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Rebel in the Ranks: Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World
When Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in October 1517, he had no intention of starting a revolution. But very quickly his criticism of indulgences became a rejection of the papacy and the Catholic Church emphasizing the Bible as the sole authority for Christian faith, radicalizing a continent, fracturing the Holy Roman Empire, and dividing Western civilization in ways Luther—a deeply devout professor and spiritually-anxious Augustinian friar—could have never foreseen, nor would he have ever endorsed. From Germany to England, Luther’s ideas inspired spontaneous but sustained uprisings and insurrections against civic and religious leaders alike, pitted Catholics against Protestants, and because the Reformation movement extended far beyond the man who inspired it, Protestants against Protestants. The ensuing disruptions prompted responses that gave shape to the modern world, and the unintended and unanticipated consequences of the Reformation continue to influence the very communities, religions, and beliefs that surround us today. How Luther inadvertently fractured the Catholic Church and reconfigured Western civilization is at the heart of renowned historian Brad Gregory’s Rebel in the Ranks . While recasting the portrait of Luther as a deliberate revolutionary, Gregory describes the cultural, political, and intellectual trends that informed him and helped give rise to the Reformation, which led to conflicting interpretations of the Bible, as well as the rise of competing churches, political conflicts, and social upheavals across Europe. Over the next five hundred years, as Gregory’s account shows, these conflicts eventually contributed to further epochal changes—from the Enlightenment and self-determination to moral relativism, modern capitalism, and consumerism, and in a cruel twist to Luther’s legacy, the freedom of every man and woman to practice no religion at all. With the scholarship of a world-class historian and the keen eye of a biographer, Gregory offers readers an in-depth portrait of Martin Luther, a reluctant rebel in the ranks, and a detailed examination of the Reformation to explain how the events that transpired five centuries ago still resonate—and influence us—today.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2017
About the author
Brad S. Gregory
15 books61 followersBrad S. Gregory is Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Notre Dame. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University (1996) and was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows (1994-96). Before joining the faculty at Notre Dame in 2003, Gregory taught at Stanford University, where he received early tenure in 2001. Gregory has two degrees in philosophy as well, both earned at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. He has received multiple teaching awards at Stanford and Notre Dame, and in 2005 was named the inaugural winner of the Hiett Prize in the Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture as the outstanding mid-career humanities scholar in the United States. Gregory's research focuses on Christianity in the Reformation era, the long-term effects of the Reformation, secularization in early modern and modern Western history, and methodology in the study of religion.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
April 8, 2021
According to this book, the Protestant Reformation is the ultimate example of unintended consequences. Luther, Calvin and other early reformers intended to renew and purify religious truth, but caused unintended changes that resulted in today’s hyper pluralism and secularism. They would not be pleased to learn about these results.
This book provides a very readable review of history, beginning with a description of social and religious conditions of that era. The author observes that “for literally centuries before the Protestant Reformation, medieval men and women who were devout lamented the gap between Christian ideals and lived realities.” Indeed, widespread resentments against church privileges provided a receptive audience to the Protestant message.
Reformers envisioned sola Scriptura to be a means of freeing Christianity from traditions accumulated since the Apostolic Age. Apparently it didn’t occur to them that interpretations of scripture might vary. Protestantism turned out to be a fractious movement. The author concludes that these religious disputes inspired secularism, not the other way around.
What emerged was a redefinition of religion itself. Religion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was always “more-than-religion”—i.e. all parts of life. In contrast to that “Religion today is a distinct area of life—separate from your career, professional relationships, recreational activities, consumer behavior, and so on.” Freedom of religion has also come to include the freedom from religion for those who choose to avoid it.
This book follows the trending role of religion all the way through to current events including the 2016 American elections.
This book provides a very readable review of history, beginning with a description of social and religious conditions of that era. The author observes that “for literally centuries before the Protestant Reformation, medieval men and women who were devout lamented the gap between Christian ideals and lived realities.” Indeed, widespread resentments against church privileges provided a receptive audience to the Protestant message.
Reformers envisioned sola Scriptura to be a means of freeing Christianity from traditions accumulated since the Apostolic Age. Apparently it didn’t occur to them that interpretations of scripture might vary. Protestantism turned out to be a fractious movement. The author concludes that these religious disputes inspired secularism, not the other way around.
What emerged was a redefinition of religion itself. Religion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was always “more-than-religion”—i.e. all parts of life. In contrast to that “Religion today is a distinct area of life—separate from your career, professional relationships, recreational activities, consumer behavior, and so on.” Freedom of religion has also come to include the freedom from religion for those who choose to avoid it.
This book follows the trending role of religion all the way through to current events including the 2016 American elections.
Tocqueville was struck by the way shared Christian moral views indirectly strengthened American democracy (leaving aside what democracy meant for black slaves, Indians, and women). These moral views have been replaced by an open-ended pluralism of religious and nonreligious beliefs about values, priorities, and politics in a nation that for several decades has been deeply divided. Its raw antagonisms, so visible following Donald Trump’s frenzied executive orders and antagonistic tweets beginning in the first days of his presidency in January 2017, led some analysts to start questioning, within weeks of his inauguration, the sustainability of American Democracy itself.Trump, the latest "rebel in the ranks," leading to more unintended consequences?
December 8, 2022
When I've summarized, connected the dots, and reflected upon the significance of the reformation from other histories, the specific aspects that Gregory focused upon in "Rebel in the Ranks" are what has stood out to me as most interesting.
Luther set a precedent by rebellion against certain traditions and church authorities based upon the higher authority of scripture. But the huge problem that "scripture alone" brought forth was the proliferation of biblical interpretation of scripture which was completely unacceptable to Luther. For Luther, it was more "My interpretation of scripture alone, and if you disagree with anything I teach, you are a worthless pig that is possessed by Satan and should be put down without mercy like a rabid dog". The toxic mix of the belief that correct doctrine was essential if one was not to be tortured in hell for all of eternity, combined with solo Scriptura, meant by their own reading of scripture they learned the "truth" and would not therefore burn, but everyone else who read the same text slightly differently was most definitely going to hell and taking everyone else convinced of their damnable heresies with them. It was a recipe for a lot of hatred and violence. Indeed scripture alone cannot and never will result in a unity of belief, unless it is combined with political force, a culture of fear, or credulous, unthinking conformity of the majority. The only reason Lutherism and Calvinism managed to become so widespread as they gained political support that ruthlessly martyred or exiled those who differed. But after so many years of violence and chaos, and many still desiring to live according to the principle of scripture alone, many were gradually faced with the option of making religion more of a private matter and allowing for religious tolerance, or keeping hold of Christendom--the mix of church and state and drowning Europe in blood. All in all, Gregory points out how the reformation, and the "more than religion wars" that followed, not only unintentionally lead to freedom of religion and 1000s up 1000s of new denominations that were all sure they alone had the truth, but it resulted ultimately in a wide-spread embrace of secularism and a wide embrace of consumerism, which would all have been anathema to the reformers. As divisive as religion was, many turned to reason to provide a solid foundation of truth, this too ultimately failed, birthing post-modernism.
One has to wonder if Luther knew what would result from his taking a stand if he still would do so.
