"People always ask me why I wrote the book, where did I get the idea to write the book. As with most of my books, the idea did not come from me, it came from others, specifically two friends to whom I dedicate the book. One is Markus Spieker, who lives in Germany, and the other is my dear friend here in New York, Greg Thornbury, who is the president of the Kings College. I had never thought about writing a biography of Luther, but these two very dear friends kept pushing me to think about it saying that the 500th anniversary of the reformation, October 31st, 1517 presented a perfect occasion for people to rethink his legacy, and in many cases, learn about this seminal figure, whom perhaps, they had never encountered. The more I looked into it, I was myself embarrassed at how little I knew and at how shockingly seminal Luther was."