Andrew Pettegree

It is often noted that Martin Luther’s Reformation could never have advanced the way it did without the technology of the printing industry. While the coincidence of Luther and the printing press undoubtedly contributed to the Reformation’s rapid spread, the printing world at the time of Luther was largely under the patronage of the Catholic church, and it was not inevitable, according to Andrew Pettegree, that “print would become an agent of insurrection.” In his book, Brand Luther, historian Andrew Pettegree shows how Luther’s facility for writing in German and his intuitive business sense not only spread ideas and incited controversy, but completely transformed the distribution model of the printing industry. 56 minutes. $6.

Guests on Volume 136: Thomas Albert Howard, on the history of commemorating the Reformation; Mark Noll, on how the Reformers would want to be remembered; Andrew Pettegree, on how Martin Luther transformed the printing industry; Peter Leithart, on the biblical basis for the unity of the Church; Norm Klassen, on the political theology implicit in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; James Litton, on the life and work of hymnologist, Erik Routley; and Joseph O’Brien, on the neglected literary achievements of J. F. Powers.