"The first period in man"s life--that in which he is formed and molded under the hand of God--is always important. It is eminently so in the career of Martin Luther. The whole of the Reformation is included in it. The different phases of this work succeeded one another in the soul of him who was to be the instrument for effecting it, before they were accomplished in the world. The knowledge of the change that took place in Luther"s heart can alone furnish the key to the reformation of the Church. It is only by studying the particulars that we can understand the general work ... Let us study the Reformation in Luther himself, before we proceed to the events that changed the face of Christendom."