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Martin Luther – Thrice Told Tales
I’m posting this a little early. We all know the big day is coming up on Thursday. Everyone knows what I’m talking about, because October 31st is Reformation Day.
Usually Thrice Told Tales has focused on fictional stories brought to the screen. This edition of Thrice Told Tales is about a man of history whose story has been brought to the screen in these three versions.
Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) was one of the most influential men in history. His life and work led to the foundation of not just the Lutheran Church, but all Protestant churches. Because of Luther, religious and also political authority became open to question. His translation of the Bible into the German vernacular had the same kind of impact on the language that the King James Bible did on English, and furthered the cause of popular literacy. And he changed the kind of beer consumed in his homeland, as drinking hops was an act of rebellion against the Catholic Church (the whole beer thing never comes up in any of the films below).
1953’s Martin Luther very much has the feel of an educational film, because, well, it is. Though the opening crawl reads that it is the work of “historians of many faiths,” the film was a co-production of the Lutheran Churches of Germany and America (sponsored by Luther Filmgesellshaft and the Lutheran Church of America) and Luther comes off well throughout.
The film opens with Martin (Niall MacGinnis) leaving law school to go to the monastery, much to the displeasure of his father who had pinned hopes on his son’s success as a lawyer. Martin had hoped to find peace after taking the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but as a monk, believes God doesn’t approve of him. His superiors send him to Wittenberg to serve as a priest saying, “We’ll keep him so busy, he won’t have time for his troubled soul. He’ll find his peace in Christ.”
Luther is sent to Rome and is encouraged to see one of Judas’ silver coins and the Pope, Julius the Second, for his spiritual benefit. But he is disappointed by what he sees. He sees the relics as not symbols of salvation, but “crutches to uphold a faltering faith.” Luther claims to have found true hope in “Romans 1:17” (though the numerical system for denoting New Testament verses was popularized by Robert Estienne in the 1550s, after Luther’s death). Luther says, “The just will live by faith. Is there anything about relics? Faith in what God has done for him through His Son.”
Luther speaks out against relics as a means of grace, much to the displeasure of Duke Frederick, the sponsor of Luther’s professorial chair at Wittenberg University. Luther also preaches against indulgences (the theology of giving financially to the church to shorten the years loved ones spend in purgatory). Johann Tetzel, a representative of the Vatican, was most displeased about this since his chief work was selling indulgences.
Tetzel threatens Luther, “I’ll burn his books, and I’ll burn him, too.” The Vatican begins to take Luther seriously as a threat. The German people admire Luther for standing up to Rome, and one of the locals says, “For the first time in a hundred years, someone has told the Pope where to get off!”
Martin’s supervisor, Augustinian Father Johann von Staupitz, sees nothing but pain for Luther: “Martin, Martin, I see nothing ahead of you but the Cross. May God have mercy on your soul and those who try to follow your preaching.”
The Vatican condemns Luther, but he is protected by the Emperor of Germany, leading to the country’s break from the Roman Church. We see Luther working on his translation and his joy in seeing his servant read the Gospel for himself for the first time. And we see his marriage to Kate the nun. And the narrator assures us that all of this led to the still prospering Lutheran Church. “A Mighty Fortress” (lyrics by Martin Luther) plays during the end credits, in case we had any doubt about who produced this film.
1974’s Luther was most certainly not a production of the Lutheran Church but rather a production of the American Film Theater. This production company was made with the goal of bringing important stage plays to the screen, including this adaptation of John Osborne’s 1961 play. Osborne was interested in the themes of rebellion against society; he was best known for his plays Look Back in Anger and The Entertainer.
Stacy Keach plays Luther as a man who can be understood by psychological rather than theological drives. He is dealing with daddy issues and toilet troubles. (Both of these things were certainly influences on Luther, but the play and the film make these Luther’s primary drives.)
The film opens later in Luther’s life, during the Peasants’ Rebellion when Luther encouraged the authorities to crack down on the rebellion. A peasant accuses Luther of being a butcher with blood on his hands. “My father is dead, and you’re alive and well and cuddling in the arms of your nun.”
