Guidelines for Martin Luther by Martin Marty - Book Report/Review Example

Guidelines for Martin Luther by Martin Marty Martin Marty, an American religious scholar, in his book Martin Luther expeditiously describes the life of Martin Luther as one of the most renowned, influential, revered global figure. He allots subtitles to summarize some of the key events in the life of Martin Luther (Marty 26). These include: Hunger for Certainty (1483-1519), Defining Life of Faith (1520-1525), Living the Faith (1525-1530), and The Heart Grown Cold/Faith More Certain (1530-1546). Martin Luther lived most of his entire life within the realms of religion in Wittenberg. As Martin describes in Hunger for Certainty as his first key event, Luther lived within the flanks of the political Holy Roman Empire and the religious Roman Pope. Luther had been born and raised up to fear God in a tremendous way. Then, Jesus was depicted as a ruthless judge to sinners, who would punish sinners with total wrath. Martin describes that Luther monastic life started from an incident of fear of this wrath causing him to deviate from his father’s wishes of doing law. While Luther traveled to Rome to represent his monastery, he partook what Martin describes as spiritual enlighten (Marty 37). He wondered how he could love and worship God while he feared him enormously. Luther was in a dilemma of seeking “the gracious Lord” and practicing contrition. Luther did not approve the way the Roman church used the name of God to extort religious offering from its congregation through the sale of indulgences. The church wittingly promised to alleviate the penalty of sin if one purchased the indulgences as their way of trying to conjure up money to build the St. Peters Basilica. To contest this, Luther stoked up discussions and conversations in the University of Wittenberg. In Defining life of faith, Martin expounds on the events of the 95 theses, the Diet of Worms and the Peasants War. Following the ”abuse”, according to Luther, by Tetzel and the Popes fraternity in the sale of indulgences, Luther daringly resolved to hang the famous 95 theses to the door of the castle church and initiated a heated debate from scholars (Marty 64). The Pope was unimpressed and Luther was summoned. Luther was demanded to recant his words but he defied. He was excommunicated and spent the following years writing and teaching. Martin picks up Luther’s thinking unfolding his thinking about the Mass in his three treatises addressed to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation, The Babylonian Captivity of the church, and the Freedom of Christian. Luther receives a Papal Bull from the Pope that asks him again to recant his ways or officially excommunicate in within 60 days. Once the fearfully religious Luther who would kiss every Pilate step in Rome, now gallantly and publicly tossed the Papal Bull in fire and there forth rose the reformer. Luther was summoned by the Emperor in the “Diet of Worms” to renounce or reaffirm his views for the last chance but still took his initial stance after which he fled for fear of his life. In his disappearance from the public, Martin continues on how Luther’s supporters began to grow exponentially as a revolt of reformers. Away from the public, Luther continued to write hymns, translate the bible and give his views through letters. New ways of conducting mass service set forth, Saxon clergy renounced the vows of celibacy, and Wittenberg Augustinians did away with the mass. Luther proclaimed that civil authority could not enact laws on the soul thus permitting Evangelical to spring up. The revolts later broke out into full-blown war in which the peasants condemned the oppressive practices of the nobility (Marty 71). When atrocities became skewed toward the peasants end, Luther started to come forcefully against the revolt. The rebel s withdrew and the war ended. Through this inspirational and informative book, the author presents professional examination of historical context and present trends. This comes with the intention to demonstrate how this changeover is challenging the way things take place. What is more, the author employs different concepts for instance, challenging readers by asking questions related to the area under discussion. This comes with the intention to make them aware of the subject from a wide ranging perspective. The text most probably mirrors the author’s attention with reference to the concept and subject (Marty 74). This is through the way the writer presents the subject with the help of examples and illustrations. Such illustrations are drawn from the manner in which the events occurred from time to time. In an effort to communicate his message and clarify his intention to the reader, the author provides relevant illustrations. Through the use of the concepts, the author achieves the goal to challenge readers to think beyond. The author elucidates the concepts which can be employed to achieve success in terms of career and relating with other people (Marty 87). With the purpose of passing his meaning to the reader, the author has continually presented ways and illustrations which