Me and Martin

I am a this is most certainly true Lutheran, raised on the theology of grace. At times it seems like my only chance. I even went so far as to publish a How To Do Lutheran guide, justified by faith in the Luther imperative to “sin boldly”.  

So I think my Lutheran creds are pretty solid.   But that brings us to me & Martin.

Martin Luther is the bulwark never failing of the Lutheran faithful. He is rightly credited with launching the 16th century Reformation, birthing Lutheranism as well as reforming the Catholic Church, condemning the egregious practices of indulgences, salvation for sale. It doesn’t work that way and Luther boldly nailed this and 94 other theses on the Wittenberg door in 1517.  "I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen." 

Thus, Luther begat Zwingli, Calvin, Wycliffe, Wesley, ... and the resulting hodgepodge of Protestant denominations fracturing themselves on angels on the head of a pin theological differences. 

Luther translated the Bible from Latin to the vernacular and along with Gutenberg made scripture available to the commoner. He preached daily his theology of saved by faith alone - interspersed with aphorisms that presaged Poor Richard: 

• “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” 
• “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer."
• "God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does."

He loved music and composed numerous hymns. You likely know a few even if you’re not Lutheran: Ein Feste Burg, Aus Tiefer Not Schrei Ich Zu Dir, ...  And he bluntly stated: 

• "A person who does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs." 
• “My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.”

Luther's Small Catechism has ben the bane of confirmation students for 400 years. I believe that by my own reason or strength it is impossible to memorize this stuff. 

And, being of German stock, he also loved his beer: “Beer is made by men, wine by God. Whoever drinks beer, he is quick to sleep; whoever sleeps long, does not sin; whoever does not sin, enters Heaven! Thus, let us drink beer!”  

Slightly fractured logic perhaps.  

And he was a pretty earthy monk. In the 1550s, he wrote of his strategies to ward off the devil: “Almost every night when I wake up … I instantly chase him away with a fart.” 

Quite a remarkable feller. But like the rest of us, he was also deeply flawed. Although he married Katharina, a nun he smuggled from a convent in a herring barrel, and lived happily ("My Katie is in all things so obliging and pleasing to me that I would not exchange my poverty for the riches of Croesus."), his attitude toward women can only be characterized as misogynist:  "Women should remain at home, sit still, and bear children." 

As a father of a daughter, Me and Martin have a problem.

He was also bitterly anti-Semitic. 

• "If I had to baptize a Jew, I would take him to the bridge of the Elbe, hang a stone around his neck and push him over with the words, I baptize thee in the name of Abraham'".  

There is a theory that the thread from Luther to Nietzsche spins into Nazism, persisting and expanding in our own time.  But then there is this: 

• “When we are inclined to boast of our position [as Christians] we should remember that we are but Gentiles, while the Jews are of the lineage of Christ. We are aliens and in-laws; they are blood relatives, cousins, and brothers of our Lord. Therefore, if one is to boast of flesh and blood the Jews are actually nearer to Christ than we are." 

A man of contradictions. Nevertheless, Me and Martin have a problem.

Actually, Me and History in general have a problem.

History is written by the victors and the unsavory, messy details tend to get filtered out. We rarely get the whole truth. We require heroes, flawless legends. I term it "Disney History".  Major Rogers & Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, outsmarting the British. Daniel Boone saving  Boonesboro from Indians on the warpath. Davy Crockett dying heroically at the Alamo. Texas John Slaughter, slaughtering.  And nary a woman in sight, except for Betsy Ross busily sewing. Perhaps it's not an accident that it is termed His Story. No hint of Thomas Jefferson, slave owner.  Or, Andrew Jackson and the genocide of the Cherokee Trail of Tears. And I cannot tell a lie, George Washington did not throw a cherry tree across the Potomac. 

Great stories. But fictions, not history. More akin to that other Disney invention, Fantasyland. A sad excuse for an education. School days history bring to mind Jack Nicholson’s line in A Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth”. 

Well, I think we can and in point of fact, I think we should demand it. We know in our in our hearts that history is populated with charlatans and evil, and events are cruel and complicated. A deep history dive is actually quite fascinating and while it invariably reveals feet of clay it also does not negate accomplishments. (I can recommend some books if you're interested.) Let’s not whitewash our past but study it to learn from both the great deeds & words as well as the despicable ones. 

And about that book banning crap .. but that’s for another time

Copyright ©  2022  Dave Hoplin