Jump directly to the Content
Image: Wikimedia
Living & Effective Podcast Season 1, Episode 4 (29 min)

How Luther Lost Control of the Message

The reformer used technology to spread the word. Would it backfire?

Living & Effective Podcast Season 1, Episode 4 (29 min)

How Luther Lost Control of the Message

The reformer used technology to spread the word. Would it backfire?

Martin Luther’s near death experience and a technological innovation kicked off a series of events that would make the Bible more accessible than ever. But could Luther deal with the fallout? Increased accessibility to God’s Word means increased responsibility for Luther and everyone following in his footsteps.

The spread of ideas spurred on by the printing press was a double-edged sword—Luther had unprecedented influence over far more people than he would have otherwise. But he also felt fundamentally out of control of his own message. His message was taken out of his head, stamped onto paper, spread into the world, and then repeated on by others in the same way.

Hear more about Luther and the Printing Press’s influence on the Protestant Reformation, which largely forms how we read the Bible today, as we continue our journey with Living & Effective.

Featuring Jennifer Powell McNutt (Wheaton College), Karen Swallow-Prior (Liberty University), and Read Schuchardt (Wheaton College), join Richard Clark (Christianity Today) for Living & Effective Episode 4: The Bible Goes Viral.

What is “Living and Effective”?

Subscribe to Living and Effective on Apple Podcasts

Follow our host on Twitter: Richard Clark

Follow our guests on Twitter: Karen Swallow-Prior

Read more from:

Music by Sweeps and The Always People

Living and Effective is written and produced by Richard Clark and Cray Allred.

Living and Effective is a podcast by Christianity Today produced in collaboration with the Christian Standard Bible.