Katharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk
Digital Logos Edition
Best of 2025$12.99
Overview
Their revolutionary marriage was arguably one of the most scandalous and intriguing in history. Yet five centuries later we still know little about Martin and Katharina Luther's life as husband and wife. Until now.
Against all odds, the unlikely union of a runaway nun and a renegade monk worked, over time blossoming into the most tender of love stories. This unique biography tells the riveting story of two remarkable people and their extraordinary relationship, offering refreshing insights into Christian history and illuminating the Luthers' profound impact on the institution of marriage, the effects of which still reverberate today.
Together, this legendary couple experienced joy and grief, triumph and travail. This book brings their private lives and their love story into the spotlight and offers powerful insights into our own twenty-first-century understanding of marriage.
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Top Highlights
“The Church was everything: law, order, morality, and eternity, all wrapped into a single powerful entity.” (Page 70)
“God’s righteousness was not a gift earned or deserved, but given freely to the undeserving out of God’s great mercy and compassion and made possible only by Christ’s death on the cross. The key, Luther finally realized, was that God’s love and grace were not merited, but freely given and freely received through faith alone.” (Page 91)
“There were times Luther felt that he hated God. He knew that ‘hating God was the ultimate blasphemy … he was hopelessly damned,’ yet he couldn’t help himself.[30] Luther was terrified of his God.” (Page 79)
“ she essentially asked Luther (and von Amsdorf as well—it apparently didn’t matter which of them said yes) to marry her” (Page 135)
“The Church even regarded sex within marriage as a sin and considered the best possible marriage an unconsummated one” (Page 121)
- Title: Katharina and Martin Luther: The Radical Marriage of a Runaway Nun and a Renegade Monk
- Author: Michelle DeRusha
- Publisher: Baker
- Print Publication Date: 2018
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- Subjects: Textbooks; Luther, Katharina von Bora › 1499-1552; Luther, Martin › 1483-1546; Marriage › Religious aspects--Christianity
- ISBNs: 9781493420315, 9780801077944, 9780801019104, 1493420313, 080107794X, 0801019109
- Resource ID: LLS:WS_B8F430EC929C44ACAD7A96956D0D14D2
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2025-09-29T22:15:54Z
Reviews
1 rating
Glenn Crouch
11/20/2025
I’ve read quiet a few biographies of Luther, and I appreciated that this one concentrates on the relationship between Martin & Katharina. This is an easy and entertaining read - plus the author gives many useful insights into the world of 16th Century “Germany”. As someone who has read reasonably extensively when it comes to Luther, I can’t say that there were many surprises in the book. But I thoroughly enjoyed the journey, and was pleased to be reminded of this story. I think the author captures well how their marriage came about through duty and necessity, and blossomed into a deep devotional and intimate love of one another. The author doesn’t try to hide the flaws that these two strong-willed people had. We also see the dawn of the modern era, through this couple - and how many of the things we take for granted in our marriages and relationships were ground-breaking and inspiring for them. Concludes with a very useful Bibliography, made even more useful as it is broken into categories. It is good to see an author encourage further reading on the matters to which they have introduced to the reader! Strongly recommend it to my fellow Christians. If you like a biographical romance or are into Reformation history, then this is a must read!
Best of 2025