can always be adopted. Building on the fact that the book is written through comparing a historical context with the current trends on literature, the author succeeds to illustrate the major points thus attaining success. Luther and Father Martin and his father’s relationship seems to sway after Luther diverts his career path from that of his Father’s wishes. His father was determined for his son to do law but Martin took an unexpected turn and joined the monastery (Marty 19). Martin had been raised in a peasant family of seven siblings and had been born into the life of Roman Catholicism that dwelt on purgatory, hellfire, angels, demons, sin and judgment. The agonies of hellfire and the portrayal of Jesus as a wrathful judge terrified Luther into committing to a monk for contribution. This was the main attribute as to his deviation from his Father’s wishes as conveyed by Martin Marty. The gap in their relationship soared after this decision by Luther. Luther and Attitude towards Women Martin still had the typical thinking about women as the society did at the time (Marty 28). He understood that women were subordinate to men though that he respected wives. Reflecting on the above attitude, conclusions can be drawn that women have been considered inferior and their rights disrespected over the years. Drawing on the above attitude, it shall be agreed that women have been facing many challenges under ideologies such as socialism. Despite the fact that such attitude resulted to creating fear and insecurity to many, it is a turning point for the fight against inequality. Change is predictable and it does not take place in a short duration. Luther’s Attitude towards Jews Post the peasants war that rocked Germany, Luther continued to write on views against the Jews, who were mostly Roman Catholics, raising anti-semantism against them in Europe (Marty 94). After an increase in Protestants with their advanced, intellectual and religious views and their increased freedom from wounds of the powerful Roman Catholic Church, a bitter and ferocious war of religion arose. Luther sided with the Protestants. Luther as a Debater Martin Luther was involved in a number of debates in his lifetime especially after launching his 95 theses that sparked controversy within the religious circles. One prominent one is that with his challenger, John Eck in which Luther proved himself a heretic by holding, by then, very uncommon views (Marty 98). Luther though was intelligent and that came out evidently in his debates. Luther and View on Politics Martin contributions in politics rose when he left Germany for U.S.A and initiated a Civil Rights Movement that clamored for racial and gender equality drawing closely to the Philosophy of Gandhi (Marty 58). Luther took no sides in politics but only mobilized countless people to his cause, and is profoundly associated with his “I have a dream “speech as one of the most inspirational. In one way or the other, Luther believed that politics depicts a bad image, especially when one does not necessary perform what is expected by the society. Through taking no side in politics, he aimed towards realizing his defined goals and working on the career field Martin Marty’s evaluation of Luther Though Martin implicitly shows his adorance for Luther, he tries to tell his bibliography in a way that shows he’s impartial. An example of his impartiality is the case of telling the outcome of Luther and Ecks debate on which one would easily declare a winner on account of the eyes of beholder, but Martin handles it well. Martin also balances the contexts of Jewish – Christian dialogue by Luther. Drawbacks A number of deficiencies on Luther by Martin can be placed in particular places in the theology. In essence, every human being has points of weakness and so is every piece of work completed. A part is where Martin does not disseminate Luther attempts to find a God-sized solution to the God-sized problem in connecting faith and righteousness. This, being the deepest in Luther’s Christology that explains his perspective on how a sinners sins are Christ’s, is apparently shallow. Martin also narrowly depicts Luther’s understanding on dialect of law and gospel. This would have shown why he resisted a third use of the law of the Christian and would have added onto the great debate between Luther and Erasmus over the Bondage of the Will. Luther’s relationship to Calvin is also largely absent and some of Luther quotes given vehemence in the volume would have little footnote. Conclusion Through the use of themes, facts, and symbols, the author of the book has managed to communicate the intended message to different readers. Despite the fact that the book is historical fiction, it is well written and reminds readers that people have been mistreated for not just their race, but faith in the midst of other things. To the readers, the book presents bravery in the face of domination, and this is clearly shown through the roles played by different characters. Works Cited Marty, Martin. Book Review Guidelines for Martin Luther. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, 2004. Print. Read More