A couple of months ago I started reading about the Protestant Reformation and discovered there are probably more books and articles about and by Martin Luther and the Reformation then just about any other figure in history. Well, except Jesus, I guess. Someone said that a list of the ten most influential people in history would certainly include Martin Luther. I am finding myself fascinated by medieval history and the many currents and personalities that led up to the reformation and made it not only possible, but inevitable.
Wil Durant, in his 900 page book, "The Reformation" (not quite through with that one yet), wrote, "What circumstances of heredity and environment had molded an obscure monk in a town of three thousand souls, into the David of the religious revolution?"
The first 330 pages of Durant's monumental work gives the background leading up October 31, 1517 when Luther posted his 95 theses on the Wittenberg church door and ignited the simmering social, political and ecclesiastical bombshell. We are still living in the legacy of those reformers, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, and even before them John Wyclif in England and Jan Huss in Bohemia.
My wife, Judy, and I read the novel, "Katharina and Luther", a fictional account of the relationship between Luther and Katharina Von Bora, a nun who escaped from a convent along with 11 other nuns and was taken in by Luther for protection until he could find appropriate husbands for them.. Eventually the 42 year old monk married 26 year old Katharina. A fascinating story, though Judy thinks it is a bit too romanticized.... but reading other references about Katharina verifies the basic historical outline of the story. She was a formidable woman for her time, and indeed, for any historical period.
Judy has just finished "A Reformation Life: Katharina Von Bora" by Rudolf and Marilynn Markwald, a historical biography of that extraordinary woman. Franklin Fry wrote in the Foreword that "We can learn much from her about the sacred character of our "ordinary" settings, relationships, and activities". More about her in a later blog post.
Then I reread the English language classic by Roland Bainton, "Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther', a book that came out in the 1950s and has been in storage or sitting on my bookshelf for the last 50 plus years. Of course, the title "Here I Stand" refers to one of the famous statements uttered by a human, when Luther was brought before the Holy Roman Emperor and the representatives of the Pope and refused to recant - in the face of the treat of excommunication and a death sentence for heresy. His full statement was: "Unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other -- my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me, Amen". It is thought that he added "Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise". though these words don't show up in the minutes of the meeting - probably because the listeners at the moment may have been too moved to write!
Another interesting book just published is "Here I Walk: A Thousand Miles on Foot to Rome with Martin Luther", by Andrew L Wilson. We met Andrew and his wife Sarah Hinlicky Wilson in St Paul in December during a presentation about their 2010 trek from Erfurt, Germany to Rome, roughly trying to retrace the steps of Luther's 1000 mile walk in 1510. This is a travel journal, with many reflections on faith, pilgrimage, the Reformation, and many sites that Luther may have visited, though some of the most interesting passages are about encounters with the land and people on that route today... Germany, Austria, Switzerland and
Italy.
We will be leading a discussion with a group at Gold Hill Lutheran here in Butte using an excellent resource titled "Together by Grace: Introducing the Lutherans" edited by Kathryn Kleinhans ... with short articles on a wide variety of topics mostly related to the Reformation by over 30 qualified pastors, historians and theologians. Hopefully, we will have a rich exchange of views and sharing of experiences by this group of mostly life-long Lutherans. Will be interesting to see if we gain any new insights.
In this, the 500th year anniversary of the Reformation I plan to post a few blogs from my reflections, reading and attempts to understand the legacies of the Reformation for us in our day. There are a couple of other books on my reading table, but enough for now.
Jerry
