Martin Luther - monk, priest, intellectual, or revolutionary - has been a controversial figure since the sixteenth century. Most studies of Luther stress his personality, his ideas, and his ambitions as a church reformer. In this book, Christopher Ocker brings a new perspective to this topic, arguing that the different ways people thought about Luther mattered far more than who he really was. Providing an accessible, highly contextual, and non-partisan introduction, Ocker says that religious conflict itself served as the engine of religious change. He shows that the Luther affair had a complex political anatomy which extended far beyond the borders of Germany, making the debate an international one from the very start. His study links the Reformation to pluralism within western religion and to the coexistence of religions and secularism in today's world. Luther, Conflict, and Christendom includes a detailed chronological chart.

'This is no partisan book. Readers will find themselves surprised by, and disabused of, common assumptions about the Reformation being primarily theological or populist.'

P. E. Blosser Source: Choice

'The grand total of events, persons, writings, places, and ideas that Ocker surveys is astounding. And yet, amidst the copious details and the range of materials, the book does not leave one bewildered. Ocker manages to narrate a compelling and readable account of the controversy about Luther from Wittenberg in the early 16th century to South America in the 21st.'

Jarrett A. Carty Source: Reading Religion