Rocco D’Ambrosca: 04/11/2008
Me: We are here today with Martin Luther, famed Protestant leader on “Talking with the Dead” AM morning show. How are you doing today Martin, did you have a good rest?
Martin: Yes, thank you I’m doing fine. Glad to be back.
Me: Let’s start off with the basics. Where and when were you born and who were your parents, etc?
Martin: I was born on November 10, 1483 to Hans and Margarethe Luther in Eisleben the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. We moved a year later and I grew up in Mansfeld where my father was a leaseholder of copper mines and smelters as well as a representative on the local council.
Me: Where did you attend school and what was the extent of your schooling?
Martin: Well, as I was the eldest son my father was very intent that I become a lawyer. My father sent me to attend Latin schools where I studied the “trivium” of grammar, rhetoric, and logic in Mansfeld, Magdeburg in 1497, and Eisenach in 1498.
Me: Did you enjoy your time at these schools?
Martin: Absolutely not! They were comparable to purgatory or hell!
Me: Where else did you attend school?
Martin: In 1501, at the age of seventeen, I entered the University of Erfurt, which I soon found to be nothing more than a beer and whore house, where I was awoken at four in the morning each day for rote learning and often wearying spiritual exercises. In 1505, I graduated with a Master’s Degree and enrolled in the University of Erfurt Law School where I dropped out almost immediately.
Me: What was your reason for dropping out?
Martin: A pledge to God.
Me: Can you elaborate on that?
Martin: After a trip home, I was on my way back to the University on July 2, 1505 when a lightning storm broke out. A bolt of lightning struck right beside me and in an outburst of fear for my life I yelled, “Help! Saint Anna, I will become a monk!” I survived the storm and hence dropped out of college. I had more interest in philosophy and theology than law and this served as a perfect excuse to my father for dropping out; even though he was still extremely upset seeing this decision as a waste of my education.
Me: Where did you become a monk?
Martin: I entered a closed Augustinian friary in Erfurt on July 17, 1505 and soon proved my father wrong about wasting my education. Johann von Staupitz, my superior, ordered me to continue with an academic career. I was ordained as a priest in 1507 and in 1508 I began teaching theology at the University of Wittenberg where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Biblical studies on March 9, 1508 and another Bachelor’s degree in the “Sentences” by Peter Lombard in 1509. I finally was awarded my Doctor of Theology on October 21, 1512 and became a senate member of the theological faculty at the University, taking the position as “Doctor in Bible” where I spent the rest of my career.
Me: Why did your academic advisor order you to continue an academic career?
Martin: I was suffering from excessive introspection. I had dedicated myself fully to the monastic life, devoting myself to fasts, long hours in prayer, pilgrimage, and frequent confession trying to please God; but only making myself more aware of my sinfulness. At the time I was in a period of deep spiritual despair. I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, and made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul.
Me: Ah, that must have been tormenting.
Martin: Very much so. I felt like I was slowly drowning with no hope of ever finding any air.
Me: How did you feel once you made yourself established at the University of Wittenburg?
Martin: Much, much, happier. I was able to pursue my philosophic and theological interests in great depth as well as share my ideas with my colleagues and students. Although, I had not attained the inner peace I had been searching for. It wasn’t until I discovered Paul’s words at the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans, “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). After reading this I felt as if I had been reborn and sensed that the gates of heaven were now open to me. I soon came to believe that no matter how sinful a person is the sacrifice of Jesus was enough to make up for all of their sins, as no amount of good deeds can make someone sinless.
Me: How did you discover this passage?
Martin: At the University of Wittenburg I had been teaching courses on the Bible but specifically on the Pauline Epistles in the New Testament. While reading them over in my planning of a particular course the words jumped out at me like nothing before, despite reading through the New Testament and Bible before. I also came to realize the great importance of reading scripture after having such a powerful experience just through reading.
Me: This put you at great odds with the church, did it not?
Martin: Absolutely, in the greatest sense! They believed both good works and faith brought salvation as well as following church rules. The church took their idea of being saved by good works and greatly abused it with indulgences.
Me: Can you tell our listeners what an indulgence is?