Luther set a precedent by rebellion against certain traditions and church authorities based upon the higher authority of scripture. But the huge problem that "scripture alone" brought forth was the proliferation of biblical interpretation of scripture which was completely unacceptable to Luther. For Luther, it was more "My interpretation of scripture alone, and if you disagree with anything I teach, you are a worthless pig that is possessed by Satan and should be put down without mercy like a rabid dog". The toxic mix of the belief that correct doctrine was essential if one was not to be tortured in hell for all of eternity, combined with solo Scriptura, meant by their own reading of scripture they learned the "truth" and would not therefore burn, but everyone else who read the same text slightly differently was most definitely going to hell and taking everyone else convinced of their damnable heresies with them. It was a recipe for a lot of hatred and violence. Indeed scripture alone cannot and never will result in a unity of belief, unless it is combined with political force, a culture of fear, or credulous, unthinking conformity of the majority. The only reason Lutherism and Calvinism managed to become so widespread as they gained political support that ruthlessly martyred or exiled those who differed. But after so many years of violence and chaos, and many still desiring to live according to the principle of scripture alone, many were gradually faced with the option of making religion more of a private matter and allowing for religious tolerance, or keeping hold of Christendom--the mix of church and state and drowning Europe in blood. All in all, Gregory points out how the reformation, and the "more than religion wars" that followed, not only unintentionally lead to freedom of religion and 1000s up 1000s of new denominations that were all sure they alone had the truth, but it resulted ultimately in a wide-spread embrace of secularism and a wide embrace of consumerism, which would all have been anathema to the reformers. As divisive as religion was, many turned to reason to provide a solid foundation of truth, this too ultimately failed, birthing post-modernism.
One has to wonder if Luther knew what would result from his taking a stand if he still would do so.
April 5, 2020
5/10
I mark this higher than I would have otherwise, just because Gregory's The Unintended Reformation is one of the greatest books of all modernity. This is a pretty plain short history of the Reformation, with focus on its social and political causes and effects as opposed to theological debates. Like Dominion, I found myself not learning anything I didn't already know (as a trained church historian), but presented engagingly and a good refresher.
You can learn everything in the book below, where I save you $20 and six hours:
Tl;dr:
Luther unleashed the doctrine of scripture alone. Without an interpretative authority, no two people could agree on what it meant. Since the entirety of early modern life was structured by religion, this blew the political and social worlds to shreds as much as the religious. An attempt to reform the church spawned dozens of new churches, which begat a new problem: not only to debate the doctrines and practice of Christianity, but to debate what Christianity was and where it could be found. The early moderns were smarter than us and took such things seriously, so started wars over it. State churches didn't end the wars. However, freedom of religion did - at the cost of neutering religion to be a private affair instead of a Weltanschauung. Philosophers have tried to create systems to replace religion, but they end up just adding to the fragmentation of worldviews because sola Ratio doesn't work any better than sola Scriptura: none commands mass ascent, so we're left without a unifying Weltanschauung (enter MacIntyre: further reading, After Virtue and Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry).
Enter the rise of mercantilism and then consumerism, from the Dutch through England to America, did: consumerism became an ersatz religion, everyone of every belief or no belief giving their allegiance to 'the goods life' of economic growth and more shit, and the pursuit of money to buy more shit. The economy is operated on agnostic grounds, and bourgeoisification means the Last Men want nothing more than a comfortable life full of shit and have no interest in higher values.
The reformers would have hated where we ended up. Where do we go from here?
end tl;dr
The fourth and final chapter is pretty good, but the author calls Trump an ethnonationalist president 🤣 (He's barely a civic nationalist and definitely doesn't have the explicit good of White folk front and center when issuing policy, nor any plans to create an ethnostate for them, nor to free his multiracial, multicultural empire - which has remained so, without a hint of ethnonationalism, unless 'Trump' is an ethnicity - from the Jewish Zionist yoke and mideast entanglements, even if the Alt-righters who memelorded for him hoped he would.)
Gladly, this is the only glaring factual error of this magnitude (he says the Westminster Confession was published in 1646. The Westminster Confession was published in 1647, but drawn up in 1646. The rest of the Westminster Standards were published by 1649.) which I noticed.
I mark this higher than I would have otherwise, just because Gregory's The Unintended Reformation is one of the greatest books of all modernity. This is a pretty plain short history of the Reformation, with focus on its social and political causes and effects as opposed to theological debates. Like Dominion, I found myself not learning anything I didn't already know (as a trained church historian), but presented engagingly and a good refresher.
You can learn everything in the book below, where I save you $20 and six hours:
Tl;dr:
Luther unleashed the doctrine of scripture alone. Without an interpretative authority, no two people could agree on what it meant. Since the entirety of early modern life was structured by religion, this blew the political and social worlds to shreds as much as the religious. An attempt to reform the church spawned dozens of new churches, which begat a new problem: not only to debate the doctrines and practice of Christianity, but to debate what Christianity was and where it could be found. The early moderns were smarter than us and took such things seriously, so started wars over it. State churches didn't end the wars. However, freedom of religion did - at the cost of neutering religion to be a private affair instead of a Weltanschauung. Philosophers have tried to create systems to replace religion, but they end up just adding to the fragmentation of worldviews because sola Ratio doesn't work any better than sola Scriptura: none commands mass ascent, so we're left without a unifying Weltanschauung (enter MacIntyre: further reading, After Virtue and Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry).
Enter the rise of mercantilism and then consumerism, from the Dutch through England to America, did: consumerism became an ersatz religion, everyone of every belief or no belief giving their allegiance to 'the goods life' of economic growth and more shit, and the pursuit of money to buy more shit. The economy is operated on agnostic grounds, and bourgeoisification means the Last Men want nothing more than a comfortable life full of shit and have no interest in higher values.
The reformers would have hated where we ended up. Where do we go from here?
end tl;dr
The fourth and final chapter is pretty good, but the author calls Trump an ethnonationalist president 🤣 (He's barely a civic nationalist and definitely doesn't have the explicit good of White folk front and center when issuing policy, nor any plans to create an ethnostate for them, nor to free his multiracial, multicultural empire - which has remained so, without a hint of ethnonationalism, unless 'Trump' is an ethnicity - from the Jewish Zionist yoke and mideast entanglements, even if the Alt-righters who memelorded for him hoped he would.)
Gladly, this is the only glaring factual error of this magnitude (he says the Westminster Confession was published in 1646. The Westminster Confession was published in 1647, but drawn up in 1646. The rest of the Westminster Standards were published by 1649.) which I noticed.
November 22, 2017
I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway. This is not a birth to death comprehensive biography of Martin Luther. Neither is this a brief history of the Reformation to a point in historical time. Rather Brad Gregory uses the impact of Martin Luther amid already growing anti-Catholic sentiment to chart the unforeseen effects of the Reformation. Indeed, the effects of the Reformation, Gregory argues, led to the rise of secularism and robust capitalism and even to the divided aims which we face as a country today. In short Luther, in releasing multitudes from the oppression of the Catholic Church (and its abuses), unwittingly frees people to pursue their own beliefs, including the choice not to believe. The state no longer enforces religion; rather increasingly educated individuals pursue their own beliefs and lifestyles often free of any organized religion. I found most interesting the growing capitalism of Amsterdam in the 16th.-17th. centuries, when wealth was pursued without guilt owing to Biblical teachings. Gregory brings Luther's impact into the writings of our founders and even into politics in the age of Trump. This is a unique look at the Reformation.
