What´s with those “theses”?
Who was Martin Luther and what did he want?
What was this Reformation, the 500th anniversary of which we´re celebrating this year?
To all these questions, many other smart people have already given great answers that can be found on the Internet.
We don´t want to reinvent the wheel – so here we will give you only a brief statement by our ebw theologian and a list of links to websites that, in our opinion, explain things about Martin Luther and the Reformation in an easy-to-understand, informative, or entertaining way.
- YouTube-Tutorial by churchnight.de ( German, level A2-3)
- legends, life and works – All you ever wanted to know about Martin Luther – the website Luther.de (6 languages)
- Martin Luther explained for children and youth on the knowledge portal: helles-koepfchen.de (German only)
- Understanding, discovering, experiencing – Information on the Reformation, anniversary events, walking trails, testimonials on luther2017.de (6 languages)
- Learning about Luther in a playful way– the Luther game on kirche-entdecken.de (German, but enjoyable without language skills)
- http://www.lutherstadt-wittenberg.de/en/ (English, German)
- Information by the Evangelical Church in Germany ekd.de/english/
(full info in German, some info in English and French) - Events in the deanery Munich : http://www.muenchen-evangelisch.de/luther-2017-im-dekanat (German only)
- App for multimedia learning about Martin Luther http://www.lutherbase.de/ (German only)
What is the significance of Luther´s posting of 95 theses in Wittenberg?
„Luther is not the Reformation.
When you look at the monument in Worms, you realize what really happened 500 years ago: A movement of many.
Luther is the Reformation, too.
He had a very significant impact.
Many events from his life are nowadays an integral part of the collective memory of the German people:
- The lightning at Stotternheim and entering the monastery
- His appearance at the Imperial Diet of Worms
- Isolation and loneliness at Veste Coburg
- …
Undoubtedly the most well-known event, though, that might not even have taken place that way, is the nailing of 95 theses to the castle door in Wittenberg on October 31st, 1517.
However, it´s not the way of presentation that´s important, but the content.
Luther attacked key elements of Christian teachings at the time, first and foremost the wide-spread selling of indulgences.
Making use of the newest medium of his time, the broadsheet, he created a published platform of unprecedented range, and while doing so, and partly unintentionally — unhinged the world.
For the development of theological discourse, though, Luther´s later works were more significant.
Yet, they could only have the effect that they did, because the theses laid the groundwork for them.
Felix Leibrock