The publication of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 immediately elicited responses from dozens of Roman Catholics in Germany and beyond. While Luther’s works and those of his leading supporters have been available in English translation for many years, those of most of his Catholic opponents have not. In order to address this imbalance, win a fairer hearing for the Catholic opposition, and make it possible for students to understand both sides of the sixteenth-century religious debates, translators have drawn on the rich resources of the Kessler Reformation Collection at the Pitts Theology Library to present here introductions to and translations of ten Catholic pamphlets. The volume begins with an essay sketching the larger background for these publications. The editors’ hope is that this book will prove useful for teaching and research and will foster a deeper understanding of the sixteenth-century theological discussions by allowing today’s readers to hear voices that have been mostly silent in the English-speaking world for centuries.

The publication of Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 immediately elicited responses from dozens of Roman Catholics in Germany and beyond. While Luther's works and those of his leading supporters have been available in English translation for many years, those of most of his Catholic opponents have not. In order to address this imbalance, win a fairer hearing for the Catholic opposition, and make it possible for students to understand both sides of the sixteenth-century religious debates, translators have drawn on the rich resources of the Kessler Reformation Collection at the Pitts Theology Library to present here introductions to and translations of ten Catholic pamphlets. The volume begins with an essay sketching the larger background for these publications. The editors' hope is that this book will prove useful for teaching and research and will foster a deeper understanding of the sixteenth-century theological discussions by allowing today's readers to hear voices that have been mostly silent in the English-speaking world for centuries.

The publication of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 immediately elicited responses from dozens of Roman Catholics in Germany and beyond. While Luther’s works and those of his leading supporters have been available in English translation for many years, those of most of his Catholic opponents have not. In order to address this imbalance, win a fairer hearing for the Catholic opposition, and make it possible for students to understand both sides of the sixteenth-century religious debates, translators have drawn on the rich resources of the Kessler Reformation Collection at the Pitts Theology Library to present here introductions to and translations of ten Catholic pamphlets. The volume begins with an essay sketching the larger background for these publications. The editors’ hope is that this book will prove useful for teaching and research and will foster a deeper understanding of the sixteenth-century theological discussions by allowing today’s readers to hear voices that have been mostly silent in the English-speaking world for centuries.

Did Martin Luther wield his hammer on the Wittenberg church door on October 31, 1517? Did he even post the Ninety-five Theses at all? This collection of documents sheds light on the debate surrounding Luther's actions and the timing of his writing and his request for a disputation on the indulgence issue. The primary documents in this book include the theses, their companion sermon ("A Sermon on Indulgence and Grace", 1518), a chronoloical arrangement of letters pertinent to the theses, and selections from Luther's Table Talk that address the Ninety-five Theses. A final section contains Luther's recollections, which offer today's reader the reformer's own views of the Reformation and the Ninety-five Theses.

In 1521, the Catholic Church declared war on Martin Luther. The German monk had already been excommunicated the year before, after nailing his Ninety-Five Theses -- which accused the Church of rampant corruption -- to the door of a Saxon church. Now, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V called for Luther "to be apprehended and punished as a notorious heretic." The edict was akin to a death sentence: If Luther was caught, he would almost inevitably be burned at the stake, his fragile movement crushed, and the nascent Protestant Reformation strangled in its cradle. In Luther's Fortress, acclaimed historian James Reston, Jr. describes this crucial but little-known episode in Luther's life and reveals its pivotal role in Christian history. Realizing the danger to their leader, Luther's followers spirited him away to Wartburg Castle, deep in central Germany. There he hid for the next ten months, as his fate -- and that of the Reformation -- hung in the balance. Yet instead of cowering in fear, Luther spent his time at Wartburg strengthening his movement and refining his theology in ways that would guarantee the survival of Protestantism. He devoted himself to biblical study and spiritual contemplation; he fought both his papist critics and his own inner demons (and, legend has it, the devil himself); and he held together his fractious and increasingly radicalized reform movement from afar. During this time Luther also crystallized some of his most significant ideas about Christianity and translated the New Testament into German -- an accomplishment that, perhaps more than any other, solidified his legacy and spread his bold new religious philosophy across Europe. Drawing on Luther's correspondence, notes, and other writings, Luther's Fortress presents an earthy, gripping portrait of the Reformation's architect at this transformational moment, revealing him at his most productive, courageous, and profound.

The Freedom of the Christian was Martin Luther's first public defense of the doctrine of justification by grace through faith on account of Christ alone. Luther's explosive rediscovery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ shattered the Church of Rome's foundation of works, which considered good works a part of salvation instead of a result of it. Here, Luther constructed a rich theology that relies on the full power of the Gospel, which not only grants saving faith but also nurtures that faith through good works done in the freest service. This new abridged translation from Adam Francisco, featuring a brief essay from Scott Keith, leaves no doubt that the Christian, secure in Christ, is truly free—free from sin, death, and the devil, and free to serve their neighbor.

It's not always easy to find the human Martin Luther underneath the centuries of accumulated myth. A World Ablaze focuses on the drama and uncertainty of the first few critical years of Luther's rise, when his personal struggles with salvation were transformed into a crisis of Christendom.