November 25, 2017
It was pretty good at providing a rather simplistic overview of the Protestant Reformation. I can’t really remember the middle part because it dragged on....Until the end when Gregory ties global warming back to the reformation. I would have stopped reading but I only had two and a half pages to go at that point.
November 16, 2017
Gregory attributes the birth of Modernism to Luther and the Reformation. The advent of the doctrine of sola scriptura , spawned a theological relativism, the loss of authority and a kind of interpretative anarchy. Gregory fails to note whether the breakdown was already emerging prior to Luther, and how “Christian” the culture of the late medieval period was “on the ground”.
As Carl Trueman in his review notes: “narratives like that offered by Gregory, which blame the reformers for the collapse of the church, are typically predicated on a somewhat romantic view of the Middle Ages and a narrow, rather idealist, understanding of historical change.”
As Carl Trueman in his review notes: “narratives like that offered by Gregory, which blame the reformers for the collapse of the church, are typically predicated on a somewhat romantic view of the Middle Ages and a narrow, rather idealist, understanding of historical change.”
September 9, 2017
A concise, clear overview of the Reformation from Luther to the present. Makes the same basic arguments from Gregory's Unintended Reformation, but speaks chronologically to a broader audience.
January 19, 2024
I think the book was great but my expectations were different. I’ve heard great things about Brad Gregory. I was hoping this would be a critical historical sociology of Luther and reformation and the effects of it to broader society and philosophy (as the title implies). Although he had few comments here and there, it was mostly a biography of Luther, little bit of Zwingli and Calvin. It was more like a Short introduction to Protestant Reformation History. I am planning to read his other book “Unintended Reformation.” I am hoping he will elaborate there more.
January 3, 2018
"But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." -Thomas Jefferson
This book is an excellent way to not only learn a quick but concise overview of the life and ideas of Martin Luther, but also to see how truly novel his ideas were and how they transformed the world into the way we know it today.
An excellent point author Brad S. Gregory brings up throughout the book is how religion in the 16th century was, by modern standards, "more-than-religion;" that is, it wasn't just a private activity that individuals engaged in whenever they pleased, but rather was all-encompassing and influenced all facets of life and society, from economics to politics, family and community, etc. It may seem strange and even barbaric to modern readers who learn about wars of religion over seemingly arbitrary conflicts of doctrine - who cares if a soul is saved through works or by God's grace alone? But when not only this life but the next (that is, one's salvation) is on the line, then these doctrinal disputes are very serious indeed.
Another interest point that Gregory brings up is the evolution of "profit over piety," describing the Dutch Republic of the 17th century and the way that religious tolerance allowed merchants from all religions to flourish and prosper in Amsterdam. Instead of preaching about avoiding avarice and vanity, greed and want, philosophers began to talk about leading a good life and working for a bigger piece of the pie, so to speak. Adam Smith, for example, in his "Wealth of Nations" discusses the moral benefit of self-interest for the betterment of society by the "invisible hand."
The success of Amsterdam influenced founding fathers of the United States James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, whose encouragement of religious pluralism resulted not only a freedom of religion, but also a freedom from religion. The result of the Reformation was that anyone could - and did - decide for themselves what the Bible said and meant. This led to the individual deciding what Christian denomination they should join that came closest to their own interpretation of the Bible. This in turn led to people deciding that they didn't need religion in their lives at all; the birth of secularism.
The book ends with a jab at postmodernism and moral relativism, what author Brad S. Gregory sees as a result of the Reformation. If everyone can decide what is right, a relativist would ask, then who can decide what is wrong? What is right for one may be wrong for someone else, and since there is no clear concept of a moral good, then isn't everyone right? The irony the author sees in this liberal theory is that it inevitably leads to such sources as Fox News and Breitbart as being "right;" after all, who's to say they're wrong? Another point the author brings up is the watershed moment in recent American history that every book nowadays seems to discuss; the 2016 election, and the inevitable conclusion of "profit over piety" in the ballot results. While I do not agree with the author on all points, it does make one think about the unintended consequences of the Reformation (and how "horrified" Martin Luther and John Calvin would be at the rise of secularism as a result of their focus on sola scriptura and the correct meaning of the Bible).
A fascinating, concise read that makes you think.
This book is an excellent way to not only learn a quick but concise overview of the life and ideas of Martin Luther, but also to see how truly novel his ideas were and how they transformed the world into the way we know it today.
An excellent point author Brad S. Gregory brings up throughout the book is how religion in the 16th century was, by modern standards, "more-than-religion;" that is, it wasn't just a private activity that individuals engaged in whenever they pleased, but rather was all-encompassing and influenced all facets of life and society, from economics to politics, family and community, etc. It may seem strange and even barbaric to modern readers who learn about wars of religion over seemingly arbitrary conflicts of doctrine - who cares if a soul is saved through works or by God's grace alone? But when not only this life but the next (that is, one's salvation) is on the line, then these doctrinal disputes are very serious indeed.
Another interest point that Gregory brings up is the evolution of "profit over piety," describing the Dutch Republic of the 17th century and the way that religious tolerance allowed merchants from all religions to flourish and prosper in Amsterdam. Instead of preaching about avoiding avarice and vanity, greed and want, philosophers began to talk about leading a good life and working for a bigger piece of the pie, so to speak. Adam Smith, for example, in his "Wealth of Nations" discusses the moral benefit of self-interest for the betterment of society by the "invisible hand."
The success of Amsterdam influenced founding fathers of the United States James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, whose encouragement of religious pluralism resulted not only a freedom of religion, but also a freedom from religion. The result of the Reformation was that anyone could - and did - decide for themselves what the Bible said and meant. This led to the individual deciding what Christian denomination they should join that came closest to their own interpretation of the Bible. This in turn led to people deciding that they didn't need religion in their lives at all; the birth of secularism.
The book ends with a jab at postmodernism and moral relativism, what author Brad S. Gregory sees as a result of the Reformation. If everyone can decide what is right, a relativist would ask, then who can decide what is wrong? What is right for one may be wrong for someone else, and since there is no clear concept of a moral good, then isn't everyone right? The irony the author sees in this liberal theory is that it inevitably leads to such sources as Fox News and Breitbart as being "right;" after all, who's to say they're wrong? Another point the author brings up is the watershed moment in recent American history that every book nowadays seems to discuss; the 2016 election, and the inevitable conclusion of "profit over piety" in the ballot results. While I do not agree with the author on all points, it does make one think about the unintended consequences of the Reformation (and how "horrified" Martin Luther and John Calvin would be at the rise of secularism as a result of their focus on sola scriptura and the correct meaning of the Bible).
A fascinating, concise read that makes you think.
September 8, 2021
This book explained in simple terms Martin Luther’s effect on religion and history. It was easy to understand and make the historical connections. I thoroughly enjoyed its slow pace and delivery. I am most definitely now in search of books similarly written about this period (or others) to continue learning even more.
