In this eloquent and informative work, Nathan Montover challenges the widespread assumption that Martin Luther was a conservative and politically naive figure. Montover uses the prism of Luther's doctrine of Universal Priesthood to reveal a politically aware individual determined not only to reform the Christian ministry, but also to radically challenge the temporal power structures of his day.
The concept of a priesthood of all baptised Christians attacked the authority of the Catholic Church which maintained a strict division between lay and cleric; this division legitimised the Church's power in both the earthly and spiritual realms. Montover draws conclusions from a careful analysis of Luther's seminal writings, with emphasis on his treatise To the Christian Nobility of the German Nation Concerning the Betterment of the Christian Estate (1520). He undertakes a thorough examination of existing scholarship which reveals important silences regarding Luther's political aims. Luther's critique is elegantly contextualized within early modern structures of Church and state which grew from the fabric of medieval cosmology.
An excellent addition to Lutheran scholarship, this book is suitable for any reader interested in Luther's life and aims or the fascinating political ferment of the Reformation.