Karilyn B. (boggie) reviewed Gutenberg: How One Man Remade the World with Words on + 7 more book reviews
I originally read this book about 10 years ago and wanted it for my library. It was the book that gave me the topic for my masters thesis for my degree in Professional and Technbical Writing. The author talks about Gutenberg's motivation, trials, and efforts to develop and "sell" his idea. In the latter part of the book, he tells about how Martin Luther used this tool to spread God's Word to the people of Germany. What was so fascinating about all this is that Gutenberg demonstrated to the Catholic Church that he could produce a printed Bible that not only was as beautiful as a scribed copy, but each printed copy was exactly the same--it was reliable and consistent from copy to copy. Becuase scribed copies were produced by individual human beings, each Bible could be slightly different. However, the Church really did not respond like Gutenbery hoped.
What Luther did that made this tool what it has become today, is that he translated the Bible into the language of the German people--he made God's Word accessible to the averge human being during the Middle Ages. People hungered for the truth and were motivated to learn to read and write--until that time, only the educated--mostly a small fraction of the clergy--could read and write, but they read and wrote in Latin, the language of the literati. With this Bible, Luther gave the German people one consistent dialect, with the unintended result that they were able to grow their economy. Literacy came to us as a result of Luther's using Gutenberg's tool. I learned that the Reformation was more than a religious movement--it was God's tool to return his Word to us and bring truth to light. It demonstrates to us that people seek truth, and with the right tools, we can and will learn.
What Luther did that made this tool what it has become today, is that he translated the Bible into the language of the German people--he made God's Word accessible to the averge human being during the Middle Ages. People hungered for the truth and were motivated to learn to read and write--until that time, only the educated--mostly a small fraction of the clergy--could read and write, but they read and wrote in Latin, the language of the literati. With this Bible, Luther gave the German people one consistent dialect, with the unintended result that they were able to grow their economy. Literacy came to us as a result of Luther's using Gutenberg's tool. I learned that the Reformation was more than a religious movement--it was God's tool to return his Word to us and bring truth to light. It demonstrates to us that people seek truth, and with the right tools, we can and will learn.
