Next fall is the 500th anniversary of something called the Reformation—on that much all agree. The nature of that event, though, is more debated.

Some historians characterize the Reformation as a social rebellion of the people over the papacy, or simplistically, as the religious arm of the Renaissance. Philosophers with a similar worldview to those historians teach the Reformation as a change in the manner of human thought, perhaps even as a precursor of the European Enlightenment two centuries hence. True, the Protestant Reformation in Germany produced subsidiary benefits such as an increase in literacy and the normalization of German as a language, but the Reformation was much more than a cultural upheaval. More accurately, the Reformation was a multi-nation event that changed theology’s source (placing the Bible in people’s hands) and its content (replacing an overly optimistic view of human nature with the substitutionary atonement of Christ).

Calling the Reformation an event is even more central to the problem. Such a cataclysmic shift in both thinking and power—and in both state and church—cannot be the effect of a single event. Yet there is an event associated with the beginning of the Reformation, and that event is etched in our minds iconically: Martin Luther, hammer in hand, on the steps of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Saxony, on All Saints Eve in 1517. That this event happened is less important to the legacy of the Reformation than what followed. That this event is etched in our mind affirms the legacy of what author Andrew Pettegree calls “Brand Luther: How an unheralded monk turned his small town into a center of publishing, made himself the most famous man in Europe—and started the Protestant Reformation.”

Pettegree tells the story of Luther and his influence against the backdrop of another one of the author’s loves: The history of printing. The advent of movable type printing presses has long been credited with hastening the influence of Reformation thinking. What has not been explored as much is the influence of the Reformation on the printing industry itself.

Printing was a sapling in the forest of business. Paper was expensive and in short supply. Ink was hard to come by, and as easy to tax and restrict as the paper itself. Printing presses, due to their scarcity alone, were easy to regulate. Not many people knew how to read. The Reformation was about to change both the printing of literature and the literacy of its consumers.

The Reformation brought a steady stream of business to presses longing for saleable material. This stream flowed from both sides of the Reformation debate, with enough populism and vitriol to turn printed paper into hard currency. Printers, who did not pay for the rights to print material, competed with one another for the opportunity to print the most lucrative content. This competition, in turn, produced printing products of increasing quality.

While Wittenberg was a small town with an even smaller printing industry, years of investments by the elector of the region, Frederick the Wise, led to the establishment of a university, and thus, a university press. Pettegree demonstrates the advance in printing from the rudimentary sheets produced by Wittenberg printer Rhau-Grunenberg to more sophisticated works of his competitors. Local artist and businessman Lucas Cranach contributed to the success of the Reformation with his funding of the Wittenberg print works and through the production of his shop that produced woodcuts for use in the printing process.

Those woodcuts are a big reason for the enduring mental pictures of the Reformation. There was a “look” to the Reformation that people saw widely distributed in print. Luther and his allies produced content that appealed to people. Though foes would follow, the visual appeal of the Reformers’ works was quite unlike the dry, academic disputations of the day. It was effective enough that their Roman Catholic counterparts considered it dirty pool. For the first time in history, the mass media would become a significant part of the message.

One question that most students of the Reformation ask is, “Why him? Why then? Why there?” There are answers to all three. God used circumstances, both political and economic to cause theological benefit. Yes, Luther was an amazing man. But he was not alone. God also used others, including a small group of publishers across Germany who had mixed motives, to spread the message of salvation in Christ alone, by grace alone, and through faith alone. God, in His sovereignty, made Luther and the Reformation, but God used printing as one of His tools to do so. And in some respects, God, Luther, and the Reformation expedited the printing industry.

Pettegree provides the reader with a strenuously-researched, brilliantly-written volume that is a delight to read. The author’s point includes the benefit of aesthetics, and he models this in a way that will not disappoint. Ample pictures and maps illustrate the pages, helping those with limited geographical knowledge of Europe. The fusion of two interests—Luther and printing—is not forced, and allows the author passionate expression of his material. With a wealth of Luther reading either in print or in the offing, Brand Luther deserves a place near the front of the line.

Pr. Wade Mobley
President of AFLC Schools and Dean of AFLTS
Plymouth, MN

This review was originally published at www.anselmhouse.org