The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther

A Long Line of Godly Men Profile

by Steven J. Lawson

In The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther, new from Reformation Trust Publishing, author Steven J. Lawson shows the convictions and practices that fed Luthers pulpit boldness. It all began with his deep commitment to the Word of God, through which he had come to his freeing understanding of justification by faith alone. Luther was outspoken in the pulpit because he was so deeply devoted to Scripture, seeing it as inspired, inerrant, clear, sufficient, and supremely authoritative. For these reasons, he believed that the preaching of the Word was to be at the heart of the churchs worship.

Genres: Biography, Theology, Christian, History, Nonfiction, Church History, Christianity

132 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2013

About the author

Dr. Steven J. Lawson is the Senior Pastor of Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama, having served as a pastor in Arkansas and Alabama for the past twenty-nine years. He is a graduate of Texas Tech University (B.B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M.), and Reformed Theological Seminary (D. Min.)

Reviews

[Jacob London · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. Yet I didn't feel that it actually understood Luther's position on certain matters and therefore doesn't present to us an accurate picture of the great reformer.

[Eva Rocío RMG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Con su ejemplo, Lutero llama a los hombres de Dios a ser firmes en su compromiso con la Sola Scriptura y que nunca se aparten de su pasaje bíblico al exaltar a Jesucristo.

[Jesus Salgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the life of Luther and some of the quotes he had, he would not be well-liked today.


He said it was sinful for a Christian not to study the original languages.

Pride and Arrogance, Laziness is my guess why it fuels his statement. ^^^^


He was also interesting to me that he was a big law teacher as well as a big liberty teacher. He had a high view of both. Which in reality God's law brings more freedom if used lawfully.

Martin Luther is a great example of how Christians should be today. We should strive to be better students of God’s word and we should be bold in our faith in him.

[Dkovlak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very short.

It was a good introduction to Martin Luther life.

I learned from this book that preaching was a priority for Martin Luther.

He did many other things besides preaching. These included debating, writing books, and interacting socially with others.

[Douglas Domer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent biography! Quality work including Biography and index is comprehensive and through!

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Luther was unflinchingly courageous as he stood in the pulpit, and he was so bold because he was thoroughly biblical."

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very edifying read; one ought to purchase it for their pastor! The book makes the case that Luther must be understood as a preacher before all other roles that he had, whether it's a theologian, professor or writer. I learned that Luther zeal for preaching was done while he was doing everything else in ministry and on any given Sunday he preached three to four sermons with the first service beginning at at 5 AM! He would preach a sermon every two days. While I have enjoyed other biographies on Luther in the past, what makes this particular book unique is that this book on Martin Luther as a preacher is written by Steven Lawson who is himself a powerful and passionate preacher. There's nothing like a good preacher having the insight on another famous preacher. Lawson is not only a preacher but he has proven himself in the past to be a capable writer especially in the area of the history of preaching and this work doesn't disappoint. For a work in which the body comes in at 122 pages, Lawson's historical leg work is amazing with 324 footnotes total. The sources he cites indicate his familiarity with both secondary sources and English translation of primary sources on Luther. And he's able to do this without making the book feel boring. On the contrary, reading the book made me felt passionate about preaching especially when I got to chapter five on Luther's passionate delivery in the pulpit. I couldn't go to sleep until after three in the morning because I wanted to preach God's Word as a result of reading this book! I am a firm believer that true Christ-centered preaching that's Biblically driven can't be delivered as a mono-tone lecture--one must internalize the Word of God and let the Word set you ablaze with a conviction of it's truth and power. I highly recommend the book for all readers.

[Wesley and Fernie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's short, but precise; it covers the main events of Martin Luther's life as well as his theological distinctives. I'm going to continue this series this month.

[Kody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well compacted easy to recommend extremely impactful!

[Jonah Copeland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book paints Martin Luther in a VERY heroic light. Don’t misunderstand me, without Luther’s efforts, the faith would have been lost, but this is not the book to understand Luther in a historical sense. Frankly, I could best describe this book as an ardent plea for biblically sound preachers in the church. In a negative sense you could almost call it propaganda, but that sounds harsh. What I have found is this book did indeed have a positive effect on my view of preaching, scripture, and the faith. This should most certainly be read by those entering the ministry as it is unequivocally true in the sense that the church is in desperate need for preachers that will in full knowledge and reliability proclaim Christ’s entire Word unabashedly and without apologizing or feeling the need to “defend” (in a shameful sense) the Gospel and Words of our God.

[Misael Ordoñez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es una hermosa obra literaria que nos presenta episodios de la vida de Martín Lutero, en este libro nos explica que Lutero consideraba que su mayor trabajo era ser predicador, por lo tanto este libro se centra en la postura que Lutero asumió en cuanto a la doctrina de las Escrituras.

Este hermoso libro nos invita a enfatizar la predicación en nuestras Iglesias, así como en la iglesia católica el centro de la misa es la comunión, en el culto cristiano siempre ha sido la predicación, lo cual es claramente visible en el Nuevo Testamento.

En este libro podemos encontrar una invitación a que surjan nuevos Luteros que prediquen con pasión, elocuencia y sobre todo una predicación Bíblica o conocida como expositiva, predicando todo el consejo de Dios.

[James Sturge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que buen libro.

Esta serie de libros de Poiema Publicaciones es un banquete de enseñanzas de estos grandes hombres que Dios ha dado a la iglesia para avivar Su Palabra cuando la han querido enterrar en los púlpitos. Había leído biografías de Lutero, pero este libro me ha enseñado más de cerca cómo Lutero manejaba magistralmente La Palabra de Dios, al ser un predicador expositivo, versículo por versículo, así como lo fue Calvino. Lo recomiendo, y espero los otros libros de esta serie.

