Recommended: "Here I Stand"

"Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther" by Roland H. Bainton. Penguin Books, 1995 (first published in 1950).

Almost everybody knows something about Martin Luther, his role in the Reformation and the emergence of Protestantism. But for many of us, that knowledge may be limited to hearing about 95 theses being nailed to a door a long time ago, a catechism or the hymn "A Mighty Fortress." In this biography, Bainton gives a fascinating account of the life of this student turned monk and later reluctant reformer during a period of great political and religious upheaval in Europe. We see the intense internal struggle and progression from one terrified by God to one profoundly awakened to God’s grace and provision found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Word of God. We tend to take history, and in particular this history, for granted. But this is our history. It is this history that changed the course of Western Europe and set the stage for the modern world in which we live. It is also this history that best articulates the essentials of the Christian faith and the absolute authority of the Word of God that reveals those essentials. Read "Here I Stand" to strengthen your sense of history, to increase awareness of God’s providential workings and to grow in appreciation for the Faith entrusted to our generation...so that we may, in God’s grace, pass it to the next.