# Thirty-five Years of Luther Research/Important Luther Biographies

V. THE IMPORTANT LUTHER BIOGRAPHIES
Biographies of Luther based upon all this material we do not possess at this time. As a matter of fact a whole series of Luther biographies has appeared since 1883. Eminently fitted for popular use are those of G. Freytag, Plitt-Petersen, Koestlin, Burk, Lenz, Rade, Buchwald, Stein, Dose, Dorneth, Wackernagel, Græbner, Jacobs, McGiffert, Smith, Preuss, Reu, and Singmaster.101 Among these Stein, Dose, Dorneth, Wackernagel, Preuss, Reu, and Singmaster are completely pitched in a popular key, whereas the others seek to fulfill scientific demands more or less. Among the German biographies the book of Lenz ranks very high. Only a relatively small book, it does not make the reader acquainted with the details in the life of the Reformer, for it was originally written under the commission of the Berlin Council to be distributed among school pupils, but it takes its contents from the whole and portrays the great moments of developments in wonderful fashion. Of similar character is the short biography of Preuss, the jubilee (1917) gift of the "Allgemeine Luth. Konferenz" for the German people. Larger and, on the whole, very good is the book of Plitt, which Petersen edited upon Plitt's death. Among the English biographies the one of Smith will have to be mentioned in the first place, although he did not always succeed in being just to Luther in his representation. Reu-Rausch is written for the Young People's Societies; the richly illustrated edition is for the Christian home in general. Excellent, but incomplete, is the latest biography of Luther from the pen of Jacobs, which appeared in the first part of the Lutheran Survey. Here also Bezzel's ​masterful sketch "Warum wir Luther lieben" has been given us in English translation.101
The historian of literature, Berger, has written Luther's life in the interest of history of culture. He wrote, first of all, a volume concerning the development of culture and religion from the times of the Old Church through the entire Middle Ages, in order to proceed thoroughly and to show the time in which Luther makes himself noticed in the development. Hausrath's Luther biography, two volumes, shows many points of contact with Berger's work, although it is entirely original and valuable. H. von Schubert says of it in the preface of the second edition: "Hausrath's Luther is conceived and portrayed as Carlyle conceived and portrayed his heroes, with the mind of an historian and poet. It may be that here and there corrections may be made, that here and there the brush daubed on too vivid colors, but forsooth the highest has been achieved: The great personality has been so vitally understood from its very depths and has been accorded its place in its time, that its visible, world-known and world-recasting influence is made believable." Kawerau says in 1908: "In striking antitheses and in effectual arranging Hausrath has created passages that rank with the most beautiful writings that we have on Luther. One would wish that some of these passages would be taken up into the readers of our children." But as thankful as we are for Hausrath's Luther, still it is not the whole Luther whom he portrayed. The whole Luther will only be portrayed by him who believes and confesses as Luther did.102
Koestlin's great Luther work, named before, which appeared in 1883 in an improved edition, sought to satisfy all scientific demands. Luther's life is not only discussed ​in its smallest details in this work, but the main contents of almost all of his writings are given to the reader. For that reason it is even today the leading work on Luther, especially since it was thoroughly revised by Kawerau in its fifth edition.
In the fall of 1883 there was added to this the work of Th. Kolde.103 According to its preface it undertook "to portray Luther on the basis of the complete development of his people, to consider as much as possible the diverse movements and hindrances in regard to the political, social, and scientific phase alongside of the ecclesiastical and religious, in order that through this not only the success of the Reformer, but also the protests which he called forth may be better understood." His diction is not at all weighty, yet the whole representation, in spite of its great simplicity, partakes of the artistic and reveals everywhere the truly learned, who digs deep, who is not only acquainted with what others achieved before him, but who himself, step for step, enriches and intensifies the investigatory work.
Kolde's production was completed in 1893, and Koestlin's Luther in the new edition, revised by Kawerau, in 1903. That explains why we possess no Luther biography years, as Brieger's otherwise excellent work, "Die Reformation" (cf. above), starts out from a broader viewpoint, and is too briefly written. Perhaps Scheel's "Martin Luther. Vom Katholizismus zur Reformation" 1st vol., 1916), will eventually blossom out into a complete Luther biography. In the meantime Boehmer, in his excellent "Luther im Licht der neuen Forschung" (3d edition, 1914), also translated into English, has provided for this eventuality, so that all the important points in the ​life of the Reformer that have suffered changes, are easily seen. For that reason his "kritischer Bericht" is a necessary complement to every earlier Luther biography; something that must not be overlooked. It is very fortunate, therefore, that Huth has given us this book in an American translation, just in that year when on account of England's piracy and the American government's shameful incompetency to assert its rights an unhindered mail service between this country and the birthplace of the Reformer is not possible.104
Walther's book, "Fuer Luther wider Rom" (1906), is highly important for our American Lutheran Church, which in the face of a Catholicism steadily growing more blatant must elevate and defend Luther. For in this book he embodied all his former publications against Rome's falsifications in Luther's history, "Luther im neuesten roemischen Gericht," 2 parts; "Luther's Beruf," "Luther's Glaubensgewissheit," "Das 6te Gebot u. Luther's Leben." He devoted considerable time also to Denifle, and thus he created for us an arsenal filled with trusty weapons, to be used at any time in Luther's defense. Essays like A. Harnack's "Martin Luther in seiner Bedeutung fuer die Geschichte der Wissenschaft und der Bildung" (4 1911) and H. v. Treitschke's "Luther und die deutsche Nation" (Preuss. Jahrbuecher), 1883, will ever keep their place; and Walther's latest work on Luther, "Luther's Charakter" (Leipzig, Deichers), 1917, which is his jubilee gift to the church, will for decades prove to be of peculiar importance.
How Luther was judged during four centuries is made plain by R. Eickart (Luther im Urteil bedeutender Maenner, 1905), O. Hegemann (Luther im katholischen Urteil, Eine Wanderung durch vier Jahrunderte, 1905) and H. ​Stephan (Luther in den Wandlungen seiner Kirche, 1907).
Finally there still remains to call attention to complete representations of Luther's theology and to such publications as have made Luther's historical position the object of their research. Jul. Koestlin, Theo. Harnack and lately Gottschick have represented Luther's theology in our period, whereas W. Walther and R. Eger have attended especially to his ethics. With these are to be compared text-books of History of Dogma, by A. Harnack, Loofs, and Seeberg, and especially the ones by Tschackert and O. Ritschl.105
The assertion that Luther did not usher in the new era, but really belonged to the Middle Ages, was made by Troeltsch, W. Koehler endeavoring to support it. But Brieger, Loofs, Kattenbusch, Boehmer, and others have energetically opposed it.106 Troeltsch would hardly have arrived at this conclusion if he had not started with the problem "Jesus or Paul" in the sense of the modern school, and if he had not been firmly convinced from the very outset that there is no such thing as absolute truth and authority. Certainly, if you do not recognize an absolute truth and authority, then you must necessarily relegate Luther to the Middle Ages, where the belief in authority was the Alpha and Omega. But if you are convinced of this, and if, having an open mind for all present-day problems, you still see with gladness and thankfulness in the word of God the highest authority for your religious life, then you will see in Luther the herald of the new age, an age unshackled from human authority — the papacy and science overstepping its rightful boundaries alike, but nevertheless an age whose conscience recognizes itself as bound by the authority of the Divine Word, and entirely bound.