Martin Luther as Prophet, Teacher and Hero: Images of the Reformer, 1520–1620

Written by Robert Kolb Reviewed By Mark D. Thompson

More books are written about Martin Luther every year, or so we are often told, than about any other single figure except Jesus of Nazareth. Strictly speaking, though, this is not just another book on Luther. It is a book about books about Luther. More specifically, it is a book about the way Luther was perceived and portrayed—mostly by his followers, but with an occasional sideways glance at the descriptions by his opponents—in the century following the indulgence controversy of 1517–21. The subject is not one that is likely to capture the interest of many, but it is important in assessing the more immediate impact of Luther on the shape of Western Christianity. Today Luther is still a larger than life figure in many circles. In separating the man from the legend, it is helpful to be shown how the legend developed.

Robert Kolb (of Concordia Seminary, St Louis) has researched the subject at astonishing depth and his book reveals an impressive familiarity with the primary documents of the period. The book is divided into two halves. The first concentrates on literary portraits of Luther during the period in question and the second explores the rationale behind various collections of his writings.

After viewing the perspective of Luther’s contemporaries, often coloured as it was by a sense of apocalyptic interruption and yearning for a new golden age of apostolic faith, Kolb goes on to identify three key representations of Luther which more or less served the needs of Lutherans and others in the succeeding century. The debate between the Gnesio-Lutherans and the Philippists that followed the Augsburg Interim (1548) was carried on not only with appeals to the Bible but to the writings of Luther. Luther began to function as a secondary interpretative authority counter to the authority of the Pope and the Roman magisterium. He was seen as an authoritative interpreter of God’s Word. However, for a variety of reasons such an appeal to Luther’s own writings could not be sustained into the latter part of the sixteenth century. Luther has written so much, at times contradicting things he had written elsewhere, and a need arose to rehabilitate Melanchthon as an important source for Lutheran thought. Over time the Book of Concord assumed the role that Luther has performed at first.

Nevertheless, Luther remained a heroic figure throughout the century. Not only was he the prophet-like champion of God’s truth, he was a focus for German national aspirations, especially the desire to shake off the control of the Rome. The inscription on a medal minted around the time of his death captured the sentiment: ‘Doctor Martin Luther, the German prophet: I was your plague while I lived,’ Pope; as I die, I will be your death’. Legends grew up around the remembrance of Luther. He was increasingly seen as himself the fulfilment of prophecy, most notably Huss’ words about the ‘swan’ who would come after ‘this goose’. Biblical parallels were made with all seriousness: the Damascus Road and the thunderstorm outside Stotternheim is the most obvious of them. All this served an important function of rallying Germans and others to the cause of evangelical independence from the church of Rome.

Alongside the portraits of Luther as prophetic interpretative authority and prophetic hero of the church and the nation, his influence as a teacher remained considerable. Though his successors might find different uses for his ideas and apply them to different contexts, his example of thinking from the starting point of the gospel and the powerful transformation of theology as a result, continued to inspire them. His conclusions remained significant, if not always determinative. This is why, as elaborated in the second part of Kolb’s work, collections of Luther’s writings either in their entirety, in more homogenous portions (e.g. the Postils, the Prayers, the Commentaries, etc.), or edited and rearranged to fit into a topical or systematic presentation of his thought, continued to be published with astonishing variety and regularity.

Luther enthusiasts will read this book with interest. It is yet another significant contribution to what has emerged as impressive series of Reformation studies in English. Of course, it ought not to be mistaken for an introduction to Luther and his ideas. Those seeking such an introduction would be better served by reading the writings of the man himself, together with the recent major biographies by Brecht, Oberman, and Marius. Nevertheless, it is a book that repays careful study and helpfully warns us of the danger of hagiography or malevolent caricature.


Mark D. Thompson

Mark D. Thompson
Moore Theological College
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia