Luther lenis

"If we are seeking an explanation of why so many Germans were drawn to Luther, despite the wild, extravagant denunciations of the established church and the bitter, angry polemic against his critics, we have to recognize that this was not the Luther that many readers saw.  Rather they embraced the patient, gentle expositor whose explorations of the Christian life offered them comfort and peace."

     Andrew Pettegree, Brand Luther:  1517, printing, and the making of the Reformation (New York:  Penguin Press, 2015),  120.