Martin Luther: The Lion-Hearted Reformer

by J.A. Morrison

“Luther followed Christ. He was not humanly perfect by any means—who of us is? But, he did what was right as God instructed him, and it mattered not whether it was prince or pauper who tried to divert him from his path of duty. He kept right on battling for the truth. His own indomitable character is reflected in that hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. ”This biography is not meant to be a student’s textbook. It is a life of Luther that young people will like to read during spare moments. We trust it will inspire our noble young people to follow Luther as he followed Christ.“ (from the introduction by M. J. McHugh)

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction, School, Historical

125 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1924

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent children's biography of the great reformer. Highly recommended. (Read thrice.)

[Andrea Renfrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this aloud to the kiddo as part of our history studies. Good stuff. Looking forward to Reformation Day.

[Michael Chen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the brisk pace, and it has some lively details. (I'd never heard some of these specifics, so I wondered if they were speculative. But maybe they just revealed holes in my knowledge!)

But the tone puzzled me and amused me. At times it seemed to talk to little kids, but at other times it went into a lot of detail that would lose most kids. I laughed out loud at the author's explanation of alcohol.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had fun reading this to the kids for the 500th Reformation! Goes into more of the theological debate than the little girls cared to learn but Gus and I enjoyed it and I am sure they picked up some too.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I thought it was a decent summary. The only thing weird was when Morrison included an excuse as to why Luther drank beer. That was little weird.

[Becca Tillman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even for kids this doesn’t allow any gray area. There’s little to no “Luther was good despite flaws” or “Catholics are bad but some are good” it’s just black and white as few things are.

[Levy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief and at times theologically over-simplified overview of Martin Luther and his influence.

[Josh Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little summary of Luther's life and work, written like a story. Annabelle found this for me after we returned from Germany. Chapter 12 shed some light on the festivities in Wittenberg the day we were there--celebrating his marriage. His marriage must have seemed the height of audacity, thrown down a mere eight years after the Theses before what must have been a disbelieving Roman Catholic world. He seems to have relished it: "I have made myself so cheap and despised by this marriage that I expect the angels laugh and the devils weep thereat. The world and its wise men have not yet seen how pious and sacred is marriage, but they consider it impious and devilish in me. It pleases me, however, to have my marriage condemned by those who are ignorant of God."

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for school reading.