MARTIN LUTHER

Martin Marty’s short biography cuts to the heart of Luther’s theology and his place in history. Dividing Luther’s life into four periods, he looks closely at the principal questions that define each: searching for certainty, defining the Faith, living the Faith, and, finally, fighting to preserve that Faith. Paul Michaels’s reading is sensitive to the compression of Marty’s work. His delivery, nuanced and carefully paced, reasons quietly but clearly through the difficult theological battles that Luther boldly engages in with both the Church of Rome and other more radical reformers like Zwingli. Michaels’s gentle delivery demonstrates both Marty’s compassion for the struggling humanity of Luther’s time and the order he seeks to reduce the chaos of their world. In short, an impressive intellectual biography by one of the most important theologians of our time. P.E.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 04]