__"Beautifully crafted, deeply informed, and elegantly poignant"__   
"In Martin Luther: A Late Medieval Life, Volker Leppin tells the riveting story of the man who courageously championed reform and inspired the world. Drawing from the best scholarship on Luther, Leppin weaves new details into a biography that will now be the major work on Luther for years to come."  
--__Christine Helmer__, Northwestern University  
  
"Beautifully crafted, deeply informed, and elegantly poignant, Leppin's account of Luther's life and thought is a masterwork of theological and historical writing. Leppin offers a subtle yet sympathetic portrait of a notoriously complex and controversial figure who remains shrouded in myth and legend. Luther's brilliance and flaws emerge from the pages, as one of the leading Reformation scholars of our generation expertly guides the reader through a revolutionary age. This book is essential reading for all who seek a thoughtful, balanced account of the origins and development of the Reformation."  
--__Bruce Gordon__, Yale Divinity School  
  
"Volker Leppin's biography is unmatched as a brief and engaging introduction to Martin Luther's life. Taking a fresh approach to familiar sources, Leppin presents a new view of Luther's transformation from faithful monk to ardent reformer and finally to figurehead in a movement that grew far beyond his control. This lucid translation makes available to an English-reading audience the insights of one of Germany's most respected Luther scholars."  
--__Amy Nelson Burnett__, University of Nebraska-Lincoln  
  
"This brief but authoritative theological biography gives Martin Luther his due without hero worship and gives us a fresh look especially at his debt to the prior German mystical tradition embodied in his mentor Staupitz."  
--__Paul Rorem__, Princeton Theological Seminary  
  
"Volker Leppin is not only a leading Luther expert but also a talented storyteller. He presents the dramatic turns of the reformer's life, highlighting both the context of late medieval piety and the new discoveries of the Wittenberg circle. While Luther appears as professor and theologian, Leppin shows him also as publicist and prophet, educator and (almost) bishop, husband and father."  
--__Risto Saarinen__, University of Helsinki

__Volker Leppin__ (PhD, University of Heidelberg) is the Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology at Yale Divinity School. He previously taught at the University of Tübingen. Leppin is widely regarded as the leading German historian of the late medieval period.

This brief, insightful biography of Martin Luther strips away the myths surrounding the Reformer to offer a nuanced account of his life and ministry. Coinciding with the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation, this accessible yet robustly historical and theological work highlights the medieval background of Luther's life in contrast to contemporary legends. Translated by Rhys Bezzant and Karen Roe, Martin Luther explores the Catholic roots of Lutheran thought and locates Luther's life in the unfolding history of sixteenth-century Europe.  
  
"Instead of pursuing proofs to unambiguously time the moment of Luther's 'breakthrough' with the Scriptures and the turning point for his theology, Dr. Leppin invites his readers to observe the maturation process in the reformer's theological orientation. Fed by the influences from Staupitz and mysticism, Paul and Augustine, Luther positioned himself against the dominant university theology of the day. His aspirations unfold from his deeply formative experiences as a late medieval monk, his biblical scholarship, and his passion to preach the gospel. This succinct, richly detailed, biographical account offers a historian's argument against retroactively applying a script to a theological journey characterized by human encounters, personal sorrows and joys, and spiritual discoveries and ambitions."  
\--__Kirsi Stjerna__, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, California Lutheran University; Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California

__Volker Leppin__ (PhD, University of Heidelberg) is professor of church history at the University of Tübingen and is widely regarded as the leading German historian of the late medieval period. He has served as scientific director of the Ecumenical Working Group of Protestant and Catholic Theologians since 2008 and as a member of the executive board of the Protestant Federation Württemberg since 2012. Leppin received the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Foundation Prize, the Hanns-Lilje Prize of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, and the Gerhard Hess Prize from the German Research Foundation.  
  
__Rhys Bezzant__ (ThD, Ridley College) is dean of missional leadership and lecturer in Christian thought at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. He is director of the Jonathan Edwards Center Australia, visiting fellow at Yale Divinity School, and canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne. __Karen Roe__ (DipTheo, Ridley College; GradDip Ed, University of Adelaide) serves as a missionary with the Church Missionary Society Australia, teaching academic English at the Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary. She previously has taught both English as a second language and German.

This brief, insightful biography of Martin Luther strips away the myths surrounding the Reformer to offer a more nuanced account of his life and ministry. Coinciding with the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, this accessible yet robustly historical and theological work highlights the medieval background of Luther's life in contrast to contemporary legends. Internationally respected church historian Volker Leppin explores the Catholic roots of Lutheran thought and locates Luther's life in the unfolding history of 16th-century Europe. Foreword by Timothy J. Wengert.

An internationally respected church historian strips away the myths surrounding Martin Luther, offering a more nuanced account of his life and ministry.

__Contents__ Foreword  
Timothy J. Wengert Translators' Introduction  
Rhys Bezzant 1. The Son: Destined for Higher Things  
2. The Monk  
3. The Young Professor  
4. The Publicist  
5. The Prophet  
6. The Preacher-Bishop from Wittenberg  
7. The Year of Climax, 1525  
8. The Educator  
9. The Outsider: On the Margins of the Reformation  
10. The Old Professor  
11. The End of Life

Leppin, Volker

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Foreword

Translators’ Introduction

Acknowledgments

1. The Son

2. The Monk

3. The Young Professor

4. The Publicist

5. The Prophet

6. The Preacher-Bishop from Wittenberg

7. The Year of Climax, 1525

8. The Educator

9. The Outsider

10. The Old Professor

11. The End of Life

Back Cover

Martin Luther

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Martin Luther

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