[Katyee Schmidly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having grown up Lutheran, I thought I knew quite a bit about Martin Luther. This book really explained what set him apart from his contemporaries and throughly covered his love for scripture. He believed scripture was for all and was great at preaching truth, but still making it accessible to the average non/ scholar of his day.
‘May God give to His Church modern day Luthers to bring about a new reformation in this day.’

Loving this series, the reader does a fantastic job. The books are fairly short and easy to understand.

[Daniely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sinceramente no era el libro que estaba esperando, este libro se centra más en el estilo de predicación de Lutero que en su vida, aunque a veces solía hablar sobre ella, senti que no era su foco de atención.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
"Cuando la palabra de Dios no es predicada, más vale que uno no cante ni lea, o mejor que ni se reúna. "

"Para conocer la voluntad de Dios, uno debe estar únicamente bajo la influencia de la Palabra de Dios."

"Estaba listo para predicar la verdad porque estaba preparado para morir por ella."

[Carla Lohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quando vi a capa pensei se tratar de uma biografia apenas, porém o livro vai além disso. A obra inicia com a biografia do Reformador, porém apenas o primeiro capítulo apresenta sua histórias, sendo que nos demais capítulos são abordados destaques/focos de seu ministérios, passando por sua pregação apaixonada, por sua coragem ao pronunciar a verdade em um mundo de trevas, seus sermões, entre outros aspectos. É tipo de leitura que conduz estudantes humildes a bíblia e seu autor. Valeu muito a leitura.

[Kyle Bartsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fantastic. Luther, as well as all the great reformers, is extremely inspiring to a young Christian man like myself. Excellent read, easy to understand, clear articulation on the life of this great man. Lawson does steer clear from Luther’s shadowier beliefs especially as he developed them near the end of his life, which does feel somewhat deceptive, but I know this wasn’t intentional. So long as you can balance the darker history of Luther, this book is a great account of the man who worked tirelessly for the gospel.

[Nate Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expecting a biograpby, instead I read a case study of the approach Luther took to the pulpit. Remarkably written and researched, the book provides a call to action to accomplish what Luther set to do daily. There is much that surrounds Luther's life that the book does not address, but does use many quotations from writings that we xan be assured what he was thinking when he examined the Scriptures.

[Andres Valencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Antes que cualquier cosa, el trabajo que hace Steven es extraordinario, no nos trae un libro biografico para expertos, si no que lo trae de tal forma en que se ve la similitud de las necesidades en la epoca de lutero como en la de hoy, ahora en verdad quisiera que cada predicador y aspirante a predicador pueda leer este libro.

[Shawn Durham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like every other book I’ve read in this series, it was very well written. I love how Lawson cites all his sources, unlike some authors I’ve read. Great mini book on Luther. I’ve only read 2 other books on him (7+ months ago), so this book was a great way to reintroduce myself to him before I start his biography by Eric Metaxas!

[Rachel Svendsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful installment of the "Long Line of Godly Men" series. The books in this series a broken into two parts. One, a short but well-researched biography of the subject and two, a thorough synopsis of their ministry and impact on church history. This is the third book I've read in this series and I am excited to read more.

[Hernán Martínez Chimá · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al momento de empezar a leer el libro pensé que era un libro histórico. Es un libro que contiene historia, pero no es histórico. El pensamiento constante del autor es mostrar al lector la predicación valiente de Lutero, y motivar al lector a imitar su predicación llena de virtudes que hoy en día buscamos en los predicadores. Un buen libro

[Keidy Sheilyn Reinoso · Rating 3 out of 5]

No había leído ningún material biográfico o de un personaje de la Historia hasta este momento, me ha parecido bastante interesante y revelador.

El formato del libro es resaltar cuales son las características principales de la heroica valentía de Martín Lutero al exponer la Palabra.

Muy atinado para lideres y predicadores.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great and quick introduction to Martin Luther and the properties of a man that made him such a force. Lawson tells of a Luther in an easy and understandable way that even Luther would have been proud. I am very much looking forward to reading about Whitfield next in this series! And other books by Lawson!

[Hank Pharis · Rating 3 out of 5]

October 31st will mark the 500th Anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of his 95 Theses. Thus it is appropriate to revisit his his changing career. This one of the best places to start. Call it Introduction to Luther 101.

[Russ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic introduction to Luther for Christians who know little about the man and his importance in church (and Western) history.

(One question: since this is published by Reformation Trust, was Lawson contractually required to quote RC Sproul every five pages?)

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part of the series by Lawson that provides short, edifying introductions to the lives of a long line of godly men. These brief biographies are great places to start and return to for ongoing encouragement.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read on the life and times of the late great Martin Luther. This book was less of a biography and more of an insight to him as a person while explaining his life and how God used him powerfully in church history thus affecting the church of today.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. This volume is on par with the one on Calvin. Excellent steps into Luther's preaching and theology, and helpful applications into our own hermeneutics, preaching, and working towards Reformation in our day.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because these biographies are meant to be short and not comprehensive, this book does an excellent job of highlighting the bold character of Luther’s ministry. There are plenty of examples and principles that could be applied to ministry today.

[Colby Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very brief on his life details but hits home the emphasis of his ministry. I am encouraged to spend my life studying scripture, stick to it above all else, and preach it regardless.

“The pulpit," Luther asserted, "is the throne for the Word of God.”

We need more Luthers.