October 5, 2017
October 31, 2017, marks the 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation. On that date in 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther posted a document calling for academic debate on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg, Saxony. The posting of this document — titled, Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, or more popularly Ninety-five Theses — inaugurated the process whereby Luther broke with the Roman Catholic Church, the end results of which are still felt today.
The consequences of the Protestant Reformation are the subject of Brad S. Gregory’s new book, Rebel in the Ranks: Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World. Luther and other Protestants intended to reform the Church. That was their stated aim. However, it is not that consequence, but three other unintended consequences that capture Gregory’s attention.
The first was “the proliferation of so many rival versions of Protestantism.” Protestants agree that Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) is the final authority for Christians in matters of faith and practice. They came to this view as their debates with Roman Catholic theologians about indulgences and other matters raised the question of what authority everyone must acknowledge as the final authority in such matters.
The problem was that acknowledging Scripture’s final authority did not result in a unified interpretation of Scripture. Instead, Protestants argued amongst themselves: Lutheran versus Zwinglian versus Reformed versus Anabaptist. To this day, while there is one Roman Catholic Church (at least nominally), there is no one Protestant Church — only Protestant churches, who still disagree among themselves, often to the point of breaking communion with one another.
Secondly, Gregory argues, “Just as the reformers never intended to pave the way for any and all interpretations of God’s Word, so they never intended to facilitate endless doctrinal controversy or recurrent violence, let alone to divide Christendom itself.” Again, their stated aim was to reform the Church, not to break it. And yet, it broke nonetheless.
Part of the reason for this was that in the 16th and 17th centuries, religion was always “more-than-religion,” as Gregory puts it. He explains what he means by way of a contrast: “Religion today is a distinct area of life — separate from your career, professional relationships, recreational activities, consumer behavior, and so on. None of this was true in the early sixteenth century: religion was neither a matter of choice nor separate from the rest of life.” Because of this, controversies in religion became controversies in society, culture, politics and economics. The Wars of Religion in the 16th and 17th century were the most violent expressions of these conflicts, but not the only ones.
These two unintended consequences, in combination, defined the major political problem modernity had to solve. If people cannot agree on how to interpret the Bible, and if their disagreements lead to social conflict and war, what must be done to achieve peace? The answer that began to emerge in the 17th century can be captured in a single word: secularization.
Gregory defines a secular society as “one in which religion would be separate from public life, becoming instead a matter of individual preference.” If religion in medieval society was more-than-religion, then religion in modern society had to become less-than-life. It had to become a component, not the whole. This diminishment of the scope of religion was accompanied by an increase in the scope of personal freedom. Medieval Christendom may have been dominated by a Christian worldview, but in modern society, individuals “can believe whatever they want to believe about morality or purpose and live their lives accordingly.” In short, as Gregory notes, “The Reformation is a paradox: a religious revolution that led to the secularization of society.”
There are benefits to this secularization, of course. Religious freedom — more broadly, freedom of conscience — is the most obvious one. But there are downsides as well. Secularization was meant to bring peace among warring Christian nations, but secular societies have not proven themselves to be necessarily peaceful ones, as the fate of 20th-century Communist nations so tragically attests.
Indeed, secular societies are characterized by what Gregory calls “hyperpluralism.” If it was hard to unite societies divided between Protestants and Catholics (or among Protestants), how easy will it be to unite a society where 51 flavors of religion, non-religion and irreligion are on offer?
“So here we are,” Gregory concludes, “so very free and so very far away from Martin Luther and what he started in a small town in Germany five hundred years ago.”
Book Reviewed
Brad S. Gregory, Rebel in the Ranks: Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World (New York: HarperOne, 2017).
P.S. This review was written for InfluenceMagazine.com and appears here by permission.
P.P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
The consequences of the Protestant Reformation are the subject of Brad S. Gregory’s new book, Rebel in the Ranks: Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World. Luther and other Protestants intended to reform the Church. That was their stated aim. However, it is not that consequence, but three other unintended consequences that capture Gregory’s attention.
The first was “the proliferation of so many rival versions of Protestantism.” Protestants agree that Scripture alone (sola Scriptura) is the final authority for Christians in matters of faith and practice. They came to this view as their debates with Roman Catholic theologians about indulgences and other matters raised the question of what authority everyone must acknowledge as the final authority in such matters.
The problem was that acknowledging Scripture’s final authority did not result in a unified interpretation of Scripture. Instead, Protestants argued amongst themselves: Lutheran versus Zwinglian versus Reformed versus Anabaptist. To this day, while there is one Roman Catholic Church (at least nominally), there is no one Protestant Church — only Protestant churches, who still disagree among themselves, often to the point of breaking communion with one another.
Secondly, Gregory argues, “Just as the reformers never intended to pave the way for any and all interpretations of God’s Word, so they never intended to facilitate endless doctrinal controversy or recurrent violence, let alone to divide Christendom itself.” Again, their stated aim was to reform the Church, not to break it. And yet, it broke nonetheless.
Part of the reason for this was that in the 16th and 17th centuries, religion was always “more-than-religion,” as Gregory puts it. He explains what he means by way of a contrast: “Religion today is a distinct area of life — separate from your career, professional relationships, recreational activities, consumer behavior, and so on. None of this was true in the early sixteenth century: religion was neither a matter of choice nor separate from the rest of life.” Because of this, controversies in religion became controversies in society, culture, politics and economics. The Wars of Religion in the 16th and 17th century were the most violent expressions of these conflicts, but not the only ones.
These two unintended consequences, in combination, defined the major political problem modernity had to solve. If people cannot agree on how to interpret the Bible, and if their disagreements lead to social conflict and war, what must be done to achieve peace? The answer that began to emerge in the 17th century can be captured in a single word: secularization.
Gregory defines a secular society as “one in which religion would be separate from public life, becoming instead a matter of individual preference.” If religion in medieval society was more-than-religion, then religion in modern society had to become less-than-life. It had to become a component, not the whole. This diminishment of the scope of religion was accompanied by an increase in the scope of personal freedom. Medieval Christendom may have been dominated by a Christian worldview, but in modern society, individuals “can believe whatever they want to believe about morality or purpose and live their lives accordingly.” In short, as Gregory notes, “The Reformation is a paradox: a religious revolution that led to the secularization of society.”
There are benefits to this secularization, of course. Religious freedom — more broadly, freedom of conscience — is the most obvious one. But there are downsides as well. Secularization was meant to bring peace among warring Christian nations, but secular societies have not proven themselves to be necessarily peaceful ones, as the fate of 20th-century Communist nations so tragically attests.
Indeed, secular societies are characterized by what Gregory calls “hyperpluralism.” If it was hard to unite societies divided between Protestants and Catholics (or among Protestants), how easy will it be to unite a society where 51 flavors of religion, non-religion and irreligion are on offer?
“So here we are,” Gregory concludes, “so very free and so very far away from Martin Luther and what he started in a small town in Germany five hundred years ago.”
Book Reviewed
Brad S. Gregory, Rebel in the Ranks: Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World (New York: HarperOne, 2017).
P.S. This review was written for InfluenceMagazine.com and appears here by permission.
P.P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.
December 22, 2020
I chose this title because I wanted a Catholic view of the Reformation. I was prepared for the author's attacks on sola scriptura but I was not prepared for all the liberal drivel about consumerism, capitalism, Trump, and climate change. I failed to see the connections he was trying to make.
