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  • Here I Stand

  • A Life of Martin Luther
  • By: Roland H. Bainton
  • Narrated by: Tom Weiner
  • Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (27 ratings)
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Here I Stand

By: Roland H. Bainton
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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Summary

“I cannot and will not recant!…Here I stand.” This authoritative and inspiring story paints a vivid portrait of the crusader who spearheaded the Reformation. Considered one of the most readable biographies of Martin Luther, this volume looks at the German religious reformer and his influence on Western civilization.

Martin Luther entered a monastery as a youth and as a man shattered the structure of the medieval church, speaking out against the corrupt religious practices of the time. His demand that the authority for doctrine and practice be scriptures, rather than popes or councils, echoed around the world and ignited the great Reformation. Accused of heresy and threatened with excommunication and death, Luther maintained his bold stand and refused to recant. In his crusade to eliminate religious abuses, he did more than any other man to establish the Protestant faith.

With sound historical scholarship and penetrating insight, Roland Bainton examines Luther’s widespread influence. He re-creates the spiritual setting of the sixteenth century, showing Luther’s place within it and influence upon it. Here I Stand dramatically brings to life Martin Luther, the great reformer.

Roland H. Bainton (1894–1984), a specialist in Reformation history, was for forty-two years Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale, and he continued writing well into his twenty years of retirement. He wore his scholarship lightly and had a lively, readable style. His most popular book, Here I Stand, sold more than a million copies.

©1950, 1977 Roland H. Bainton (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Easily the most readable Luther biography in English.” ( Time)

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Formidable Biography Superbly Read

As a confessional Lutheran I’m quite familiar with much of Luther’s writings but familiar enough with their stupendous quantity as well to say that ”much” in this context is a somewhat relative term. He wrote abundantly, preached even more, and there was always someone at hand to write down what he said.

There is, therefore, ample material for a Luther biography, then, and Bainton has certainly written a formidable one. It’s easy to read since it flows like a friendly conversation does, and it’s filled to the brim with citations from Luther that elucidate the historical context admirably to appreciate that the life he lived was as full of danger as it was of grace.

Tom Weiner’s reading of the audiobook is among the best I’ve come across lately. It’s like he’s the author himself and we’re enjoying a pint, or at the dinner table having a meal. He’s done lots of sci-fi, it seems. I have to find something else to hear him again, he’s that good.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A reliable and comprehensive survey.

This is, by far, the most balanced and broadly based biography of Luther that I have come across, and interesting that it is now over 70 years old.
There are facts and insights here that don’t appear elsewhere: his early superstitions; the relationship with Staupitz and the friendship with former persecutor Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz who sentLuther a wedding present.
There is still a tendency to skate over the last quarter of Luther’s life, but otherwise there are insightful chapters on his domestic life and sections dealing with art and music: quotations in translation of some of his verse are well placed and help in our appreciation of the breadth of his outlook. His theology and ethics are covered adequately and observations about him by contemporaries broaden the whole picture.
The socio-political setting is addressed in detail which in Luther’s life is all-important. The style is pleasant and the reading, though at times a little severe, is more than competent particularly with the German.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Superb

This does all a good biography should. It opens the whole setting: geography, politics, history, finance... We listened over dinner each evening and we are going to miss it. Beutifuly read by Tom Weiner.

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