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stephanieridiculous 's review for:
Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther
by Roland H. Bainton
Whew, I was not sure I was gonna pull off finishing this before the new year - but I did it!
Some generalized notes:
-This is way too long. There is so much needless conjecture added in. I get being passionate and wanting to include all the cool tidbits you learned, but dang, my dude - dial it back.
-There is too much of the author in this. I frequently could not tell if I was reading a summary of Luther's thoughts, or Bainton's. Again, sharing passion is good - but the editing could have been a lot tighter. At one point he also claims that Luther's translation of the Psalms "improved them" and that's a buckwild claim to make!
-While there is a bibliography in the back, by and large you have to just take Bainton's word for it. He quotes letters often, which at least indicates source, but more often Bainton just asserts that Luther believed something or said something or did something and does not at all explain where that assertion came from/what it is supported by. I understand that's a huge undertaking, and that it probably in practice can't happen with every single thing - but I'm mostly left with just hoping Bainton didn't put his own spin on Luther, because I truly don't know. I do have suspicions that there is some spinning going on - while Bainton does point out some shortcomings of Luther, I felt some of his missteps warranted a sterner condemnation, which Bainton never provides. He is quick to celebrate, and only casually addresses shortfalls. There is a consistent issue with framing the choices Luther made - it would have been better to never offer sympathy than to selectively offer it and stay silent in other places. There is much to critique Luther for and Bainton doesn't deliver on that.
-Bainton's language is outdated and even occasionally offensive
-Still, all of that being true, I do appreciate knowing more of Luther and the scope of the biography, although I'm not entirely sure I would recommend this to others. I think engaging with Luther in terms of critique would be more useful/beneficial for the modern reader, rather than this worship of personality.
Some generalized notes:
-This is way too long. There is so much needless conjecture added in. I get being passionate and wanting to include all the cool tidbits you learned, but dang, my dude - dial it back.
-There is too much of the author in this. I frequently could not tell if I was reading a summary of Luther's thoughts, or Bainton's. Again, sharing passion is good - but the editing could have been a lot tighter. At one point he also claims that Luther's translation of the Psalms "improved them" and that's a buckwild claim to make!
-While there is a bibliography in the back, by and large you have to just take Bainton's word for it. He quotes letters often, which at least indicates source, but more often Bainton just asserts that Luther believed something or said something or did something and does not at all explain where that assertion came from/what it is supported by. I understand that's a huge undertaking, and that it probably in practice can't happen with every single thing - but I'm mostly left with just hoping Bainton didn't put his own spin on Luther, because I truly don't know. I do have suspicions that there is some spinning going on - while Bainton does point out some shortcomings of Luther, I felt some of his missteps warranted a sterner condemnation, which Bainton never provides. He is quick to celebrate, and only casually addresses shortfalls. There is a consistent issue with framing the choices Luther made - it would have been better to never offer sympathy than to selectively offer it and stay silent in other places. There is much to critique Luther for and Bainton doesn't deliver on that.
-Bainton's language is outdated and even occasionally offensive
-Still, all of that being true, I do appreciate knowing more of Luther and the scope of the biography, although I'm not entirely sure I would recommend this to others. I think engaging with Luther in terms of critique would be more useful/beneficial for the modern reader, rather than this worship of personality.