Marc Clauson

Staging Luther

History & Biography

“Opening with eminent Reformation scholar Robert Kolb's richly layered exploration of the culture of Nuremberg that produced cobbler, writer, and lay theologian Hans Sachs, Staging Luther gives scholars access not only to Sachs's well-known poem "The Wittenberg Nightingale" but also to four of his heretofore untranslated dialogues. In addition to their groundbreaking work of recovering the four dialogues and translating them into modern English, the authors provide meticulously researched footnote references to Sachs's almost-constant biblical allusions in both the poem and the dialogues. Those ubiquitous scriptural allusions evidence Sachs's belief in Luther's teaching of Sola Scriptura while also pointing his audience to the absolute authority of God's Word in all matters of faith and practice. Thus, Staging Luther establishes Sachs, the self-proclaimed "average man," as a more-than-above-average practitioner and purveyor of Reformation thought whose life and works merit further study.”