Luther, Conflict, and Christendom : Reformation Europe and Christianity in the West

Martin Luther was the subject of a religious controversy that never really came to an end. This book describes the main features of 'the matter of Martin Luther' in its original environment, and it poses an argument about the contributions of the conflict over Luther to the place of religion in European and post-colonial societies today.

Martin Luther - monk, priest, intellectual, or revolutionary - has been a controversial figure since the sixteenth century. Most studies of Luther stress his personality, his ideas, and his ambitions as a church reformer. In this book, Christopher Ocker brings a new perspective to this topic, arguing that the different ways people thought about Luther mattered far more than who he really was. Providing an accessible, highly contextual, and non-partisan introduction, Ocker says that religious conflict itself served as the engine of religious change. He shows that the Luther affair had a complex political anatomy which extended far beyond the borders of Germany, making the debate an international one from the very start. His study links the Reformation to pluralism within western religion and to the coexistence of religions and secularism in today''s world. Luther, Conflict, and Christendom includes a detailed chronological chart.