Here I Stand

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Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland H. Bainton is a biography of the life and times of theologian Martin Luther, an influential figure in European Christian history. Bainton is very articulate as he explains the 16th century settings, happenings, and people surrounding Luther. Beginning with the life of a young Luther, the book is a chronicle of the events that explicates Luther’s contributions to the Protestant Reformation.
Rarely can a researcher explain a classic subject that is translated from one language into another that has a readable style as Bainton did within the book. Bainton used primary sources-- summaries of Luther's writings-- and observed an exceptional culture of within Germany and described it as the Reformation. Filled with assortments of medieval and Renaissance drawings, Bainton not only gives Luther his respect as an important figure in history but provides a comprehensive biography that is appealing to scholars. Some scholars profess that Bainton’s, “Chapters on the ‘The Church Territorial’ and ‘The Church Ministerial’ are indeed brilliant.”
Bainton is very descriptive as he convincingly describes Luther’s character and portrays Luther as a man of religious, political, economic, and social convictions. Bainton confirms that Luther’s definitive view that political and social forms were to him a matter of comparative indifference and he believed that the atrocities and greed were ultimately blamed on man's relationship to God. Eloquently written, Bainton, “Translates the passages from sources into his own lively English style so that the text and quotation blend harmoniously in a smoothly flowing narrative.”
A Protestant himself, it is apparent that Bainton liked Luther; however, his biases ...

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...story and Biography in Puritan New England." Church History. no. 3 (1955): 221-238, Accessed May 14, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3162113
Grimm, Harold J. Review of Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, by Roland H. Bainton. Church History 20, no. 1 (March, 1951): 73-74, Accessed May 19, 2014.http://www.jstor.org/stable/3162058.

Grob, Gerald N., and George Athan Billias. Interpretations of American History:
Patterns and Perspectives,. Since 1877. Vol. 2. New York: The Free Press, 1987.

"Indulgence." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (December 2013): 1. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed May 23, 2014).

Sellery, G.C. “Modern European History.”Roland H. Review of Here i Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, by G.C. Sellery. The American Historical Review 56, no. 4 (July, 1951): 863-66, Accessed May 21, 2014.http://www.jstor.org/stable/1852004.

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