June 10, 2022
TL;DR This book is a mess.
The historical information about what was going on politically surrounding the Reformation was helpful. Otherwise, this book made some wild and unsubstantiated presumptions about the Reformation (e.g. Sola Scriptura was something Luther came up with accidentally and after the fact without thinking about the ramifications), villified the Reformation (I get that the author is Catholic, but straw man argument about John Calvin gleefully seeing to Michael Servetus' death is an old and easily debunked one), made minor theological disagreements into major conflicts, and then tried to somehow(unconvincingly) connect the 2016 election of Trump and climate change to the conflicts set in motion by the Reformation 500 years earlier.
The historical information about what was going on politically surrounding the Reformation was helpful. Otherwise, this book made some wild and unsubstantiated presumptions about the Reformation (e.g. Sola Scriptura was something Luther came up with accidentally and after the fact without thinking about the ramifications), villified the Reformation (I get that the author is Catholic, but straw man argument about John Calvin gleefully seeing to Michael Servetus' death is an old and easily debunked one), made minor theological disagreements into major conflicts, and then tried to somehow(unconvincingly) connect the 2016 election of Trump and climate change to the conflicts set in motion by the Reformation 500 years earlier.
October 7, 2018
This is probably the best book I've read on the Reformation, and thankfully, the most objective. The research is put well, though some speculation in the final stretch might be oddly placed.
February 8, 2018
October 31, 2017 marked the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's publication of the Ninety-Five Theses (whether or not on the door of Wittenberg Castle is a matter of debate). That act has been understood to have been the match that lit the Protestant Reformation, though it's doubtful that Luther thought he was doing anything of the kind. An anniversary of this magnitude, of course, requires a flurry of publications dealing with the matter at hand. Many a book on Luther and the Reformation have been published in the past year. One of them is this book by Brad Gregory.
Rebel in the Ranks is part biography, but it is more an exploration of the movement Luther launched, but which quickly took on a life of its own, and has implications for the world to this day. You might call this book -- from Luther to Trump! Only the first chapter, "A Reluctant Rebel" focuses specifically on Luther. Gregory offers a breezy but informative introduction to Luther and his move from "busy and burdened friar" to reformer. We're introduced to the main events that Luther undertook in his effort to challenge the status quo, and the writings that he used to advance his cause. We see a man who pushed the boundaries of the religious world, and then pulled back a bit when he saw how others, like his colleague Andreas von Karlstadt, took the reforms much further than he was comfortable with. Gregory does a nice job laying out the context of his efforts, including the discomfort among many in Germany with things going on in Rome. The issue of the indulgences is rooted in the feeling that funds were being diverted from Germany to build monuments in Rome. There is also the political dynamics of the Holy Roman Empire, which had come under the leadership of the young Charles V. Gregory notes that Luther may have launched the Reformation, but he never controlled it. By taking his stand on sola scriptura and the Holy Spirit made sure that no one could control it. "The Reformation will be uncoupled from the dramatic odyssey of the deeply religious man and will become the story of a no less dramatic and deeply contested movement."
The chapter on Luther takes up nearly a third of the book, with the remaining three chapters dividing the remainder of the pages. From this introduction to Luther we move in chapter two to the "Fractious Movement." We encounter Karlstadt, Zwingli, the revolutionary nature of the Peasants War, the Anabaptists, some of whom emerged from Luther's work and others from Zwingli, or on their own, but taking a very different tack. We see Luther appear again in conflict with Erasmus over free will, and with Zwingli over the Eucharist. Of course there must be a conversation about Munster.
By the time we move to chapter three, titled "A Troubled Era," Luther has passed from the scene and new forces emerge. There will be developments within Lutheranism as it spread into Scandinavia and people like Philip Melanchton sought to develop further Luther's legacy. We meet with Calvin and the Radical Reformation that emerged after Munster. We can't forget the Catholic Reformation and the wars that broke out in the Holy Roman Empire, France, England, the Laow Countries. As we take this journey we see reform taking multiple forms, with competition everywhere for control. We see an assertive Reformed Christianity taking form and expanding rapidly, often emerging out of Geneva. Again, we cover a lot of ground in a short amount of space. Not everything gets its due, but that's not the point.
Finally, in chapter four Gregory takes us from the seventeenth century to the present. He wants to show us how the Reformation principles morphed into something else, including a drive toward secularization. We begin in Holland where religious differences are tolerated but also controlled, with the pay off being economic growth. That vision would later pass on to England and then to the United States. Freedom is a primary there here, but as Gregory notes, its not without its draw backs.
This is an interesting and thought-provoking read. It is not a biography of Luther, though Luther plays a significant role in the story. The last clause of the subtitle catches the essence of the book and that is the "conflicts that continue to shape our world." If you're looking for a good, brief biography of Luther, I recommend Volker Leppin's Martin Luther: A Late Medieval Life. If you want to take a broader look at things, check out Rebel in the Ranks. I think you'll like it.
Rebel in the Ranks is part biography, but it is more an exploration of the movement Luther launched, but which quickly took on a life of its own, and has implications for the world to this day. You might call this book -- from Luther to Trump! Only the first chapter, "A Reluctant Rebel" focuses specifically on Luther. Gregory offers a breezy but informative introduction to Luther and his move from "busy and burdened friar" to reformer. We're introduced to the main events that Luther undertook in his effort to challenge the status quo, and the writings that he used to advance his cause. We see a man who pushed the boundaries of the religious world, and then pulled back a bit when he saw how others, like his colleague Andreas von Karlstadt, took the reforms much further than he was comfortable with. Gregory does a nice job laying out the context of his efforts, including the discomfort among many in Germany with things going on in Rome. The issue of the indulgences is rooted in the feeling that funds were being diverted from Germany to build monuments in Rome. There is also the political dynamics of the Holy Roman Empire, which had come under the leadership of the young Charles V. Gregory notes that Luther may have launched the Reformation, but he never controlled it. By taking his stand on sola scriptura and the Holy Spirit made sure that no one could control it. "The Reformation will be uncoupled from the dramatic odyssey of the deeply religious man and will become the story of a no less dramatic and deeply contested movement."
The chapter on Luther takes up nearly a third of the book, with the remaining three chapters dividing the remainder of the pages. From this introduction to Luther we move in chapter two to the "Fractious Movement." We encounter Karlstadt, Zwingli, the revolutionary nature of the Peasants War, the Anabaptists, some of whom emerged from Luther's work and others from Zwingli, or on their own, but taking a very different tack. We see Luther appear again in conflict with Erasmus over free will, and with Zwingli over the Eucharist. Of course there must be a conversation about Munster.
By the time we move to chapter three, titled "A Troubled Era," Luther has passed from the scene and new forces emerge. There will be developments within Lutheranism as it spread into Scandinavia and people like Philip Melanchton sought to develop further Luther's legacy. We meet with Calvin and the Radical Reformation that emerged after Munster. We can't forget the Catholic Reformation and the wars that broke out in the Holy Roman Empire, France, England, the Laow Countries. As we take this journey we see reform taking multiple forms, with competition everywhere for control. We see an assertive Reformed Christianity taking form and expanding rapidly, often emerging out of Geneva. Again, we cover a lot of ground in a short amount of space. Not everything gets its due, but that's not the point.