But then we go back earlier in Luther’s life when he stripped down to a thong to take his vows and was told, “Choose God or the world, if you choose the order, you are not free to reject it.” He chose the Augustinian order, but of course, would later reject it.
He is shown dealing with digestive issues as he struggles with the question of his salvation (“I wish my bowels would open”). And when he does rebel against Rome, he talks about it in scatological terms, “If I break wind in Wittenberg they might smell it in Rome.” But he does break with Rome, saying, “It is as hard for me to do what I must do as for a man to truthfully call his mother a whore.” And he says, “When the words emerged, ‘The just shall live by faith’ and my (intestinal) pain vanished.”
The film ends as it begins in the Peasants’ Rebellion. He sees violence all around, but says “There’s no such thing as an orderly revolution… In the teeth of death we live, if He (God) butchers us, then we live.”
2003’s Luther is my favorite biography of the man, and certainly the most entertaining. It features a great cast: Joseph Fiennes in the title role, Peter Ustinov as Frederick the Wise, Claire Cox as Katrina, Alfred Molina as Tetzel, and especially Bruno Ganz as Luther’s Augustinian mentor. This film was also produced by the Lutheran Church (“Thrivent Financial for Lutherans” reads the production credit), so there is little doubt as to where its sympathies lie.
This film begins with Luther’s conversion, his decision to give his life to God to become a monk. Caught alone on a road during a fierce thunderstorm, he fears for his life. “Help me!” he cries out. “Don’t let me die like a dog on the road! I give myself to God!” (One can’t help but be reminded of the conversion of Saul to Paul on the road to Damascus.)
Again, we see Martin confront his disappointed father who hoped his son would become a lawyer. We see him struggle with fear of judgment, “I’m too full of sin to be a priest!”
His Augustinian father tells him, “After two years of confessions I’ve never heard you confess anything remotely interesting.” He encourages Martin to “Bind yourself to Christ and say, ‘I am yours, save me.’”
Again, we see Martin travel to Rome, to his great disgust. He hears barkers hawking relics, such as, “This way for the John the Baptist’s head!” On these sites, he is encouraged to “Give generously!” He is distraught to learn there are brothels for clerics in Rome. “You can buy anything, sex or salvation,” he frets.
After this, he is sent to Wittenberg to be a priest and study the New Testament. This perplexes him. But he is told it is there, as a preacher, he will find his faith.
We are shown two events that, in the film, change him greatly. In a class lecture, the priest teaching the class assures them that there is no salvation outside of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther asks, “There are no Christians outside of the Roman church, so you consider Greek Christians damned?”
The teacher asks, “Do you question the authority of the church council?”
Luther responds, “Salvation can be found outside of the church, but not outside of Christ.”
We see Luther come across a boy who has hung himself. Against the orders of the church, he buries the boy in the church graveyard, arguing that the child is no different from a man killed by the robber in the woods because the boy was killed by the lies of the devil.
As in the other two films, we see Luther preach against relics and indulgences, but in this film, his preaching is genuinely funny. “God once spoke through the mouth of an ass, and He may be about to do it again… 18 of the 12 apostles buried are in Spain… Enough nails from the cross are available in Rome to shoe all the horses in Saxony.” His preaching is not just funny, but gracious and enlightening.
We also see Tetzel’s preaching, which is the epitome of fire and brimstone. “Can’t you hear the screams of your parents? Grandparents? Aunts and uncles? For a few coins, you could rescue them.”
When Luther learns that a poor widow, mother of a young child, gave money to Tetzel, he is outraged, “This paper means nothing. You must trust in God’s love, use your money to feed Greta.”
But Tetzel claims, “I can save the soul of a man who violates the Holy Mother herself.”
Luther preaches against putting hope in relics and indulgences. He says, “Christ isn’t found in the bones of saints, but in your love for one another, in His sacraments, and in His Holy Word.”
