Bolz-Weber reclaims the term pastrix, used by some Christians who refuse to recognize female pastors. Heavily tattooed and loud-mouthed, a former stand-up comic, Bolz-Weber sure as hell didn't consider herself to be religious leader material-- until the day she ended up leading a friend's funeral, surrounded by fellow alcoholics, depressives, and cynics. She realized: these were her people. Maybe she was meant to be their pastor.

On October 31, 1517 an unknown monk nailed a theological pamphlet to a church door in a small university town and set in motion a process that helped usher in the modern world. Within a few years Luther's ideas had spread like wildfire. His attempts to reform Christianity by returning it to its biblical roots split the Western Church, divided Europe, and polarized people's beliefs. Yet Luther was a deeply flawed human being: a fervent believer tormented...

A biography of the German monk who led the Protestant Reformation in Europe from its beginning in 1517 until his death in 1546.