In Conversation with Martin Luther
I catch up with another of the main characters in my forthcoming novel.
This week, I’m traveling to Wittenberg, Germany in the year 1524 to chat with Martin Luther, one of the primary characters in my book Broken Bonds: A Novel of the Reformation, releasing on November 12. Let’s get to know him!
Amy: Martin Luther, it’s nice to meet you.
Luther: If you say so. Now, what do you want to know?
A: How old are you?
L: I will be forty-one years old on November 10.
A: Great. What is your profession?
L: I teach theology at the University of Wittenberg and I am a pastor at the city church—St. Mary’s. I also work as an author, translator, hymn writer, and sometimes a diplomat. Also, I work to find homes for nuns who have left their cloisters.
A: Goodness. Do you have much free time?
L: I cannot believe such a thing exists. If all time is ‘spent’, it surely all costs something.
A: Good point. Where did you grow up?
L: I was born in the town of Eisleben in the German region of Thuringia, but my family moved to Mansfeld. My father is a miner, and Mansfeld is a big mining town.
A: Besides your father and mother, did you have any siblings?
L: Yes, several brothers and sisters. It was a big family. My father became quite successful in his business and wanted me to become a lawyer to help him with his legal difficulties.
A: Why didn’t you?
L: I went to school at the University of Erfurt, but the law wasn’t for me. I felt very conflicted in my conscience, because I knew I was a terrible sinner and God must hate me. Then one day, I was traveling back to the university from Mansfeld when I was nearly struck by lightning. I cried out to St. Anne to save me and promised that, if God spared my life, I would become a monk.
A: That must have been terrifying.
L: Not as terrifying as joining the monastery! I felt no better despite devoting myself to works of righteousness. I was sinning all the time in my mind. I could not confess enough. I was still sure that God hated me, and by that point, I hated him.
A: Not ideal if one is a monk.
L: Fortunately, I came to know the vicar-general of our order, Johann von Staupitz, who helped me through my depression and sent me to study theology at the University of Wittenberg. I ended up becoming professor of theology.
A: That’s nice.
L: No, it wasn’t. I still felt rotten. But I did spend a lot of time reading St. Augustine and other theologians, and along with my study of the Scriptures, I began to understand the extent of God’s grace and that he himself had made me righteous. He didn’t hate me! This was a tremendous moment.
A: And everything got better after that?
L: Hardly! When you embrace the gospel, Satan hates it, and he attacks you fiercely. He came to me in the form of a corrupt friar selling indulgences. He told the people such lies! I objected, thinking that my superiors would surely see the error of what that man was saying.
A: And how did that go for you?
L: I was subjected to an inquisition. People accused me of all sorts of heresy, but I was just teaching what is in the Bible. Then the pope excommunicated me and I ended up on trial before the emperor. Well, I was not about to deny God’s truth: not at the cost of my soul. So I refused to recant what I had written, and they declared me at outlaw.
A: So why aren’t you in prison or, you know, dead?
L: My governor, the elector Frederick, hid me away in one of his castles until it was necessary for me to return to Wittenberg. A colleague of mine at the university, Andreas Karlstadt, had begun teaching some strange things, and all our reforms were in danger. So I had to return, and that it where I am now. The elector protects me in his territory.
A: You know, I recently spoke with someone who mentioned you. His name is Erasmus.
L: Ugh! That man is a menace. He has no real beliefs about anything. He just wants to live off the riches of his benefactors.
A: That’s not what he told me.
L: Of course not. He is planning to write a book against me though.
A: He mentioned something about that.
L: Well, I will be ready to defend the gospel. Let him write whatever he wants.
A: Something for us all to look forward to. Martin Luther, thank you so much for your time.
L: I gave you my time, but that does not mean it was free!
Come back next week for a discussion with Luther’s fellow professor, Philip Melanchthon, and keep an eye on Sub-Creations for updates about Broken Bonds.
More articles about Luther by yours truly…
“Luther vs. Karlstadt: The Other Leipzig Debate,” 1517, 14 July 2023
“Luther’s Theology: The Will’s Bondage,” Place for Truth, 30 June 2017
“Luther’s Life: A Curse upon Erasmus!”, Place for Truth, 7 June 2017
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