The Making of Martin Luther

by Richard Rex

A major new account of the most intensely creative years of Luther's career

The Making of Martin Luther takes a provocative look at the intellectual emergence of one of the most original and influential minds of the sixteenth century. Richard Rex traces how, in a concentrated burst of creative energy in the few years surrounding his excommunication by Pope Leo X in 1521, this lecturer at an obscure German university developed a startling new interpretation of the Christian faith that brought to an end the dominance of the Catholic Church in Europe. Luther’s personal psychology and cultural context played their parts in the whirlwind of change he unleashed. But for the man himself, it was always about the ideas, the truth, and the Gospel.

Focusing on the most intensely important years of Luther’s career, Rex teases out the threads of his often paradoxical and counterintuitive ideas from the tangled thickets of his writings, explaining their significance, their interconnections, and the astonishing appeal they so rapidly developed. Yet Rex also sets these ideas firmly in the context of Luther’s personal life, the cultural landscape that shaped him, and the traditions of medieval Catholic thought from which his ideas burst forth.

Lucidly argued and elegantly written, The Making of Martin Luther is a splendid work of intellectual history that renders Luther’s earthshaking yet sometimes challenging ideas accessible to a new generation of readers.

Genres: History, Religion, Biography, Theology, Nonfiction, Christianity, Germany

296 pages, Hardcover

Published October 10, 2017

Reviews

[Yibbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me a really long time to make up my mind about this book. I’ve read a lot of biographies, but not many dedicated to the development of an individual’s beliefs. This one left me a little confused as to the author’s intent or maybe more accurately his point of view. It did some things really well, but I really don’t think I have any better grasp of why Luther’s theology changed so drastically than I did before I read it. Perhaps, I should have been more wary when the official descriptions claimed it was provocative.
It does a good job of chronicling the changes in Luther’s beliefs from Catholic monk to Protestant Reformer. By that I mean he very cautiously dates when Luther first mentions this or that belief in a letter, lecture, pamphlet, or book. That leads to long sections of scholarly debates of the veracity of one person’s memory over someone else’s, or the likely hood of this letter or note being written on any certain date. Honestly, that got a little boring.
Those changes are also compared to the contemporaneous beliefs and practices. He shows how they differ drastically from accepted Catholic doctrine, and how some of them grew from Luther’s study of different authors. What’s missing is any comparison or discussion of how those ideas grew from Scripture. He does point out repeatedly that Luther claimed that all his ideas are based in scripture, but focuses more on the movement toward individuality that it set in motion than on the Biblical case for them.
Once the author delves into the details of various debates and their responses, you start to get the idea that the author really didn’t think much of Luther. He certainly doesn’t approve of his strident style as compared to the various scholars that he debated. Then Luther’s steadfast stand on truth is portrayed more as stubbornness and pride, or maybe a just obsessive than firm Biblical conviction. Luther is almost made out to be the villain in his own story.
I guess I was looking for a book that more deeply delved into the theological basis for Luther’s change in beliefs than a mere chronicle of when they happened and how they differed from Catholic teaching. Without the scriptural basis for those beliefs being explained in this book, it makes all Luther’s struggles and trials seem nothing more than scholastic wrangling. The joy of forgiveness from our sins through faith alone in Christ alone is completely missing. I found that sad.

[Andy Reeves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and engaging perspective on Luther from a modern Catholic perspective. A refreshing book in the sense that it helps shed light on Luther and his personality from a viewpoint that is gentlemanly hostile.

[Bennett Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to Rex, certainty is the key to Luther's theology, and the purpose of the work is to explain how he came to it and how it contradicted the traditional Christianity in which he was formed. He shows that many of his key themes - Christocentrism, an interest in Antichirst, bibliocentrism, and many of his most pressing spiritual concerns - were rooted in medieval Christianity. In fact, Rex argues that in Luther they reach their culmination. What was novel in Luther's thought was the invisible church, the persistence of sin in this life, and the certainty of grace which came though justification by faith alone. All were Augustinian themes, but Luther took their implications in new directions, which ultimately undermined Augustine's ecclesiological paradigm and shattered the medieval consensus.