Finally, in chapter four Gregory takes us from the seventeenth century to the present. He wants to show us how the Reformation principles morphed into something else, including a drive toward secularization. We begin in Holland where religious differences are tolerated but also controlled, with the pay off being economic growth. That vision would later pass on to England and then to the United States. Freedom is a primary there here, but as Gregory notes, its not without its draw backs.
This is an interesting and thought-provoking read. It is not a biography of Luther, though Luther plays a significant role in the story. The last clause of the subtitle catches the essence of the book and that is the "conflicts that continue to shape our world." If you're looking for a good, brief biography of Luther, I recommend Volker Leppin's Martin Luther: A Late Medieval Life. If you want to take a broader look at things, check out Rebel in the Ranks. I think you'll like it.
December 28, 2022
* Main point that martin Luther’s freedom of a Christian lead unintentionally to the postmodern, plural divisive world we live in today
* 16 century Europe was more-than-religion world where everything was informed and controlled by religion
* Martin Luther and the reformers challenged the authority of the church and the pope and thus challenged the authority structures of the church and tried to replace them with the bible and conscience
* The problem was there where may differing interpretations of the bible on doctrines such as salvation, the sacrament, church government etc
* In the 16th century it was believed the way to be social cohesion was just to have one religion which will unite people
* In the Netherlands this changed as the Calvinist was the state church however other Christian’s where allowed to settle and worship in private as well as part take economically in society
* This lead to a transformation within that society, people became richer and would do there economic business with anyone which put different believers in the same bracket
* Everyone after the same thing the goods life for the good life modern day consumerism
* Process of secularisation started in Holland with this coming to Britain and then the creation of the USA. The separation of religion from other areas of life
* Giving people political freedom what to believe was a vital part in this
* Loss of social cohesion in the last 200 years due to American Vivian war two world wars the social revolution of the 1960s, immigration and the hyper Information Age
* Reformers would of hated this and not liked how the freedom of the Christian has played out. Wanted society to become more Christian not less
* There overturning of central authority and failing to replace it with the bible lead to secularisation
* Positives: political freedom to believe what you want
* Negatives: global warming, due to hyper consumerism, loss of meaning, fractured societies, no central authority.
* 16 century Europe was more-than-religion world where everything was informed and controlled by religion
* Martin Luther and the reformers challenged the authority of the church and the pope and thus challenged the authority structures of the church and tried to replace them with the bible and conscience
* The problem was there where may differing interpretations of the bible on doctrines such as salvation, the sacrament, church government etc
* In the 16th century it was believed the way to be social cohesion was just to have one religion which will unite people
* In the Netherlands this changed as the Calvinist was the state church however other Christian’s where allowed to settle and worship in private as well as part take economically in society
* This lead to a transformation within that society, people became richer and would do there economic business with anyone which put different believers in the same bracket
* Everyone after the same thing the goods life for the good life modern day consumerism
* Process of secularisation started in Holland with this coming to Britain and then the creation of the USA. The separation of religion from other areas of life
* Giving people political freedom what to believe was a vital part in this
* Loss of social cohesion in the last 200 years due to American Vivian war two world wars the social revolution of the 1960s, immigration and the hyper Information Age
* Reformers would of hated this and not liked how the freedom of the Christian has played out. Wanted society to become more Christian not less
* There overturning of central authority and failing to replace it with the bible lead to secularisation
* Positives: political freedom to believe what you want
* Negatives: global warming, due to hyper consumerism, loss of meaning, fractured societies, no central authority.
December 29, 2019
This is a very strange book. The majority of the book is a perfectly serviceable introduction to the major points of the Reformation- some of the major figures (a particular emphasis on Luther), the major events and the major issues. Gregory is an expert, so unlike some popular histories the author's knowledge can't really be faulted. It is fairly basic, but if you're looking for something basic it does fine. The only problem with this section is that it some of the topics that are dealt with only briefly are dealt with so simplistically that they may as well not be discussed. Gregory spends a little time talking about the Philippist-Genuine Lutheran divide, but doesn't actually explain their differences. Otherwise this part of the book accomplishes what it aims to perfectly well.
The final part of the book deals with the long term consequences of the Reformation, making an argument that the need to move past new religious difference ultimately led to modern secularisation in ways that the reformers never intended. This is a reasonable argument but all comes rather quickly; the part of the book that discusses the emergence of religion as individual conscience is quite brief. Another major part of Gregory's argument is that religion has been replaced with consumerism, which is core to his claim that modern problems have their roots in the Reformation's solutions, but this all comes rather out of left field, and the whole thing comes across rather more as a digression about modern American politics rather than a properly argued and considered work of Reformation history. I'm not sure that this part really adds anything meaningful.
The book also has no index, which is slightly strange.
The final part of the book deals with the long term consequences of the Reformation, making an argument that the need to move past new religious difference ultimately led to modern secularisation in ways that the reformers never intended. This is a reasonable argument but all comes rather quickly; the part of the book that discusses the emergence of religion as individual conscience is quite brief. Another major part of Gregory's argument is that religion has been replaced with consumerism, which is core to his claim that modern problems have their roots in the Reformation's solutions, but this all comes rather out of left field, and the whole thing comes across rather more as a digression about modern American politics rather than a properly argued and considered work of Reformation history. I'm not sure that this part really adds anything meaningful.
The book also has no index, which is slightly strange.
November 9, 2022
The reformation paved the way for the renaissance and political revolutions that together birthed modernity as we know it. For an outsider like this reviewer, the book is a concise and readable summary of one of the most seminal historic episodes. For those who know even somewhat about the rise of Protestantism, there might be precious little as the author does not attempt to uncover anything new.
The last chapter - bar its final section that tries to link the current US political morass to the events of the sixteenth century - is the most edifying. It all started with an individual's struggle with the far-away Catholic headquarters' indulgences and corruption. The resistance, as the book shows, soon morphed into casting doubts on numerous theological issues that the Church had settled through decrees. A host of coincident forces - political, ethnological, technological - forces played a role, as did the circumstances of key individuals. The apparent result was the reformation, but it was much more.
The implications from the querying of the edicts and not believing in anything arbitrarily branded preordained (including the "rights" of kings and monarchs) sparked a wildfire transforming humanity everywhere. Martin Luther's repudiation immediately led to a fragmentation of the ecclesiastical structure, which in turn gave rise to the first instances of pluralism and tolerance a few decades later (it was not an easy process). The use of reason and senses to better understand the world was not far away, nor was the tendency to treat the rulers as just regular people who could be cast away when deemed incompetent. The rest of the world caught on, albeit with a lag of a century or more.
A good primer for those not too aware of this history.
The last chapter - bar its final section that tries to link the current US political morass to the events of the sixteenth century - is the most edifying. It all started with an individual's struggle with the far-away Catholic headquarters' indulgences and corruption. The resistance, as the book shows, soon morphed into casting doubts on numerous theological issues that the Church had settled through decrees. A host of coincident forces - political, ethnological, technological - forces played a role, as did the circumstances of key individuals. The apparent result was the reformation, but it was much more.
