The formal academic disputation held 1519 in Leipzig brought together the German theologians, John Eck, Martin Luther and Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt. Unlike Luther's 1517 Ninety-Five Theses, which had been published and widely disseminated but not formally debated, in 1519 Eck debated the Wittenbergers face-to-face, challenging theological positions taught at the university in Wittenberg. This collection asserts the importance of the debate and its implications for the Reformation both then and now.

The editors’ introduction traces treatment of these debates from the nineteenth-century view that the disputation was critically important (p. 2) to a later view that the debate was ‘little more than a crystallization of ideas rather than a sea change’ (p. 3). The editors argue that more scholarship is needed, seeking with this collection ‘to fill that gap in English scholarship’ (p. 5).

Part i has six essays focused on the context and content of the debate. Volker Leppin and Mickey Mattox argue that the debate is a dramatic turning point for the Reformation. A key question was whether the pope ruled in the Church as a matter of divine law. This called into question the authority of Scripture (p. 11). Medieval papal and conciliar disputes provided context for the different theological positions of all three theologians (pp. 21–5), but the debates themselves highlighted differences that led ‘to the formation of the Scripture principle’ (p. 28). The second chapter (Alyssa Lehr Evans) focuses on the role of Karlstadt and his defence of the Wittenberg theology. While exchanges between Eck and Luther on papal authority are often remembered, this chapter advances Karlstadt's defence of the university ‘by strongly opposing scholasticism and publicly advancing an Augustinian understanding of the will, grace, and salvation’ (p. 37). Henning Bühmann summarises the disputation culture of the sixteenth century, while Thomas M. Izbicki recaps the papacy's attitude toward conciliarism as context for the Leipzig debate. Part i closes with chapters on the importance of Scripture and authority at Leipzig (Ian Christopher Levy) and the implications of canon law for Luther's thirteenth proposition (Richard J. Serina Jr).

Implications of the disputation – both then and now – are emphasised in part ii. Timothy Wengert asserts that Philip Melanchthon's quickly penned report on these events elevated Luther's standing among humanist intellectuals, even though others viewed Eck as the winner of the debate (p. 172). Bernward Schmidt reveals differences between Eck and Luther that would lead to divisions in the Church (p. 216). Chapters ix and x (Phillip Haberkern and Paul Robinson respectively) focus on Luther's adoption of elements of the theology of Jan Hus, and Luther's developing understanding of the role of church councils which led to his principle of Scripture alone (p. 263). Jonathan Mumme argues that Luther's ecclesiology as put forward at Leipzig nearly aligns with Luther's later writings. The final chapter (Michael Root) sees the Roman Catholic reception of the debate as offering possibilities for modern ecumenical discussions.

This collection does what it intended, helping to fill the gap in English scholarship on the Leipzig debate. Carefully footnoted with bibliographies following each essay, the collection is a scholar's delight. Perhaps the most important contribution to such scholarship is the appendix with original English translations of select portions of the disputation by Carl D. Roth and Richard J. Serina Jr.