, and this sentence, ‘The justice of God is revealed in the gospel’ to be that passive justice with which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ’” (Page 23)
“Luther had finally heard Paul describe how the God who raised Jesus from the dead goes beyond initiative, beyond offer, beyond passive waiting to actually give what has been commanded: to make the believer righteous, to justify, to complete what has already been begun by creating faith. The God Luther had sought to control with his own ‘understanding or effort,’ ‘reason or strength,’ had turned on him in sheer, unqualified goodness, promising him to make him God’s own.” (Page 23)
“This theory has recently become popular with Lutherans who, for ecumenical reasons, have wanted to minimize Luther’s criticisms of the Catholic tradition.” (Page 21)
- Title: Martin Luther: A Life
- Author: James A. Nestingen
- Publisher: Augsburg Fortress
- Publication Date: 2009
- Pages: 112
Reviews
2 ratings
David Karow
5/7/2019
Glenn Crouch
10/19/2015
This is a good, easy-to-read biography - though I would say it is best handled as an introductory biography to Martin Luther. Not that there is anything wrong with that of course. This is an excellent book for those who know very little of the Reformation, and would like an easy, "short read" to get into things. I think the Author deals quite fairly with Luther, and that he handles some of the controversies (such as Luther's treatment of the Jews) quite well for a brief book. So if you've never read anything about Luther or the Reformation, here is a good place to start :)
