Lift High This Cross: The Theology of Martin Luther.

Lift High This Cross: The Theology of Martin Luther. By Eugene F. A. Klug. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2003. 175 pages. Paper. $12.99.

With so many books written about Martin Luther, the strength of Lift High This Cross is its accessibility. It explains Luther's life in a way that nonexperts should be able to understand, moving nimbly through those weighty years and events. Klug blends good scholarship with a clear writing style, making this book educational and easy to follow.

Giving careful attention to the dramatic time between the posting of the 95 theses in 1517 and the 1521 Diet of Worms, Klug also describes Luther's later years with richness and consistency. In this way, the reader is able to see connections in Luther's work across the decades. Luther is one man with one mission--reformation of Christ's holy church--and Klug honors this focus in his narrative.

Lift High This Cross does slide into anachronisms; Klug sometimes assumes too much similarity between our setting and late medieval Europe. Also, he offers a highly individualistic account of Luther. Klug's Luther seems to have dropped out of heaven to lead the Reformation rather than being a person of his times--one who inherited a rich Catholic piety, was at the front of humanist scholarship, and developed his ideas in close contact with other clergy, teachers, and reformers.

Useful as an introduction to Luther for high school students and adult groups, this book reads like a story and teaches like a gentle textbook. Teachers could easily supplement Lift High This Cross with other voices from the Reformation if they desired a rounder picture. It is a helpful, straightforward contribution to understanding the life and thought of Martin Luther.

Martin Lohrmann

Toledo, Ohio