Scott H. Hendrix is Professor Emeritus of Reformation History at Princeton Theological Seminary. He currently chairs the Continuation Committee of the International Congress for Luther Research. His publications include Luther and the Papacy: Stages in A Reformation Conflict (1981), Tradition and Authority in the Reformation (1996), Preaching the Reformation (2003), and Luther (2009).

This introduction presents Martin Luther as historians now see him. Instead of singling him out as a modern hero, the book emphasizes the context in which Luther worked, the colleagues who supported him, and the opponents who adamantly opposed his agenda for change.

Scott H. Hendrix explains the religious reformation and Luther's importance, without ignoring the political and cultural forces that led the reformation down paths Luther could neither foresee nor influence. This Very Short Introduction pays tribute to Luther's genius, but also recognizes the self-righteous attitude that alienated contemporaries, offering a unique explanation for that behaviour.

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