[AnalogReigns]

Was a terrific documentary, especially for PBS...apparently originally made for the BBC. Well worth taping for show to students of all ages. Sorry I didn't post this a couple days ago to give folks notice--however, PBS will no doubt be playing this several times in the next week or so, just check your local schedule (example, its playing on WETA in the Washington DC area tonight on July 10 at 4 AM.... another reason why not to let the VCR just blink 12:00 all the time).

"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."--Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, while under direct threat of being burned alive.

[Support Free Republic]

Lighten Up, Francis!

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[old-ager]

It was not too bad, but it missed Luther's main points which were not about conscience nor liberty of individual conscience (I think some of the pompous talking heads in this show would cast Luther as a homosexual rights supporter) but about the authority and veracity of the Scriptures and the sufficiency of faith in Christ alone for salvation. I did not see any conservative / confessional Lutheran scholars interviewed. A shame. Luther was about discovering and espousing correct theology and really meaning it (enough to die for it).

[Drango]

If I can point out the following plegde amounts for public broadcasting. It's pledge time at FreeRepublic (hint, hint) Please do what you can...

Average per-person contribution in current dollars	1980	1999
Public radio	$24.84	$73.22
Public television	$30.12	$77.05

Source: Corporation for Public Broadcasting

[TheCrusader]

Some other quotes by Martin Luther, mostly from "Luther's Table Talk":

"God does not work salvation for fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin vigorously.... Do not for a moment imagine that this life is the abiding place of justice; sin must be committed."

"As for the demented, I hold it certain that all beings deprived of reason are thus afflicted only by the Devil."

"I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist."

"Idiots, the lame, the blind, the dumb, are men in whom the devils have established themselves: and all the physicians who heal these infirmities, as though they proceeded from natural causes, are ignorant blockheads...."

"Snakes and monkeys are subjected to the demon more than other animals. Satan lives in them and possesses them. He uses them to deceive men and to injure them."

"The Devil, too, sometimes steals human children; it is not infrequent for him to carry away infants within the first six weeks after birth, and to substitute in their place imps...."

"We are at fault for not slaying them [the Jews]."

"Listen, Jew, are you aware that Jerusalem and your sovereignty, together with your temple and priesthood, have been destroyed for over 1,460 years? ... Let the Jews bite on this nut and dispute this question as long as they wish ... I am not a Jew, but I really do not like to contemplate God's awful wrath toward this people. It sends a shudder of fear through body and soul, for I ask, What will the eternal wrath of God in hell be like ..." (from "on the Jews and their lies").

"be on your guard against the Jews, knowing that wherever they have their synagogues, nothing is found but a den of devils" (from: "on the Jews and their lies").

"We may well lie with what seems to be a woman of flesh and blood, and yet all the time it is only a devil in the shape of a woman."

"What shall we do with...the Jews?...I advise that safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews."

"Women...have but small and narrow chests, and broad hips, to the end that they should remain at home, sit still, keep house, and bear and bring up children."

[ameribbean expat]

It was very well done, even if very much a product of these times (emphasis on individualism, technological change and corporate analogies (Tetzel as "ad man", Rome as "corporate headquarters").

I didn't expect in depth treatment of his theology because, well, one has to be a theist to begin with before the finer points of Christian doctrine can be understood and examined. Still, nice to see a conservative, evangelical Anglican like Alistair McGrath given a prominent role in the commentary.

[wideminded]

There was an excellent, but little known movie many years ago called "Luther". It was essentially a one-man show covering Luther's life, featuring a tour-de-force performance by Stacy Keach.

I recently toured a Lutheran seminary with my son. Outside the library we were shown an object in a display case that purported to be Luther's death mask. The face portrayed in great detail was that of an old, sickly man. When I later looked at pictures online of other copies of the death mask (one in the German city of Halle as I recall), I felt that they looked more like portraits I had seen of Luther. Maybe the seminary doesn't put the real death mask on display.

[1stFreedom]

>>Personally, I think, but for Luther's courage, there would have been no eventual United States of America...and we'd live in a very different world...

Yea, if it weren't for him we would be living in a Christian world and nation today. Thanks to Luther and Calvin, we now live in a Post-Christian world. I'd choose a Christian world any day over what we have now.

The problem Luther had was that while he initial sough to reform the Church, he threw the baby out with the bath water. His theology is simply that -- his. It wasn't the faith handed down by Christ but Luthers perversion of it.

Thanks to Luther we also have 19,000 protestant denominations. We have so many contradictory theologies it isn't funny.

[sinkspur]

This was very well done.

As a Catholic, there were aspects of Luther's life of which I was unaware. I didn't realize he was so scrupulous, with his multiple confessions, daily.

He was obsessed, with many things. No wonder he sought salvation outside the Catholic Church, since the Church had brought him torment.

I don't agree with his leaving the Church; had he stayed, he would likely be one of the greatest saints in Catholicism.

He may be a saint anyway, but there were a number of huge egos involved in the Reformation, on both sides.

[strela]

Nice documentary, and one that I'll probably purchase on DVD for future watching. However, the talking head female from Arizona with the glasses and white William Penn hair caused me to claw my eyes out of their sockets, so I'm blind now and will be able to enjoy only the soundtrack.

[MoeShrevnitz]

http://www.msnusers.com/_Secure/0TADyAhwYUb9vHRtmrdoBJnxMk5Eomups9YAqEF39Sg*HSGTIyjTp0zN4YTLCmEoMYJE2maoroPIQKCXG!KAayKlZAmMh7*3LoyN*JreMTH4IKGnovnE4Iw/lutherbob.jpg.jpg?dc=4675429816863164721

[VOA]

Was a terrific documentary, especially for PBS

I only saw the first 30 minutes, but it looked good.

PBS occassionally slips up and portrays reality, e.g., on some episodes of
NOVA and FrontLine, as well as most The American Experience.

[Terriergal]

I knew this was on but forgot about it! argh.

[ninenot]

but for Luther's courage, there would have been no eventual United States of America.

Maybe, maybe not.

We certainly wouldn't have had the French Revolution, which was the philosophical capstone of Luther's work.

And with all due regard for our Lutheran friends, that's not a compliment.

[saradippity]

for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe

Too bad he forgot to mention how the conscience is informed. A conscience informed by oneself makes gods and godettes out of all.I hope things are becoming clear.

Luther seeded the wind,and now that the whirlwind blows,deoes it seem to you that things are so safe and so right?

[rwfromkansas]

I saw the second half (stumbled upon it). It was good!!