How Luther Became the Reformer

“Her analysis of contemporary modernity on the basis of how Luther’s biography was shaped by the German Luther Renaissance in the early 20th century is not only fascinating but helpful.” – Die Evangelischen Theologen 

“Helmer threatens to dash to pieces the pieties of modern Luther scholarship. Not only does she reassert the historical Luther as a Catholic aiming to re­form Catholi­cism, but she finds in this historical Luther an important theological resource for confronting today the dark side of the modernity Karl Holl championed.” – The Christian Century

“This book is perceptively, importantly disturbing. There have been many quality biographies of Luther and examinations of his theological effects. But no other work explains the consequences of the wrongheaded myth of Luther. Through sharp readings and revisions, Helmer pulls Luther from a harmful hermeneutic and reminds us again that the way we explain our human past very much determines our capacity to live into a truly freer present.” —Kathryn Lofton, Professor of Religious Studies, American Studies, and History, Yale University

“With an elegant weave of intellectual history and constructive theological reflection, Christine Helmer retrieves the Catholic Luther to challenge the regnant Protestant image of the former Augustinian monk as advocating a radical break with the Roman Church. By contextualizing the construction of the reigning Reformation narrative within early twentieth-century German political and cultural discourse, she exposes its anti-Catholic and anti-Judaic presuppositions to be primed by a political theological agenda that was defiantly supersessionist. In her deft deconstruction of the Reformation Luther, Helmer compellingly calls for a revision of the conception of religion and modernity promoted by the Protestant narrative.” —Paul Mendes-Flohr, Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago Divinity School; Professor Emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“With impressive clarity and insight, Christine Helmer presentsa vivid understanding of how the medieval Catholic reformer was mythologized into the great Protestantreformer.” —Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth College

 “A century ago, most Protestants viewed Martin Luther as the great prophet of freedom who liberated the West from the oppressive rule of medieval Catholicism and set Western churches, states, and cultures on the road to modernity. Christine Helmer has long shown us that Luther’s reformation was far more medieval, far less revolutionary, and far more complex in influence than the heroic image of Luther would have it. This learned volume exposes the tangled roots and routes of this heroic Luther myth in modern German thought, challenging everyone from Hegel and Schleiermacher to Weber and Holl for their highly selective and present-minded readings of Luther. This is forensic critical historiography at its best.” —John Witte Jr., Woodruff University Professor of Law, McDonald Distinguished Professor, Emory University