Martin: Indulgences were sold by the church with the promise that you would get out of purgatory early and be guaranteed access to heaven through your generous good work of donating to the church. In 1515-16 the Pope sent a Dominican friar and papal commissioner named Johann Tetzel to sell indulgences in an effort to raise money to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Me: What was your reaction to this?
Martin: I was extremely outraged by this after seeing the exorbitant and extravagant luxury and corruption of the Pope and the Vatican. The Pope is as rich as or richer than any king; and yet he rather swindle poor believers with the ludicrous concept of an indulgence. How dare the Pope or the Catholic Church even think they have any say over what happens to a person’s soul after death!? It is up to God’s mercy of forgiveness that allows salvation, not the Catholic Church or the Pope. The Pope surely will be sent to the fiery pits of hell for the obtuseness and hubris to think he could decide things left only to God!
Me: What did you do in protest to these indulgences?
Martin: I did two things, both on October 31, 1517. The first of which was the writing of a letter to Cardinal Albrecht of Hohenzollern, the Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg, expressing my deep protest against the sale of indulgences. I included in this letter my “Ninety-Five Theses on the Power of Indulgences” which I also nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg to spark discussion on this atrociousness practice.
Me: What was the public response?
Martin: The public response was enormously positive. My Ninety Five Theses was quickly translated into German from Latin, printed, and widely copied; spreading throughout Europe like wild fire.
Me: What was the Catholic Church’s response?
Martin: I never got a response from Cardinal Albrecht, but I learned that he checked my theses for heresy and forwarded it to the Vatican. Pope Leo X by and large ignored me calling me “a drunken German” who “when sober will change his mind”. It wasn’t until June 15, 1520 that I received a warning from the Pope. He sent a papal bull called “Exsurge Domine” stating that I risked excommunication unless I removed 41 sentences from my writings, including the 95 Theses, within 60 days. I ignored this warning and publicly set fire to the bull on December 10, 1520. As a result I was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on January 3, 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
Me: Were there any other consequences?
Martin: Yes, I had to appear before the Diet of Worms, a general assembly of the estates of the Holy Roman Empire, which took place in Worms from January 28 to May 25, 1521 with Emperor Charles V presiding.
Me: What was the result of this assembly?
Martin: On May 25, 1521 the emperor declared me an outlaw, banning my literature, and requiring my arrest. He also made it a crime for anyone to give me food or shelter and that anyone could kill me without legal consequence. Luckily, Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, had me taken away by masked horsemen to Wartburg Castle in Eisenach. I stayed there for nearly 11 months in hiding until I returned secretly to Wittenberg on March 6, 1522. It was during my time at the Castle that I translated the Bible into German because it was my belief that the Bible, as well as Mass, should be able to be understood by the people in their own language for their own interpretations.
Me: What was the response to your return?
Martin: I was warmly welcomed back and was allowed to continue my work as part of the Reformation.
Me: You mentioned earlier your belief in the importance of reading the Bible. Can you elaborate on that?
Martin: Certainly. It is my belief that the Bible should be our only guide in faith, not church teachings. Unless it is written in the Bible, it is not proper faith. I also believe that all believers in Christ are of equal status in the eyes of God as part of the priesthood of all believers. It is my belief that priests, bishops, or even the pope is not of a higher status than any other person in the eyes of God.
Me: How about your family life? Did you ever marry?
Martin: Yes, I did marry as I was always against celibacy as I feel the Bible says nothing against it. I married Katharina von Bora on the evening of June 13, 1525 and had six children with her.
Me: How did you come to meet your wife?
Martin: She was one of twelve nuns that I helped escape from the Nimbschen Cistercian convent in April 1523.
Me: We’re just about to run out of time for our show. To bring us to a conclusion, Martin when and how did your life come to an end?
Martin: I suffered a stroke which deprived me of speech and soon died shortly afterwards at 2:45 a.m. February 18, 1546 at the age of 62 in Eisleben; ironically the place of my birth. I was then buried in the Castle Church in Wittenberg, beneath the pulpit in memory of my nailing the Ninty-Five Theses to the door.
Me: Thank you ladies and gentlemen and of course our ghostly guest Martin Luther. We’ll see you next time on “Talking with the Dead” AM morning show. Our next guest will be Martin Luther King.
Martin: Who?
End of Broadcast
Bibliography:
Martin Luther Article on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
Washington State University Martin Luther Article
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