Brand Luther
How an Unheralded Young Minister Turned His Small German Town into a Center of Publishing, Made Himself the Most Famous Man in Europe - and Started the Protestant Reformation
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Narrated by:
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Paul Hecht
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By:
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Andrew Pettegree
About this listen
When an obscure monk named Martin Luther tacked his theses on the door of the Wittenberg church in 1517, protesting corrupt practices, he was virtually unknown. Within months his ideas spread across Germany then all of Europe; within years their author was not just famous but infamous, responsible for catalyzing the violent wave of religious reform that would come to be known as the Protestant Reformation and engulfing Europe in decades of bloody war. Luther came of age with the printing press, and the path to glory of neither one was obvious to the casual observer of the time.
Andrew Pettegree is perhaps our most distinguished living historian of the print revolution, but he launched his career as a historian of the Reformation. That double vision positions him to comprehend this epic event not simply as a religious story but also as a story about how ideas were carried and spread in new ways by new things - things called mass-produced books. Printing was and is a risky business - the questions were how to know how much to print and how to get there before the competition. Pettegree illustrates Luther's great gift not simply as a theologian but as a communicator - indeed, as the world's first mass-media figure, its first brand. He recognized in printing the power of pamphlets, written in the colloquial German of everyday people, to win the battle of ideas. But that wasn't enough - not just words but the medium itself was the message.
Fatefully, Luther had a partner in Wittenberg in the form of artist and businessman Lucas Cranach, who, together with Wittenberg's printers, created the look of Luther's pamphlets, which included the distinct highlighting of the words "Martin Luther of Wittenberg" on the title page. Cranach also created the iconic portraits of Luther that made the reformer such a familiar figure to his fellow Germans. Together Luther and Cranach created a product that spread like wildfire - it was both incredibly successful and widely imitated. Soon Germany was overwhelmed by a blizzard of pamphlets, with Wittenberg at its heart; the Reformation itself would blaze on for more than a hundred years.
Publishing in advance of the Reformation's 500th anniversary, Brand Luther fuses the history of religion, of printing, and of capitalism - the literal marketplace of ideas - into one enthralling story, revolutionizing our understanding of one of the pivotal figures and eras in all of human history.
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For five centuries, Martin Luther has been lionized as an outspoken and fearless icon of change who ended the Middle Ages and heralded the beginning of the modern world. In Rebel in the Ranks, Brad Gregory, renowned professor of European history at Notre Dame, recasts this long-accepted portrait. Luther did not intend to start a revolution that would divide the Catholic Church and forever change Western civilization. Yet his actions would profoundly shape our world in ways he could never have imagined.
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Something to think about
- By Like Loehe on 09-19-17
By: Brad S. Gregory
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Medieval Christianity
- A New History
- By: Kevin Madigan
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 21 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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For many, the medieval world seems dark and foreign - a miraculous, brutal, and irrational time of superstition and strange relics. The pursuit of heretics, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the domination of the "Holy Land" come to mind.
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New Standard Text for This Period
- By Bill Martin on 10-22-16
By: Kevin Madigan
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A History of the Amish
- Third Edition
- By: Steven M. Nolt
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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The Amish, one of America's most intriguingly private, unique, and often misunderstood religious communities, have survived for 300 years! How has that happened? While much has been written on the Amish, little has been revealed about their history. This book brings together in one volume a thorough history of the Amish people. From their beginnings in Europe through their settlement in North America, the Amish have struggled to maintain their beliefs and traditions in often hostile settings.
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Very interesting
- By Jeffrey on 08-06-18
By: Steven M. Nolt
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A.D. 381
- Heretics, Pagans, and the Dawn of the Monotheistic State
- By: Charles Freeman
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In A.D. 381, Theodosius, emperor of the eastern Roman empire, issued a decree in which all his subjects were required to subscribe to a belief in the Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This edict defined Christian orthodoxy and brought to an end a lively and wide-ranging debate about the nature of God; all other interpretations were now declared heretical.
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Dont pass it up
- By brett on 01-21-11
By: Charles Freeman
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The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, Revised and Updated
- The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation
- By: Justo L. González
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Story of Christianity, Vol. 1, Justo L. González, author of the highly praised three-volume History of Christian Thought, presents a narrative history of Christianity from the early church to the dawn of the Protestant reformation. From Jesus' faithful apostles to the early reformist John Wycliffe, González skillfully traces core theological issues and developments within the various traditions of the church, including major events outside of Europe, such as the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the New World.