The implications from the querying of the edicts and not believing in anything arbitrarily branded preordained (including the "rights" of kings and monarchs) sparked a wildfire transforming humanity everywhere. Martin Luther's repudiation immediately led to a fragmentation of the ecclesiastical structure, which in turn gave rise to the first instances of pluralism and tolerance a few decades later (it was not an easy process). The use of reason and senses to better understand the world was not far away, nor was the tendency to treat the rulers as just regular people who could be cast away when deemed incompetent. The rest of the world caught on, albeit with a lag of a century or more.
A good primer for those not too aware of this history.
May 18, 2023
Details how fragmentation and violence were the unintended consequences of the Protestant Reformation and "sola scriptura" (only scripture); how this led to the Enlightenment where people felt free to express progressively more unorthodox views, at times attempting to solve the violence of the reformation era—including the United States' freedom of religion; how freedom of religion paradoxically led to increasing secularization; how both the Dutch and U.S. version of reformation/enlightenment led to the rise of the merchant Christian, consumerism, and therefore industrialization.
Some takeaways:
In the early days of the U.S.—before the approach of the civil war—the U.S. stood out for its societal cohesion. The European nations had tried to achieve this through state churches. Paradoxically, the U.S. achieved it precisely because it had no state church. In the absence of laws dictating its citizens' beliefs—and in the presence of laws that explicitly restricted the federal government from doing so—the common ground that most of its citizens shared as Protestant Christians gave rise to a peaceful state, and a solution to Europe's problem of incessant religious conflict between those same Protestant groups.
In the middle ages religion was melded to everything, including politics, and the idea that things should be any other way would be alien to the people of that time, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, etc.
Freedom of religion was so removed from the objective of Martin Luther that when he and Zwingli met and agreed on 14 out of 15 points, Martin Luther refused to shake Zwingli's hand (this brought Zwingli to tears). The point they disagreed on was the specifics of the Eucharist (communion) iirc. Most Reformation leaders were intolerant of those who dissented from what they considered orthodox.
Some takeaways:
In the early days of the U.S.—before the approach of the civil war—the U.S. stood out for its societal cohesion. The European nations had tried to achieve this through state churches. Paradoxically, the U.S. achieved it precisely because it had no state church. In the absence of laws dictating its citizens' beliefs—and in the presence of laws that explicitly restricted the federal government from doing so—the common ground that most of its citizens shared as Protestant Christians gave rise to a peaceful state, and a solution to Europe's problem of incessant religious conflict between those same Protestant groups.
In the middle ages religion was melded to everything, including politics, and the idea that things should be any other way would be alien to the people of that time, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, etc.
Freedom of religion was so removed from the objective of Martin Luther that when he and Zwingli met and agreed on 14 out of 15 points, Martin Luther refused to shake Zwingli's hand (this brought Zwingli to tears). The point they disagreed on was the specifics of the Eucharist (communion) iirc. Most Reformation leaders were intolerant of those who dissented from what they considered orthodox.
February 23, 2024
As might be expected, Gregory's handle of the historical details is first rate. I learned a lot about the outlines of Reformational development. The unique place of Amsterdam and the Dutch Republic was particularly interesting for me.
His general thesis (which is more elaborately argued for in his Unintended Reformation) must be reckoned with. And I don't think it can be denied wholesale. That being said, Gregory does not (at least in this shorter book) make note of any of the Roman Catholic writers (particularly among the Jesuits) who contributed to secularization (Jordan Cooper has recently published a lecture on this), nor does he give enough credit (or blame!) to pre-Reformation technological and philosophical currents that made secularization possible (and perhaps inevitable).
Gregory also manifests some question-begging behavior. He seems to take it for granted that free enterprise economics should be equated to the deadly sin of avarice. He really doesn't do justice to the Protestant work ethic of productivity and increasing wealth coram Deo. No, for him, wealth creation is in antipathy to orthodox Christian piety. Capitalism and consumerism are conflated. I feel that Christopher Bellitto (also a Roman Catholic) handled this subject matter with a more even hand in his lectures on the Reformation period.
He shows his hand even more in the final sections of the book, where he writes of the 45th President being an "ethno-nationalist" without nuance. While Gregory is a "blue chip" scholar, his analysis remains colored by some of the shibboleths all too common in today's intelligentsia.
His general thesis (which is more elaborately argued for in his Unintended Reformation) must be reckoned with. And I don't think it can be denied wholesale. That being said, Gregory does not (at least in this shorter book) make note of any of the Roman Catholic writers (particularly among the Jesuits) who contributed to secularization (Jordan Cooper has recently published a lecture on this), nor does he give enough credit (or blame!) to pre-Reformation technological and philosophical currents that made secularization possible (and perhaps inevitable).
Gregory also manifests some question-begging behavior. He seems to take it for granted that free enterprise economics should be equated to the deadly sin of avarice. He really doesn't do justice to the Protestant work ethic of productivity and increasing wealth coram Deo. No, for him, wealth creation is in antipathy to orthodox Christian piety. Capitalism and consumerism are conflated. I feel that Christopher Bellitto (also a Roman Catholic) handled this subject matter with a more even hand in his lectures on the Reformation period.
He shows his hand even more in the final sections of the book, where he writes of the 45th President being an "ethno-nationalist" without nuance. While Gregory is a "blue chip" scholar, his analysis remains colored by some of the shibboleths all too common in today's intelligentsia.
March 13, 2018
Even though this book ostensibly is about Martin Luther and the Reformation, I categorized it as history rather than religion. The major focus of the book was to show how Luther's foundational principles -- of faith before good works, and that "Scripture stands alone" as the final authority, and not church hierarchy or authority -- eventually led to the secular principles we associate with the Western world today : separation of church and state; individualism, democracy; and the use of reason (philosophy) and science to discern truth.
Of course the book gets into some of the finer doctrinal or theological points differentiating Lutheranism and Protestantism from each other and from Catholicism, but the author keeps it brief and understandable. He also traces the historical development and conflicts that arose between the different variations of Protestantism and the Counter-Reformation, but with an eye toward laying the groundwork for separating the roles of church and state, etc. A large focus was ton how the split from the monolithic religion of the Catholic Church was impossible to contain, and encouraged competing interpretations that led to the conflicts and eventual resolutions we now hold so dear. I found it very interesting and informative.
Of course the book gets into some of the finer doctrinal or theological points differentiating Lutheranism and Protestantism from each other and from Catholicism, but the author keeps it brief and understandable. He also traces the historical development and conflicts that arose between the different variations of Protestantism and the Counter-Reformation, but with an eye toward laying the groundwork for separating the roles of church and state, etc. A large focus was ton how the split from the monolithic religion of the Catholic Church was impossible to contain, and encouraged competing interpretations that led to the conflicts and eventual resolutions we now hold so dear. I found it very interesting and informative.
May 28, 2020
Brad Gregory does a wonderful job of giving the reader insight into the Reformation, both as a historical event, and as an ongoing force for change. He spends significant time helping the modern reader understand the impact of religion in the life of a central European individual as it shaped economic, social, political, as well as personal aspects of everyday life. He then walks through what Luther did and said from 1517-1529 (and also what he didn't do or say) and explores the differences of reformers like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, as well as the the Catholic reformers. He also looks at how the Wars of Religion (which he calls "More-Than-Wars-Of-Religion") that come out of the Reformation are more than fights over whether the bread is literally the body of Christ or just a symbol; but changes to every part of the political and economic lives of commoners and rulers.