So again, we see Luther in trouble with Rome. He is called to appear there but is warned, “The Rome Inquisition doesn’t give rulings, it gives death sentences.” When the German authorities refuse to hand him over, the trial by Rome is set for the Diet of Worms.
When he refuses to deny his work, he gives one of the most famous of history’s speeches, “Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes and councils who have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.”
Luther’s relationship with Katrina von Bora is shown with humor and tenderness. Katrina is one of a dozen or so nuns who escaped a convent hidden in herring barrels, and she’s the only one who couldn’t find a husband. She has to settle for Martin (and he didn’t especially want to marry her — or anyone). The marriage eventually becomes a delight to both.
Luther, as presented in these films, is a man who would be a pleasure to know as a preacher and a companion in a pub. Yes, he was a flawed man. He was antisemitic, as most Christians of his time were. But I hope that if we have learned anything from the foolishness of Project 1619 and BLM, it’s that people are more than their worst choices and qualities.
I believe the world is better for people of all faiths because of Martin Luthor. Happy Reformation Day!
Published in General
Excellent.
What an interesting presentation of a man who did indeed bring about a great many changes.
I grew up Catholic and so any discussions about Martin Luther were rather limited in scope.
I now feel that through your essay, I have caught up with some of the more pertinent events of his life.
If you don’t feel it would be a spoiler, how did he die? Over in England, William Tyndale, the man responsible for the first translation of the Bible into English ended up being deemed a heretic and he died a violent death. But it seems that Luther lived without such a rude demise coming his way.
He died of a stroke at the age of 62, a relatively peaceful death surrounded by loved ones.
Thank you for this post. I always played Martin Luther’s speech at the Diet of Worms for my History & Philosophy of Education classes, a requirement for teacher candidates. What most people do not know about him was that he promoted mass literacy and public education in Germany. He had translated the Bible into the German vernacular so that common people and the laity would have access to the Scriptures in a language they understood. He spearheaded the idea that education should be compulsory and public, becoming a religious leader who promoted public education!
OK, I’ll do it, not all of us celebrate “Reformation Day”. He might have been a man searching for Christ and wanting to serve Him, but one does not do that by dividing Christ’s Church. I find it very sad that people celebrate this man. He wrought a lot of division that continues to this day.
I have Luther on DVD. You’ve motivated me to watch it again. I had no idea the Lutherans produced it although I remember being surprised that Hollywood would make such a film.
Per IMDB: This was Peter Ustinov‘s final theatrical film before his death on March 28, 2004 at the age of 82.
He didn’t divide it. The church divided it by kicking him out.
There were a couple of Martin Luther films that I used to show to my pre-confirmation classes back in the 80s and 90s, but they weren’t any of these.
I’m pretty sure the first one you mention was shown by my father at our church when I was a kid. I don’t think I’ve seen it since, though I may have tried watching it once or twice.
BTW, Roland Bainton, who wrote the book, “Here I Stand,” (and was part of the narration of one of the films I would show to my classes) later came to the conclusion that Luther never said the words, “Here I stand…” Or so I’ve heard. I’ve read some of Bainton’s other books on reformation history.
Now there is some twisted logic.
His intention wasn’t to start a new organization. His intention was to get the church to reform itself. That’s why it’s called Reformation. I don’t think you’ll find anything in history that says his intention was to divide it.
Or as the catechism of my youth showed it in a diagram, the church continued as one true body, from the apostles through the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, but there were heretical groups that broke away, such as the Calvinists and the Roman Catholics. (I don’t remember for sure if the word heresy was used there. There is probably a copy of that old catechism somewhere in our house.)
You’re digging your hole deeper. As the OP says, he “founded” the Protestant Church(es). Luther is the heretic, not the Catholic Church. If you find that old catechism, burn it.
Yeah, a lot of people say it that way. Competitive book burnings were the order of the day back then, along with competitive accusations of heresy, so why not celebrate the Reformation by re-enacting them?