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Throughly engaging
- By Scott Pursley on 12-15-16
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The Mormon People
- The Making of an American Faith
- By: Matthew Bowman
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1830, a young seer and sometime treasure hunter named Joseph Smith began organizing adherents into a new religious community that would come to be called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (and known informally as the Mormons). One of the nascent faith’s early initiates was a twenty-three-year-old Ohio farmer named Parley Pratt, the distant grandfather of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In The Mormon People, religious historian Matthew Bowman peels back the curtain on more than 180 years of Mormon history and doctrine.
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Nice overview of the history of the LDS church.
- By Daniel on 02-07-12
By: Matthew Bowman
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Through the Eye of a Needle: Wealth, the Fall of Rome, and the Making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD
- By: Peter Brown
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Jesus taught his followers that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Yet by the fall of Rome, the church was becoming rich beyond measure. Through the Eye of a Needle is a sweeping intellectual and social history of the vexing problem of wealth in Christianity in the waning days of the Roman Empire, written by the world's foremost scholar of late antiquity.
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A learned, well-balanced postmodern history
- By Jacobus on 11-21-12
By: Peter Brown
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A History of Christianity
- By: Paul Johnson
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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First published in 1976, Paul Johnson's exceptional study of Christianity has been loved and widely hailed for its intensive research, writing, and magnitude. Weaving a great range of material, the scholar and author Johnson creates an ambitious panoramic overview of the evolution of the Western world since the founding of a little-known "Jesus sect".
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Read Brant Pitre's the case for Jesus instead.
- By Catherine BFT on 05-08-17
By: Paul Johnson
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Turning Points
- Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity
- By: Mark A. Noll
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In this popular introduction to church history, now in its third edition, Mark Noll isolates key events that provide a framework for understanding the history of Christianity. The book presents Christianity as a worldwide phenomenon rather than just a Western experience. Students in academic settings and church adult education contexts will benefit from this one-semester survey of Christian history.
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Excellent, Brief Snippet’s
- By ejb on 01-06-23
By: Mark A. Noll
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The Reformation for Armchair Theologians
- By: Glen Sunshine
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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This listenable, accessible narrative story of the Protestant Reformation provides a solid grounding in the history of the Reformation and its leading ideas. The and the inclusion of "Questions for Discussion" and "Suggestions for Further Reading" make this book excellent for study groups, or as a refresher "course" for students - and even as a good starting point for those interested in the larger discipline of church history.
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Sunshine Shines Brightly!
- By LP on 03-14-16
By: Glen Sunshine
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Infinitesimal
- How a Dangerous Mathematical Theory Shaped the Modern World
- By: Amir Alexander
- Narrated by: Ira Rosenberg
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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On August 10, 1632, five men in flowing black robes convened in a somber Roman palazzo to pass judgment on a deceptively simple proposition: that a continuous line is composed of distinct and infinitely tiny parts. With the stroke of a pen the Jesuit fathers banned the doctrine of infinitesimals, announcing that it could never be taught or even mentioned. The concept was deemed dangerous and subversive, a threat to the belief that the world was an orderly place, governed by a strict and unchanging set of rules.
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An intriguing and underappreciated bit of history
- By Marino on 09-22-14
By: Amir Alexander
What listeners say about Brand Luther
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark A. Desjardins
- 01-06-19
Great book!
Great book concerning Martin Luther and the importance of the rise of printing in Germany. Reminiscent of today’s rise of the Internet! But as others have said why leave out the last chapter?
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- Todd Erickson
- 11-27-19
Exquisitely written and read!
One of the engaging audiobook I have listened to. Not your traditional book on Luther but an excellent addition to any collection
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-29-18
Missing chapter
I think one of the chapters included is the prologue, so the prologue is named chapter 1 so there is a missing chapter. The last chapter in the actual book is entitled legacy, which is the real chapter 12, but instead the audiobook ends on chapter 11 (which says chapter 12) and is entitled Endings.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Chazmo
- 06-12-19
Fascinating
A really interesting look at the process and use of media in the Lutheran Reformation mixed with a biography of Luther that puts everything in context.
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- Anonymous User
- 09-01-23
A must read for those who love history
This is a carefully written and quite insightful look into the magnificent use of the print media by Luther during the Reformation. I loved almost all of it. As a confessional Lutheran pastor I of course disagree with a few of the author's comments about Luther's motives and some of his characterizations of theological debates (especially with Zwingli and Erasmus). But overall a wonderful and engaging volume that is worth the read!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Nicholas Forti
- 01-19-17
Very Good . . . But Where's the Last Chapter?
