Life of Luther by Barnas Sears, D.D.

Luther.

Martin Luther.

A controversial, yet revolutionary man.

Put aside your preconceptions and assumptions of him from what you have known and heard all of your life.

Read of his life from birth to death in detail and often in his very own words as it is recounted in the biography Life of Luther by Barnas Sears, D.D. originally published in 1850 by American Sunday School Union.

This book has been published for the first time since 1850 by Attic Books, an imprint of New Leaf Publishing Group.  Check out Attic's website HERE to find out more about their intriguing line of books.

When I received this book, I was so excited.  It took me back in time just looking at it and holding it.  It has the look and feel of an antique book, though it is a newly printed one.  Torn edges of the yellowed pages.  Original font with imperfections and all.  The look of an old leather cover, though it is a hardback.  Very nice book.

Even nicer because it is so enlightening, so deep, so honest.

Sears portrayed Luther's entire life in a very honest way, including his shortcomings and all.  A large portion of the book is comprised of Luther's own letters to various people in his life: family, friends, rivals, even the Pope himself.

Did you know that Luther endured the Diet of Worms!?!  

Sound tasty? 

It shouldn't.  It's not what you and I think of today.  You will have to read this for yourself to see what it involved.  Actually, in many ways, I would say it was much more excruciating than ingesting the slimy ground crawlers.  Let me know what you think, if you decide to read this.

The Diet of Worms is one example of one thing you will have to endure about the book if you so choose to read it (as I highly suggest).  Because it was written in the 1800's, the grammar of that day is fairly easy to follow though at times can test your intellect.  Stick with it, though.  It is very well worth it.

As someone once recently said to me,

"Catholics have a solid documentation and knowledge of their history.  Protestants, however, do not."  

I agree, having been born and raised a Protestant (which is any non-Catholic part of the Christian faith), that we are not taught very much about our history and why we are to believe what we are taught to believe.  Not saying we are not given firm, solid biblical instruction, but when a person of a Protestant faith comes to that inevitable crossroads of life where one has to decide why you believe what you believe other than just because your parents did or your denomination says so, it is helpful to have some background of knowledge and wisdom from those who struggled to form the basis of what you are taught today.

As this person said,

"Luther was the first to break free from the Catholic church.  I want to know more about why he did." 

I agree.

My reason for loving this book.

Whether you are Protestant, Catholic, Atheist, or anywhere in between, this is a very enlightening book for all to read.  Put aside your former ideas and just take it all in.  Then come back here and share what you gleaned from it.  I would love to hear it.

Also, as my new quote from this book on the top of my blog says,

"Whosoever will believe, let him believe, and follow unconstrained; and whosoever will not believe, let him disbelieve and go his way; for no one should be forced to faith, or to any thing pertaining to the faith, but should be drawn to it and won by the word. Then, whosoever believeth without constraint will freely follow." - Martin Luther

This we can all agree on if nothing else.

I do pray that the Spirit of God will speak to you through my writing as well as Luther's and anyone else's He may so choose.

Blessings to you all.  
And, in Luther's words, "May the grace of God be with us all."

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Attic Books, an imprint of New Leaf Publishing Group. No other compensation was received. The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review.