When you look at the medieval treachery of The Holy Roman Catholic Church, it is hard for me to see why we should not celebrate this man.
A major tenet of this treachery was the notion that a rich person could buy indulgences, a spiritual forgiveness of hours or days that would otherwise be spent by the Catholic sinners in purgatory. The richer people could gain access to a purgatory-free After Life. While the poor, which happened to be most people, had to roast for whatever number of days their sins had consigned them too.
By the 1100’s, the infallible popes could tackle such issues as tithing, using ecclesiastical degrees making it a sin to not tithe anything you had gained over the course of the year to the Church.
Of course in some places, such tithing helped the Church help the poor, the sick and the dying. But in other places these vast amounts of monies just went into ostentatious displays of wealth, like the elaborate purple silks and vestments which the cardinals wore, as well as gold chalices and other exotic accessories to the priestly life.
No one in the Church’s hierarchy wanted to discuss any of this. (After all, what oligarchy wants to pave the way for reforms?) Which is why a schism came about.
There’s a lot of myth-making surrounding Luther. For example, he was certainly not the first to translate the Bible into German – at the time of his birth, there were several High German translations (I think at least seven), and two in Low German. There were even more by the time Luther became an activist (and prior to the printing press, all Bibles had to be written by hand). There actually is no evidence for him nailing his theses to the church door – he himself only said that he sent a copy to the bishop. And those famous words – “Here I stand” or whatever it was – didn’t show up until well after the event in question. The Church was good at keeping records, and those words were not recorded at the time. His anti-Semitism increased after he left the Church, and his advice to murder them – and the peasants when they revolted – makes him a questionable leader. And his fascination with excrement…..
Well, he was a heretic, so there is that going against him. And that is one reason why I do not celebrate him.
There were certainly bad men in the Church doing bad things but when has that not been the case. Your explanation of the indulgence issue reads like a Jack Chick tract. Purgatory is real, as are indulgences, and I can guarantee you that anyone that was swindled into “buying” indulgences did not receive any – and let’s pray that those who did the swindling repented of their sins.
So yeah, let’s not get carried away by celebrating a man who caused a schism as you say.
This isn’t an accurate depiction of the actual practice of indulgences at all. It was not solely giving financial contributions that the Church granted indulgences for – acts of piety, prayers, pilgrimages, etc. were also included (as they are today). Anytime there is money involved, there is room for corruption (I think of the televangelists raking it in…), so the Church dropped that as an option.
I’d recommend this as a corrective: https://www.catholic.com/audio/caf/understanding-indulgences-in-the-catholic-faith
Scott, I will partially join you by lamenting the dividing of Christ’s church. Protestants further shattered themselves with Calvinism and every other ‘ism. Even the American Lutherans have further shattered into irreconcilable synods (one of which I am a member).
I would contend though that in response to Luther’s teachings the Counter- reformation in the Catholic church made it stronger. Luther was a prophet who bravely sought to stop the horrible abuses brought on by a bloated Papal bureaucracy (even 2 of them for several decades). Many of his suggested reforms did eventually come to Catholicism.
Luther’s teachings did lead to vast positive changes in European thought and culture. The Reformation can be celebrated for many reasons. It’s better to celebrate that rather than just Martin Luther.
There already were German translations (both High and Low German) of the Bible at the time of Luther’s birth, and even more by the time of his activism.
This one was influential, though. It reached a large audience, spoke their idiomatic language, and helped shape the language among most German-speaking people, as well as having a large influence on German culture even outside the strictly religious.
It can be somewhat like arguments about the history of football. Amos Alonzo Stagg didn’t invent a lot of the plays and techniques he is said to have invented. Others had arguably been first. But he was an influential innovator in introducing them in a way that changed the game of football.
I’ve often heard Luther’s translation in German compared to the King James Version in English, having great influence on the development of the literature and everyday usage.