Any additional comments?
This book is excellent. It's well written and makes a unique and helpful contribution to the literature currently being published for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. Given the information explosion of our day and the still new and ever-changing media of the internet, Pettegree's approach in this study—looking to the new and changing medium of movable print and woodcuts at the time of the Reformation—helps provide insight into similarities and differences between our time and Luther's.
Moreover, the recording of this audiobook is good. Paul Hecht has an excellent voice for narration and tends to handle pronunciation of names and places very well. There are a few times where it seems that he (or the recording) pauses in the middle of a word or sentence in an odd way that has the possibility of obscuring meaning. But these instances are rare.
However, I could not give this audiobook as many "stars" as it deserves because it cut off the whole last chapter of Pettegree's book!
Let em be clear—I'm not referring to the Acknowledgments at the end of the book, or an Appendix, or even an Afterward or Epilogue. This audiobook, which is labeled as "Unabridged," is missing the entire 12th Chapter—"Legacy"—found in the Fourth Part of the book. That's about 30 pages of primary text, summing up and concluding the thesis of the book, that are simply not a part of the "unabridged" audiobook.
It's strange because the end of the 11th Chapter clearly sets up the discussion of the 12th chapter. The word "legacy," which is the name of the 12th chapter, is mentioned multiple times in the last paragraph of the 11th chapter. That paragraph prepares the reader for the coming reflection on "the struggle for Luther's legacy" and the "debate over Luther [that] would follow" which "would embroil former friends in furious disagreement as his movement split into contesting branches," etc. Clearly, these are not the concluding lines of a book that has for over 300 pages, not left any of its themes hanging as loose-ends.
Where is the last chapter? And why doesn't Audible warn us that the book is not complete and "unabridged?"
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amaris
- 09-16-20
Last chapter not included.
This was a great book, read and performed well. However, the last chapter is missing.
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- Jake Grey
- 02-01-23
Academic, entrepreneur, craftsman and prop
Luther’s journey is fantastically described with illuminating context to what made the man unique, as well as a product of an era where powerful interests splintered across Northern Europe.
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- Bill Martin
- 01-14-16
Informed, Impacting
(From my Goodreads review - Audible note below)
This was a great read as a companion to Roland Bainton's classic Luther biography. The author is a British historian and specialist in the history of printing. In "Brand Luther," his particular lens on the subject is that of an informed observer of the phenomenon of the printing revolution launched by the Reformation, singularly Luther. His stance is dispassionate and his scope limited. . .almost. The narrative "Brand Luther" ranges widely over the Reformation's causes and effects, theological struggles and personalities, focusing on Luther as hero (though not in a partisan way). This is a boon for readers! Luther is so big the author can't help but betray admiration, which makes for good storytelling. Still, Pettegree is a pro, so the reader will see Luther critiqued as well as admired, the Catholic church not painted as villain, and Luther's friends and foes portrayed in dramatic relief against the background of 16th century Germany. Looming in that background--that which the book seeks to lift into the spotlight--is the nascent printing industry.
As a graduate of a Reformed seminary, I had little awareness of several facets of Luther's business-savvy personality and relationships with local (Wittenberg) printers, especially Rhau-Grunenberg. Luther had high standards of professionalism and an innate sense of timing his publications for greatest impact on either his academic interlocutors or his popular audience. For many of Luther's writings, Rhau-Grunenberg was Luther's only option. To see how he handled this situation, its impact on his management of the Reformation and the way he responded to persons--variously, with Christlike humility and/or business coolness--is to view a stunning portrait of Luther the human, a picture that reveals previously hidden virtues and flaws. There are galleries of such Luther portraits here.
Reasonably informed readers will find "Brand Luther" to be of value beyond its claim of a narrow scope and specialized historical investigation. I rated the book 5 stars for both its informative impact and its narrative interest. Luther scholars may have more to say. As for me, I highly recommend this book to any student of Luther or the Reformation.
NOTE FOR AUDIBLE READERS: I could have rated the narration higher. Paul Hecht has great pipes, and he handles all the German names and places with accuracy and skill. The one thing lacking, for me, is getting away from a "narrated" read to simply telling the story with emotive awareness and sensitivity to line and narrative arc. Still VERY listenable!
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7 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-11-17
What happened to Chapter 12, "Legacies"?
My download and the online version was missing the last chapter, "Legacies".
Otherwise an intriguing book, though I would have preferred it to follow a timeline more faithfully
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1 person found this helpful