This classic offers a compelling portrait of the Reformer who dared to follow God against powerful opposition. Bainton's words are punctuated by more than one hundred Renaissance drawings, woodcuts, and engravings from Luther's own era, all from Bainton's personal collection. Hardcover.

Martin Luther's conception of the Nativity found expression in sermon, song, and art. This beautiful new gift edition of a classic collection combines all three.

Luther vividly portrays the human realism of the Nativity: Mary's distress at giving birth with no midwife or water; Joseph's misgivings; the Wise Men's perplexity; and Herod's cunning.

Throughout, Luther suggests the question: If we had lived in Bethlehem when Jesus was born, would we have believed that this newborn baby was God in human form? And he reminds us that keeping Christmas is a year-around mission of caring for those in need.

Nine elegant illustrations by Luther's contemporaries capture timeless scenes from the Christmas story.

This treasure is the perfect way to celebrate Christmas in light of the Reformation 500 anniversary!

The authoritative, unforgettable biography of Martin Luther, the great religious leader, who entered a monastery as a youth and who, as a man, shattered the structure of the medieval church. Luther spoke out against the corrupt religious practices that then existed. His demanded 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.

This powerful book of passages from Martin Luther's Easter sermons portrays the reformer's lasting thoughts on faith, human imperfection, salvation through grace, and the wonder of God.

The sermons explore events from Holy Week through the Resurrection. They combine marvelous insights with inspiring calls to action that are so characteristic of the great reformer: The resurrection consists not in words, but in life and power.

In this first installment in celebrated historian Roland Bainton's Women of the Reformation trilogy, sixteen women who are usually lost behind familiar Reformation figures and events come to life. Extensively researched and vividly told, these are the stories of unsung reformers who courageously renounced religious vows, opened their homes to those fleeing religious persecution, and faced estrangement from their families in the cause of the Protestant Reformation in Germany and Italy.

Any scholarship that addresses the evolution of Christian perspectives on warfare generally references this book. first published in 1960. Although the scholarship of this work is now outdated and critiqued, Bainton's work is foundational in the area. Bainton believes that the Christian community started out pacifistic, then developed the just war doctrine, and finally adopted holy war ideals. He traces this trajectory from the Early Church up through the wars and conflicts of the 20th century. Finally, Bainton adds his critique of current militaristic ideas, especially in regards to atomic warfare. (from a review by Andrew Lumpkin)

Michael Servetus, a Spaniard executed for heresy in John Calvin's Geneva, is remembered as an important Reformation-era theologian and as a physician credited with the discovery of the circulation of the blood through the lungs. His first book, On the Errors of the Trinity, so shocked both Catholics and Protestants that he was compelled to live under an assumed name. All but a few copies of his magnum opus, Christianity Restored, were destroyed shortly after publication. However, the case of Servetus, which has been taken up by Voltaire, Gibbon, and many others, marks the beginning of the idea of religious toleration.

The pages of history are filled with stories of men and women burned at the stake, exiled, and ostracized in the name of religion. Thus Roland Bainton explains the struggle within the Christian Church to achieve religious liberty by telling, in popular biographical style, nine stories of sincere people--both persecutors and persecuted--who took part in the struggle. Bainton's biographies begin with Thomas of Torquemada, instrument of the Roman Catholic Inquisition, and with John Calvin who active in the burning of Michael Servetus. He then covers how such persecution brought about the toleration controversy of the sixteenth century, when Sebastian Castellio struck his blow for religious liberty, when Hollander David Joris made a mystical approach to tolerance, and when Franciscan Bernardino Ochino believed in the cultivation of the inner life. Finally he concentrates on the champions of religious liberty in the 17th Century: John Milton, Roger Williams and John Locke.

'Can the bones of Luther's sermons live again?' In Luther's Meditation on the Gospels, Roland H. Bainton presents some of Luther's most timeless and resonant sermons and lectures, arranged in order of the gospel accounts of Jesus' life. From the beginning of his ministry to the crucifixion and resurrection, Luther's insight into a wide range of key passages is displayed. Bainton's careful selections of excerpts ensures that Luther's marvel at God's love, his belief in salvation through divine grace and human faith, and more, remains effervescent. Bainton provides an illuminating introduction, placing the texts in their historical context and explaining the technicalities of translation. Also included are numerous woodcuts from the 1562 edition of Luther's Bible, further enriching our appreciation of the reformer's thought. Sixty years on from its original publication, Luther's Meditation on the Gospels remains a valuable contribution to Reformation studies.

'Can the bones of Luther's sermons live again?' In Luther's Meditation on the Gospels, Roland H. Bainton presents some of Luther's most timeless and resonant sermons and lectures, arranged in order of the gospel accounts of Jesus' life. From the beginning of his ministry to the crucifixion and resurrection, Luther's insight into a wide range of key passages is displayed. Bainton's careful selections of excerpts ensures that Luther's marvel at God's love, his belief in salvation through divine grace and human faith, and more, remains effervescent. Bainton provides an illuminating introduction, placing the texts in their historical context and explaining the technicalities of translation. Also included are numerous woodcuts from the 1562 edition of Luther's Bible, further enriching our appreciation of the reformer's thought. Sixty years on from its original publication, Luther's Meditation on the Gospels remains a valuable contribution to Reformation studies.

Marguerite of Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret, Catherine of Aragon, Catherine Parr, and Elizabeth I - these are a few of the courageous women who used their political influence to promote religious reform during the chaotic days of the Reformation in France and England. In a warm and personal style, renowned historian Roland Bainton opens up the lives of these significant women who devoted their lives to the cause of religious reform.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Having devoted my life to the study of history, I am prompted in my latter days to ask whether one can make sense of it all. --from the Introduction In this book, Bainton pauses to reflect on the importance of studying history because of what it can teach us about human nature. The study of history, then, is the study of human behavior and therefore it helps us understand ourselves. And with this greater self-understanding comes the further inquiry beyond the human--to God, Christ, and Christian ideals. Readers who think history is as dry as dust have never read Bainton! In this book, Bainton shows that history is not only interesting, it's also important. One can indeed make sense of it all.