It’s difficult to think of a person who has influenced the history of the church more than Martin Luther. This sixteenth-century monk spurred a revolution that fractured the Roman Catholic church and set the theological agenda for the Protestant movement.

That said, it’s no surprise that Luther is misunderstood. It’s all too easy to read contemporary issues and folklore back into his life and world. Scott H. Hendrix resists this temptation in his 100 page biography of Luther and his reforming work.

The key-selling point of this series (brevity) is also the chief weakness of this volume. It would be relatively easy to write a short-but-oversimplified account of a heroic reformer who single-handedly rescued the church from the papacy with nothing but a Bible. The truth is, as you might expect, much more complicated. Social, political, and religious factors all converge in interesting ways in Luther’s day. As complicating factors increase, the challenge of a short biography becomes acute!

Hendrix does not paper over Luther’s flaws. Luther’s harsh antisemitism is brought painfully to light. This is all the more troublesome when you consider how the Third Reich made use of his work in the twentieth century.

My former education in Luther and the Reformation made this little volume by Hendrix a quick review. For those approaching the topic for the first time, a slightly longer primer would be more helpful.

Hendrix, Scott H. Martin Luther: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford UP, 2010.