EDH Book

Another recent review for "Conflict & Peace ..." from Online Book Club. Link:

Review of Conflict and Peace: At Home with Jesus - reviewer Stuti J [Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Conflict and Peace: At Home with Jesus" by Eric D. Hovee.] 4 out of 5 stars. Conflict & Pe

Merry Christmas with the author of peace amid conflict! Available now on Amazon:

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With Chapter 11, I skip forward more than a millennium, jumping from Roman emperor Constatine to Martin Luther as religious reformer.

In October 1517, an Augustinian monk posted notice requesting public discussion at Germany’s Wittenburg University. With his 95 Theses, 33 year old monk Martin Luther declared an end to the 1,200 year era of Catholic monopolization of western Christian belief and practice.

With Luther, the universal church created centuries earlier by Emperor Constantine was faced with a challenger over an issue as old as the dispute between the apostle Paul and Jesus’ brother James. Is salvation from eternal damnation acquired as a matter of works or faith?

More so than other religious heretics, Martin Luther changed not only the church, he altered the state. Economic and social energies unleashed by Reformation heralded the end of feudalism, triumph of market-place capitalism, resurgence of education, and a gradually swelling tide of democracy.

As a master marketeer, Luther piggy-backed on recent invention of the printing press to create the world’s first media market. He would make the printed Bible and a wide range of publications available to the masses –- in the common language of the day – all part of “Brand Luther.”

Unfortunately, Luther’s reformation remains incomplete as this flawed reformer failed to throw off the shackles of Nicaea, to accept diverse interpretations of Jesus’ message, and to embrace a true priesthood of believers. That time, that fulfillment of reformation, has yet to come.