Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0801022142, Paperback)

Despite the vast number of studies concerning the life and teaching of Martin Luther, scholars have not previously considered the ways in which his contemporaries and successors used his influence in the German Reformation. Professor Robert Kolb treats that subject in this well-researched volume on the continuing role of Luthers legacy. The following generations of Reformers, he argues, used Luther in different ways as they sought to deal with the changed circumstances of the church in their own age.

Kolb suggests three categories to describe the ways in which Luthers disciples used his influence and adapted it to the needs of the church in their respective ages: prophet, teacher, and hero.

ProphetDuring his own lifetime and immediately thereafter, Luther was often identified with the biblical prophets as having a unique authority from God to challenge the place of the papacy.

TeacherAs internal conflicts and doctrines increasingly came to the fore, Luther was seen as the authoritative interpreter of Scripture whose writings could be cited as the definitive proofs on any disputed points.

HeroBy the end of the sixteenth century, much less emphasis was placed on Luther as a distinctive and authoritative prophet/teacher, and he was more often revered as the hero of the national church whose courage was celebrated in art and on stage.

The second section of the work focuses more particularly on the use and collection of Luthers writings. Kolb recounts the stages of publication as Luthers many treatises, pamphlets, and sermons were gathered for varying purposes. Collected editions were issued, and then topical and systematized selections were gathered for teaching and edification on specific topics. These stages of publication reinforce the authors thesis concerning the changing use of Luthers legacy. Over the course of the century, his writings were no longer cited as uniquely authoritative, rather they were used for edificationthe prophet/teacher had become the national hero.

Students of Luther in particular and of the Reformation era in general will find this latest volume in Bakers Texts and Studies in Reformation and Post-Reformation Studies (ed. Richard A. Muller) to be of great value. The authors unique approach to Luthers lasting legacy in the German church provides an entirely new perspective that moves scholarly discussion ahead significantly.