Barrett’s Reformation Book Notes — Part 1
Today I continue to highlight some of the many publications this year on Reformation history and theology in light of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Thi
Martin Luther: The Ninety-Five Theses and Other Writings. Penguin Classics, 2017.
For years now Penguin has been producing Christian classics, from Augustine’s City of God to John Bunyan’s Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. But not Martin Luther! Finally, Martin Luther has made its pages. In this volume you will find an array of works, from the Ninety-Five Theses and Heidelberg Disputation, to Luther’s writings on the Lord’s Supper and the Smalcald Articles. That Luther’s “Small Catechism: For Regular Pastors and Preachers (1529)” is included is reason enough to purchase the book; I would say the same of Luther’s “St. Paul’s Main Point in His Letter to the Galatians (1535).” The volume is valuable in that it brings to our attention works sometimes neglected, such as “A Regular Way to Pray (Written for a Good Friend) (1535),” and Luther’s “Sermon on Luke 2:1-14, Christmas Day (1530).” However, with Luther entire corpus on the table, it is odd that so many significant works were left out. His major theological-polemical writings after the Heidelberg Disputation in 1518 are nowhere to be found unfortunately. That does make this book very difficult to assign for a class. I would commend it though as a companion to Luther’s major writings.
Now if we could just persuade Penguin to commit itself to a companion volume on Calvin.
By the way, I just happened to notice that Barnes & Noble has the book for $4.
Peter Marshall, editor. The Oxford Illustrated History of the Reformation. Oxford University Press, 2015.
I thoroughly enjoy illustrated hist
Cameron A. MacKenzie. The Reformation. Concordia, 2017.
Nevertheless, allow me to mention just a few items now. First of all, what Marshall’s volume lacked, MacKenzie’s makes up ten-fold. Here is a book that, yes, tells the story of the Reformation, but does so by colorfully recruiting the most important visual aids the Reformation had to offer. What is so unique, however, is that the illustrations do not merely compliment the text but the illustrations. In many chapters, the illustrations are just as significant as the text itself. MacKenzie must have spent countless hours not only recruiting the best illustrations but then writing long paragraphs explaining what the illustrations mean and why they mattered so much to the reformers.
Included are not just the typical illustrations, and that is what makes this book so unique. MacKenzie moves beyond woodcuts to include book title pages, photographs of relics, tombs, artifacts, and churches, as well as close-up looks at some of the most impressive art of the sixteenth-century. Personally, some of my favorites include: The Weimar Altarpiece at St. Mary’s in Wittenberg by Lucas Cranach the Elder and The Younger, Luther as Hercules Germanicus by Hans Holbein the Younger (1519), the Pulpit at the Castle Church (now located in the Luther House in Wittenberg), the Relic Collection of Frederick the Wise, signatures at The Marburg Colloquy, one of the placards in France from October 17, 1534, the Seven Sacraments Altarpiece (ca. 1440-45) by Netherlandish Master Rogier Van Der Weyden, etc.
I especially enjoyed the five-page analysis of the Altarpiece in St. Mary’s. With close-up photos evaluating each panel, MacKenzie walks you through the symbolism of each event portrayed. Also included is The Predella, picturing Luther on the far right with Bible in hand, pointing his congregation (and family) to the crucified Christ. The painting communicates the centrality of the preached Word for the Reformation. This is one of my favorite paintings of the Reformation by far.
So specific is MacKenzie’s analysis that he even includes a half-page visual comparison of Cranmer before and after he grew out his beard! Explained is the meaning behind the beard, a Protestant refusal to follow the regulations of priests, down to their very dress and haircut.
I could really go on and on. Buy the book; see what I am talking about for yourself. And look for a follow up post, Lord willing, at some point soon.
Ronald K. Rittgers, ed. Hebrews, James. Vol. XIII of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, eds. Timothy George and Scott M. Manetsch. IVP, 2017.
Matthew Barrett is Associate Professor of Christian Theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, as well as the founder and executive editor of Credo Magazine. He is the author of several books, including Salvation by Grace, Owen on the Christian Life, God’s Word Alone: The Authority of Scripture, and Reformation Theology: A Systematic Summary. Currently he is the series editor of The 5 Solas Series with Zondervan. You can read more at MatthewMBarrett.com.