An incredibly insightful and thoroughly enjoyable account of "The Making of Martin Luther."

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great view of Luther’s theological development. The last chapter should be the first chapter read by anyone studying Luther.

[Shawn Brace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be fascinating and well-written, even if there is a clear current of Roman Catholic bias in it.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-making-of-martin-luther-by-richard-rex/

it’s quite a good book. The intellectual context needs a lot of unpacking for the reader unfamiliar with sixteenth-century Christian theology, but Rex takes us through Luther’s thought processes about what Luther was thinking, saying and teaching, as well as guessing at his (much-explored) psychological impulse to resist authority. I’d have liked maybe a little more on the micropolitics of the German statelets which created a context where (some) governments were more receptive to religious innovation than might have been the case in earlier centuries.

Rex does enlarge at length on the technological revolution of printing, which made the spread of new ideas possible, and which left the ecclesiastical authorities reeling. I must say I found strong similarities to the rise of social media today, and the ability of new political forces to seize the momentum and disrupt existing authority. There is a vivid description of Worms during the Reichstag meeting, festooned with posters of Luther and with the Elector Frederick ready to print off the pro-Luther side of the story for mass consumption as soon as it happened. Meanwhile the Pope had no idea what was happening.

Not a book for beginners, but certainly OK for my level of prior knowledge.

[Connor Murphy]

I did not previously appreciate the degree to which Martin Luther's thought changed during the early years of the Reformation. The biggest ideas of what was to become the Reformation do not seem to be present in the (in)famous 95 Theses.

I was surprised by Luther's rather extreme commitment to authority, when his thought ultimately created space for individualism and disintermediated individuals' relationships with God: "For this reason the Christian must be certain, absolutely certain, that Christ appears before God as a priest for him."

"What 'forced' Luther into the cloister was the same thing that ultimately 'forced' him out of it: his conscience, that powerful and unruly organ." Powerful and unruly, indeed.

[Gil Garza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Rex is Polkinghorne Fellow in Theology and Religious Studies at Queens' College Cambridge, among other things and has written a new standard of the beginning of Martin Luther's career. The book focuses on how Dr. Luther came to fame and how his fame took a life of its own. For example, Luther, documents now show, never nailed his Manifesto on the church door according to the myth in 1517. He did, however, mail it as an entry for academic debate the following year.

Rex offers keen insights into the personalities and their motivations in a very readable style.

[Scott Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt it was a little dry. Such a fascinating historical figure should have a fascinating and engaging story. After reading this book I felt like maybe he was looking for personal glory a little more than God's glory but it is weird because I really feel he was inspired by God. Maybe he will mock me after this life because his intentions were pure and noble but this book didn't put him in that light.

[Nathan Suire · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book on the historical development of Martin Luther’s theology from a Catholic historian. Rex shows Luther was not in fact a “reformer” of Catholic Christianity in the late medieval world but a revolutionary with a novel individualistic theology that was radically anti-hierarchical.

[Thomas McCloskey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the Kindle Version.

First, the bad bit. It was way too short. I finished this book in a couple of days, and wanted more. It was clear, concise and very well constructed. I think the author accomplished what he set out to do; I only wish he had had a broader scope to further enjoy.

Second, my view was to get a sense of Martin Luther as a Catholic. Generally, one is confronted with either prose that declares Luther exceptional and nearly infallible (Protestant literature), or nearly (or literally) the devil (much Catholic literature). So this was seemingly a good near objective sense of Luther during the formation of his radical (good or bad depending on your outlook) theology. This book let Luther speak for himself, and highlighted the legitimate challenges that exist in his approach.

This is not a biography or detailed list of events. And if I had a criticism, it would be that there are some things that I would have wanted explored that aren't. Like does Malanchton have an opinion of these challenges and if so how does he recover from them. But this is a book about Luther, so it is a very minor item.

Overall, this was well written, for someone with even my limited abilities to comprehend. It was a good primer on how Luther went from Augustinian monk to the father of the reformation.

I highly recommend it.

[Brad Bagley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this overview of how Martin Luther came to be known as the founder of the Reformation. The best part in my opinion was the presentation of his theological ideas and how they evolved.