Book Review: The Real Martin Luther by Josh Hamon and Brynn James

We all want to read a book that has something to do the occasion to make us more appreciative on the event. Come Reformation Day 2018 and a book came to me that is quite not the book I’m expecting read. Its bio book about a certain Reformer that has a concoction of history, humor and cartoons in it.

The Real Martin Luther is a bio book for the rest of us. The reasons are from being too lengthy or too boring to read.   Josh took Luther from the stained glass and introduces him as a human flaws and all. I think every biography book strives to present the person as ordinary as possible so we can easily relate on whom he was and what he has done.  The Real Martin Luther goes beyond that by injecting humor to the narrative. It’s getting the low down on Martin Luther without hitting below the belt. Luther wasnt drag to the mud here.  This book reminds me of Plato and a Platypus Walks into a Bar… adding comedy to a boring subject.

The artwork is awesome and also hilarious. Brynn James sets the tone on how we should visualize the book with just the right artwork style. She then puts some millennial and hipster references here and there to poke fun to Luther. Sometimes it complements the text and sometimes it’s a standalone humor. My only hopes for future volumes are that they go all out in artwork as in turn it into a comicbook.

This book is the first volume of the Holy Misfits series so we should expect there is more of this stuff. You’ll finish The Real Martin Luther not really laughing so hard to forget it all together, but with a fresh outlook on this reformation hero. A bit bold and a bit uncomfortable for readers who usually digest the usual biography book. But then again this is a totally different bio book. It’s history that is entertaining. This book is definitely a must read (re-read) for everyone.

My verdict:

5 out of 5

(The review copy of this book is provided by the author)

The Quotable Round-Up #101

We are now starting out journey for another 100 post of The Quotable Round-Up. Let’s start it with a unique book by John Hamon titled The Real Martin Luther. And as always, if you love this book, get the Kindle or physical copy over your favorite bookstore or on Amazon.

“Martin now considered himself to be a man of war, a pioneer, not a man of the cloth. He felt he was going first on the trail and had to battle devils and the people who would divide him from the truth. Martin found himself angry and fueled by that anger. He made no excuses, because Martin felt his pen was an ax and he looked to have others feel the might of his words. Martin’s enemy was the devil, why should he be concerned with Satan’s feelings? Or the feelings of his minions?”

“Martin wanted to make sure the Bible was preached and the music was good. The rest he left up to the next generation. He was concerned with the theology of the average German, not the color of the carpets or church governance.”

“Martin leads Christianity into the Renaissance by giving the Bible to people in their own language. He wasn’t the first to translate into a vulgar language, but his work is one of the most influential. A wave of translations followed over the next 50 years, in enough languages that allowed most of Europe to read the Bible in their respective native tongues. This amount of translation wouldn’t be seen again until the 20th century.”

“In reviewing church history, it’s easy to find great leaders who feared the arts and great villains who gave us reasons to. Martin stands in the face of that archetype. He felt that the power of music to touch people’s emotions was given by God, not the devil. People’s ability to connect to music was valuable, not dangerous. He is almost unique within church history for this perspective at this point in time.”

“On the Bondage of the Will is Martin’s groundbreaking work. By a mile. Whether people can save themselves solo or are equal partners or are totally dependent on God is a big deal. Martin said we are totes in need of God, otherwise God is not independent of people.”

“More important than how the 95 Theses reached the masses is that they did. Martin certainly didn’t have any idea of the repercussions to follow. So it’s unnecessary to add magic to the moment as if he knew the future. He posted the 95 Theses in between going to the supermarket and picking up his dry cleaning, not with WWE-style theatrics.”

“Martin is arguably most famous for going to church on All Hallows’ Eve, nailing the 95 Theses to the door and sparking the Reformation. It was actually an attempt at internal reform, not creating a new Christian denomination. You may have heard that, historically, this was the common practice for starting a debate. It was their version of an open letter or a social media post… with a nail in it.”