Ever wondered the difference between a Lutheran, Calvinist or Anabaptists? Gregory will help you understand them. He also takes the Reformation through each historical period until the modern day and tries to bring home how the Reformation has lead to the secularization that exists in Europe and North America.
Ever wondered the difference between a Lutheran, Calvinist or Anabaptists? Gregory will help you understand them. He also takes the Reformation through each historical period until the modern day and tries to bring home how the Reformation has lead to the secularization that exists in Europe and North America.
November 6, 2017
This book starts with an examination of the factors leading to Luther's criticism of the practices of the Catholic Church that started the Reformation and moves forward from there. The Reformation gave rise to a lot of different interpretations of the Word and lots of different Christian churches but it also immediately changed the relationship between religion and government and spawned many wars for "more than religion" throughout Europe. The Reformation and the ideas of religion and freedom of religion that came out of it are evident in the founding documents of the United States. One extremely unintended consequence of the Reformation today that would horrify the highly religious men that started it is the spread of the idea of a freedom to create a new region or not practice any religion at all. I really enjoyed this books look into the consequences of the Reformation beyond the 1520's to the present day. I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads Giveaways.
December 18, 2018
I was looking for something a bit different to read when I came across Rebel in the Ranks: Martin Luther, the Reformation, and the Conflicts That Continue to Shape Our World by Brad S. Gregory. My interests in History generally lie in the areas of the military and diplomacy, but I made a good decision when I bought this book. Gregory describes Martin Luther's religious journey and his part in the Reformation, the history of the Reformation, and how the Reformation and its conflicts changed over time and came to influence and secularize the modern world. Throughout the book, Gregory continues to come back to the same theme, summed up in the first sentence of Chapter Four: "The Reformation is a paradox: a religious revolution that led to the secularization of society."
I have to admit that this book is well outside of my wheelhouse; although it is a History book, it deals with the History of Religion and theology, both of which I haven't read a lot about. All that goes to say that I can't judge this book one way or the other on content or the author's conclusions. What I can say is that I know a lot more about the Reformation and how it impacted the world today now than I did before I read Rebel in the Ranks.
I have to admit that this book is well outside of my wheelhouse; although it is a History book, it deals with the History of Religion and theology, both of which I haven't read a lot about. All that goes to say that I can't judge this book one way or the other on content or the author's conclusions. What I can say is that I know a lot more about the Reformation and how it impacted the world today now than I did before I read Rebel in the Ranks.
July 5, 2023
When I start reading this book, my expectations are low because I think that this book will mainly discuss Martin Luther and his influence toward the Reformation Era.
But, after I read it, I was impressed because it contains a very detailed story about the conflict between Martin Luther and the Catholic Church. It also tells about the beginning of Protestant. It continues to tell about how Martin Luther rebellion went out of his control and created many interpretations of Bibles (which is the main problem of Martin Luther point of Sola Scriptura).
This book also explains that the religious conflict in Europe is very complex. This conflict paradoxically creates a new ideology/perspective which is secularism.
This book also tells us a story about secularism that happened after the reformation era especially in Netherlands, England, and the United States.
But, after I read it, I was impressed because it contains a very detailed story about the conflict between Martin Luther and the Catholic Church. It also tells about the beginning of Protestant. It continues to tell about how Martin Luther rebellion went out of his control and created many interpretations of Bibles (which is the main problem of Martin Luther point of Sola Scriptura).
This book also explains that the religious conflict in Europe is very complex. This conflict paradoxically creates a new ideology/perspective which is secularism.
This book also tells us a story about secularism that happened after the reformation era especially in Netherlands, England, and the United States.
October 28, 2018
One of the best books I’ve read this year. The book follows the story of the loss of the Catholic church's monopoly as the arbiter of orthodoxy and morality for society within Christendom, replaced by a Protestant ethos of every man interpreting the Bible and morality himself. This progressively led to conflicts and wars over countless varied interpretations, which ultimately forced nations to adopt more and more liberal policies towards freedoms of conscience and religion, changing and reducing the very nature of religion within society. Along came the enlightenment and with the rise of modern science, the ultimate result at the extreme end was moral relativism and postmodernism. For better or worse, the theory is fascinating and convincing.
May 6, 2021
I never considered that Luther's stance against the Catholic Church and his place in the Protestant Reformation was related to the secular freedoms and liberties that have taken over American society today, but this book shows just how close these two ideas are related. I found it very interesting how the author could so closely connect actions from hundreds of years ago to current day events, making sense of why people, including Christians, have made freedom a god in a way, putting their own freedoms and rights above the teachings and commands of Jesus. This was clearly an idea that would go against all that Luther worked toward, but with each and every decade individuals have pushed the limits of this freedom to believe (or not believe) whatever they feel like. It has become a sad realization that something that was such a pivotal step in western religion has turned into what it has become.
It was an good read and kept me interested for the most part. The author's writing style was quite clear and easy to understand, whether one is a biblical scholar or just an interested audience.
It was an good read and kept me interested for the most part. The author's writing style was quite clear and easy to understand, whether one is a biblical scholar or just an interested audience.
May 12, 2022
Good thesis, odd book format. The first three parts are historical and interesting if you enjoy the subject of 15th-17th Century religious scholarship and European history at large. The fourth part feels like an intelligent professor’s attempt to ‘connect the dots’ and bring an event that occurred 500 years ago into a modern perspective. Here he reaches a lot but given the current interest in “what is happening to our society?” it should not be surprising that Trump finds his way into a book initially about Luther and the movement he unleashed. Whether or not you agree with his later points the book still stands as an interesting look at one of Europe’s most consequential individuals and religious movements.
January 10, 2023
The history here is great and well written. The audiobook recording is awesome and makes it feel a little less dense. I did not find many of the “modern day” arguments compelling. I wish more of a line had been drawn from the actual Reformation to the history and changes immediately thereafter. I wanted more about how “democratizing” religion changed the power dynamics over the shorter term. I don’t disagree that out entire modern culture is shaped by the events of this period but I’d prefer if the author stuck to history and did less fussing to make the topic feel “urgent”. I don’t even disagree with many of the arguments, it just isn’t compellingly presented or written and it puts a sour taste at the end if an otherwise good history
June 7, 2024
Utterly spectacular. Gregory knows the material he covers in this book so well and so thoroughly. He wrote a much longer book, and much more detailed book, on many of the ideas expressed therein in 2012 ("The Unintended Reformation"--which was also fantastic). Maybe his publisher told him he should condense and simplify that book a little and write a new book for a general audience. This book is like Federer playing tennis with a junior high team. He can give them everything they can possibly handle, but just by looking at him and the way he is hitting his strokes and by his comportment, one knows there is almost an endless supply of talent being untapped. That scenario is this book as opposed to "The Unintended Reformation" (which is Federer airing it out in a real professional match). "Rebel in the Ranks" is clear and wonderful and concise. I highly recommend "The Unintended Reformation" if you enjoyed this book. What is the book about? How the Reformation unintentionally secularized the West.
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