Too many things to address in one sitting. That there were serious problems within the church hierarchy was widely recognized, and had been so for a long time. Besides the time when there were two popes, there were the Medici popes, the time when the papacy was pretty much a political office, and one of the most incredible, Leo X (1513 – 1521) and his pet elephant.
Luther wasn’t the first to be concerned enough to raise the problems. Jan Hus, a Czech priest, addressed the same issues almost exactly 100 years before Luther. He was branded a heretic, and burned at the stake. Some of his followers are still around, in the form of the Moravian Church. His writings were also destroyed. But somehow some of them survived, and were in the library of Luther’s monastery. They obviously had a huge influence on Luther.
Regarding the earlier German translations of the Scripture, a couple things set Luther’s work apart. Maybe the most significant for us today is that Luther’s translation was the first to be published, thanks to Gutenberg’s invention of moveable type. Very few copies of the earlier works were ever made, being copied by hand. They were hidden, rarely shared, and then only with trusted friends, because to possess them was a sure sentence of death. By Luther’s and Gutenberg’s time, the ecclesiastical disciplinary power had diminished enough that all the printing presses couldn’t be destroyed. Also roads, etc. had been improved so that communication allowed this new translation to spread “like wildfire,” as they say. You can still find copies of the Luther Bible in Germany. This is also why Luther was so big on educating ALL people, male and female, so they could read scripture for themselves.
That didn’t mean Luther was safe. Luther traveled to Worms for what we know as the Diet of Worms under a promise of safe passage. However, when he refused to recant at Worms, the pope instead issued what amounted to a death warrant. The story of how he survived will have to wait.
Also the earlier translations mentioned above were done by people who did not know the original languages. They were translated from the Latin Vulgate, itself a translation. This was also true of Wycliffe. Luther was the first one to translate the Bible from the original languages. This is not from me. My son-in-law’s pre-seminary college major was European history. He could not remember for sure details of issues of accuracy in the earlier translations. He has that information in books, but they’re still in storage since a recent move.
Regarding the bolded words above, I had thought so, too. But the Wikipedia page on the Luther Bible says Luther translated some of the bible from the Vulgate, too, at least for the first editions of his translation. Luther’s command of Greek was not the greatest, but Philip Melanchthon later helped fill in where Luther’s skills were not as good.
His earlier trip to Augsburg to meet with Cardinal Cajetan was not exactly safe, either. Last fall we visited St Anne’s in Augsburg where the meeting took place and is now well commemorated with historical information. I had already known about that part of the Luther story, but perhaps had never quite appreciated just how important a turning point it was. Luther’s words were later echoed at Worms.
We also visited the Jewish synagogue in the city, and got to meet @hartmannvonaue at a restaurant for evening dinner.
I don’t know that we’d ever go on a tour of all the Luther places in Germany, but this was a good opportunity. We were on our way from Strasbourg, France where we had spent a week, and were on our way to Slovenia where we spent another week. In between we stayed two nights in Augsburg.
Love Martin Luther who bravely exposed not just the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church’s heirarchy but of the corruption of doctrine which was more important by far. His teaching on justification by faith revolutionized the church and the world.
I recommend Roland Bainton’s biography on Luther, “Here I Stand”. It was written in the 50’s and has a few historical errors but presents both the issues of the day and Luther’s transformative response. It is hard to imagine the modern world without him.
Thanks for the interesting post and commentary.
It is good to realize the bad along with the good. Few people ever remark on the facts of your last statement, but he did come out with a great deal of hatred for the Jewish people and for the peasants should they revolt. This hatred was expressed in his writings.
You shoulda heard what he said about the pope. He originally reached out to the Jews but was angry when they seemed to prefer the RCC. No excuses, but his effect on history, both the church and Western Civilization, is tremendously positive.
This had more to do with the invention of the printing press than Luther’s translation. As I mentioned above, Luther was by no means the first to translate the Bible into German. It waa the printing press that was influential, because it made the Bible affordable.
Yes, but some of the earlier translations were hardly readable, even if they had been affordable and widely available. I don’t know if that’s true of all of them.