Martin — God's Court Jester: Luther In Retrospect

by Eric W. Gritsch

In the sea of Luther studies, this volume stands out as one of the best available in English. It is a condensed retrospective of the most significant Reformation research of the last decade, and it is clearly written with verve, insight, and humor. -- CHOICE Gritsch has provided us with a full-scale, one-volume biography of Luther. The work is meticulously documented and the bibliography at the end will alone warrant the price of the book. -- Roland H. Bainton This book will be an invaluable source of information for students of the Lutheran Reformation. Ecumenists will find in its pages a great resource in their efforts to deal with issues that have been church - divisive. -- Carl J. Peter, Catholic University of America

Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first roughly 90 pages offer a brief but astute biography of Martin Luther. The remainder surveys various aspects of Luther's thought and the state of Luther research (at the time of writing). These varied in interest to me, largely because I am neither in the tradition of Luther or the author. I will note that the chapter on Luther and the Jews (The Gospel and Israel) was particularly helpful and maintained an exemplary scholarly distance. But I am Gritsch's student and not his master. While Luther has long been a keen interest of mine, and while I have surveyed his life in my own teaching and study several times (at least to the Diet of Worms, whereafter many in the Protestant tradition begin to part company with him), I am no Luther scholar. In fact, to my recollection, for all the reading on Luther I have done, this is embarrassingly the first complete biography I have read of the man. Bainton's commendation of this book is higher praise than I could give it: "Gritsch has provided us with a full-scale, one-volume biography of Luther. The work is meticulously documented and the bibliography at the end will alone warrant the price of the book." While I am unlikely to ever return to read the bibliography, I am glad to know that it would be worth at least $4 to me. But I am sure that 30-40 years has far advanced the state of Luther studies. I knew this going into it. Why bother with an aged biography? Because the old need hardly be inferior, as the enduring popularity and general respect for Bainton's own 1950 biography attests, or the magisterial work of Gritsch's nearer contemporary Martin Brecht, or also of the 1980s, Kittelson or Oberman. None of these have I read completely (made a valiant run at Bainton not too long ago), but baby steps and all that. As for the new, I would certainly like to read a few. But better to be old and reputable than anything by Eric Metaxas.

[Eric Shin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Eric W. Gritsch concluded that even though Martin Luther caused a movement that changed Christendom or the Christian world, his initial motivation was not a religious revolution but a religious reformation. Since he was first and foremost a theologian rather than a revolutionary, his goal was to correct some of the religious and theological wrongs of the Catholic Church. Gritsch illustrated his point in the preface of the book when he wrote “And yet, whether as God’s court jester or as Rome’s boar in the vineyard, Luther – at his best and worst – was a biblical theologian . . . who tried to restore the authority of the gospel in sixteenth-century Christendom, thus becoming entangled in a complex web if historical events which would rapidly change the shape of Christianity.”

This thesis of unintentional revolution is very interesting. It also speaks on Luther's core beliefs and thoughts.