Luther and Calvin: Religious Revolutionaries

by Charlotte Methuen

Martin Luther and John Calvin have both left dramatic and lasting influences on Christianity and on European society. Their calls for reform led to the church breaking off in different directions, and people and nations believed so passionately for or against their causes that wars ravaged Europe for decades. But what exactly did they teach? This book presents Luther and Calvin in context, looking at the work and ideas of each in turn and then at the making of Lutheranism and the Reformed tradition, showing how the sixteenth-century Reformation began a process of political and intellectual change that went beyond Europe to the "New World". The result is that today its influence is tangible all over the Western world. Perfect for those who want to understand and engage with what Luther and Calvin thought, and with the debates surrounding interpretation, this book is an excellent introduction to two of Christianity's most famous thinkers. Charlotte Methuen teaches Church history at the University of Glasgow, and has also worked a the Universities of Hamburg, Bochum, Oxford and Mainz. She specializes in the Reformation period and is the author of numerous books and articles.

Genres: Theology, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[John Collier · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am neither Lutheran nor Calvinist (I am Reformation Arminian, or Classical or Reformed Arminian), I still trace the history of my theology directly through Calvin and Luther to the Bible. Luther and Calvin: Religious Revolutionaries (2011, Lion Hudson) by Charlotte Methuen provides insight into the dramatic and lasting influences these men left on Christianity, European society, and ultimately all of western culture.

Charlotte Methuen holds the position of Lecturer in Church History at the University of Glasgow. She teaches in the areas of Early Church, Reformation, the Church in the Twentieth Century, and the history of the ministry of women in the Church. She has written several books, contributed to several others, and published numerous articles.

I really only have one complaint of any significance. The book is difficult to read. It is evident that Methuen is not American and that she typically writes for an academic readership. It is a good book, but it is dry and difficult to digest.

Luther and Calvin checks in at just under 200 pages. At that length it should have only taken me under a week to read with my limited time and outside distractions. Instead, I did battle with this little volume for weeks. And battle is what it sometimes felt like.

The book is divided into two sections of two chapters each. There is a section on Luther and one on Calvin. Each section has a chapter regarding the theologian’s historical context and a chapter covering his theology. It really is quite simple. The trade-off for the simplicity is that the chapters are long and a bit unwieldy, adding to the difficulty of the book.

Where Luther and Calvin succeeds is important. Methuen does a good job of putting each man in his historical context. This is critical to understanding what they taught and why they came to that conclusion.
Like all of us, Martin Luther and John Calvin were products of the times in which they lived. Many of the theological conclusions they drew were determined by the personal and cultural contexts in which they found themselves as the studied the Scripture.

Luther and Calvin is a good primer on these two reformers. While I would not give this volume a strong recommendation, I would not recommend against it. There are likely other resources that are a little easier to digest.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great if you are new to studying Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Reformation, and Calvinism. It provides a great introduction for the novice in apologetics and is a good starting point for further studying. I personally was shocked by how much Luther held on to his Catholic upbringing.