Meilensteine der Reformation: Schlüsseldokumente der frühen Wirksamkeit Martin Luthers ed. by Irene Dingel and Henning P. Jürgens

Abstract

Reviewed by: Meilensteine der Reformation: Schlüsseldokumente der frühen Wirksamkeit Martin Luthers ed. by Irene Dingel and Henning P. Jürgens Jonathan Mumme Meilensteine der Reformation: Schlüsseldokumente der frühen Wirksamkeit Martin Luthers. Edited by Irene Dingel and Henning P. Jürgens. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2014. 296 pp. plus 34 plates. “Habent sua fata libelli” (69, 138): Every book has its fate, and this book, the fruit of a 2012 conference of the Leibniz Institute of European History (Mainz), considers not only seminal texts from Martin Luther’s early career, but also their fortunes in shaping history. To this end contributors pair off to analyze the given texts, documents, and artifacts from Luther’s early years. Certain essays consider the theological significance and historical impact of the texts whilst partnered essays examine physical examples of these texts as tangible “milestones,” that is, as material objects that have their own stories to tell about the presentation, multiplication, and preservation of aspects of Luther’s Reformation thought. In form and content the reader is confronted with tenets and teachings of the Reformer that made their way into subsequent memory and how they came and stayed there. The reader meets an interdisciplinary and international (though heavily German) cast of contributors pondering and presenting eleven documents from their various areas of expertise. As standard fare from the early Luther, most of the documents and writings selected for analysis will come as no surprise (early lectures, Ninety-five Theses, treatise on Christian freedom, etc.). Two selections, however, distinguish themselves from this corpus of classics: A 1494 version of the Hebrew Bible that was under Luther’s fingers for decades and an incomplete chit on which Luther began to prepare for his second hearing at the 1521 Diet of Worms. In both pieces the reader encounters fresh notes. Even where the menu proves familiar to theological and ecclesiastical historians, simply having Germanists, rhetoricians, book and manuscript experts, along with art, music, social and cultural historians at the table makes for lively conversation. Presentation and analysis of the documents proceeds in chronological order. All contributions carry a general bibliography; most use endnotes, some robustly. Indexes are provided for persons and places. Thirty-four color plates included at the end visually document the media through which history was shaped and memory [End Page 355] made. The plates would be more useful had the editors included reference to digital location instead of just to library holdings. The payoff in breadth of perspective loses something in the consistency of work. A few essays come up rather short, do not really engage pertinent literature, present little of significance that could not be found elsewhere, or manifest some combination of these shortcomings. When something such as citation format is not maintained throughout (see the article by J. Heidrich), the editors bear some responsibility for the dips in caliber. They would also have helped readers by including a list of contributors complete with titles and institutions/positions. On the whole the volume is a praiseworthy undertaking with much laudable work. Scholars involved in Luther studies and Reformation history, along with graduate students proficient in German, will find a valuable interdisciplinary angle on material both common and peculiar. The reading can be downright enjoyable, especially for lovers of old books and prints, which here tell their tales. With Jürgens’ clever style and Dingel’s consistent scholarship, the editors themselves team up for two solid duets. Mackert’s essay shows the value of direct expert analysis of an object like Luther’s 1494 Hebrew Bible. Burnett’s essay pairs nicely with it, unfolding the import of Luther’s Hebrew studies for the Reformation. Highlights include Matsuura’s presentation of the path that the manuscript and print sources of Luther’s lectures on the Psalms took through history, Moulin’s linguistic, graphic, and “paratextual” (118) analysis of given examples of the “Sermon on Indulgences and Grace,” and S. Rhein’s critical presentation of the reception history of Luther’s appearance at Worms in art, film, and literature. Subsequent to 2017 might the Leibniz Institute take another creative angle, inquiring after the later Luther, and perhaps after some of his forgotten legacy...