Description
Book SynopsisThe fifteenth and sixteenth centuries witnessed a transition in the history of Western Civilization, during which the world of medieval Christendom began to give way to a new world order. Western medieval civilizationa synthesis of classical humanism and Judeo-Christianitywas overseen by the Holy Roman Empire and the Roman Catholic Church. People of the day believed in an orderly universe created by God and a great chain of being. This secure hierarchy was shattered when scientists, philosophers, and theologians began to explore the world around them with new eyes. Meanwhile, a number of national monarchs sought control of the church within their territories in order to secure a strong, unified nation-state apart from the influence of the Roman church. One avenue to control was provided for these monarchs by the Reformation, begun in 1517 by the obscure German monk Martin Luther. Because of his personal experience, reflection, and study of scripture, this religious scholar revised h
Table of Contents
Foreword vii
Chapter One Martin Luther, 1483-1546 1
Reformer 7
Church Leader 22
Summary 25
Key Events 26
Chapter Two Salvation in the Late Middle Ages 27
Salvation in the Early Church 27
Salvation in the Medieval Church 28
Salvation in the Late Medieval Church 30
Luther’s Understanding of Salvation 33
Summary 35
Key Events 35
Portraits 36
Chapter Three The Ninety-Five Theses 37
Background 37
The Ninety-Five Thesis 41
Content of the Ninety-Five Thesis 42
Significance 46
Summary 47
Key Events 48
Chapter Four The Three Treatise of 1620 49
To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Reform of the Christian Church (1520) 52
The Babylonian captivity of the Church (1520) 56
The Freedom of the Christian (1520) 61
Significance 65
Summary 65
Key Events 66
Chapter Five The Bondage of the Will 67
The Battle of Wills 72
Luther and The Bondage of the Will 76
Significance 79
Summary 80
Key Events 81
Chapter Six Against the Peasants and the Jews 83
Luther and the Peasants 84
Luther and the Jews 93
Assessment 100
Summary 101
Key Events 102
Postscript
Martin-Luther: An Assessment 103
Appendix
Annotated Chronology of Luther’s 109
Reformation Writings
Bibliographical Note 133
Index 135
Maps
Town’s of Luther’s Germany, circa 1530 xii
Divisions of Religions, circa 1560 108
