The Fireproof Martin Luther

Reformation21 ^ | Aaron Denlinger

[Gamecock]

The sixteenth-century papacy never succeeded in setting fire to Martin Luther, much to its chagrin.

And to the chagrin of many current day FRoman Catholics.

[chajin]

We're fired up

[Alex Murphy]

The sixteenth-century papacy never succeeded in setting fire to Martin Luther, much to its chagrin. Support from a string of Saxon princes and political events in the Holy Roman Empire combined to keep Luther from Rome's grasp until he succumbed, aged 62, to a natural death. Intriguingly, there was much speculation in Luther's day and for several centuries afterwards about what would have happened if Rome had succeeded in sending the reformer to the stake -- speculation, that is, about whether he would have actually burned or not. From rather early in Luther's reforming career the opinion circulated that Luther was in fact insusceptible to burning -- that he was, in other words, incombustible per se....

....a 1521 pamphlet describing Luther's trial at Worms notes that, while Luther was permitted to leave Worms unharmed, the Diet decided to burn his books and a picture of his person to reinforce charges of heresy against him. The books apparently burned just fine, but the picture of Luther refused to succumb to the flames, at least until it was removed, enclosed in a box made of pitch, and reinserted into the fire. In 1522, on the occasion of a burning of Luther's books in Thorn, Prussia, another picture of Luther similarly defied its natural fate. In 1634, nearly a century after Luther's death, an image of Luther inexplicably survived the destruction by fire of a Lutheran pastor's study in Artern, Germany. And in 1689 when fire broke out in Luther's birth-house in Eisleben, the only surviving picture from the areas affected by flame was one of the reformer.

PFL

[Celtic Conservative]

“The Fireproof Martin Luther”

At least until his death...

CC

[Gamecock]

Nope. Fortunately he was saved from God’s wrath when he became Christian!

[Celtic Conservative]

Saved from God’s wrath or condemned by it?

CC

[Celtic Conservative]

Oh yeah, he was a Christian. Then he became an apostate. You and I just disagree.

CC

[buffaloguy]

Thanks for posting this. Hilarious.

[Roos_Girl]

Could you ask Mary to save him?

[piasa]

Bought and paid for by Christ, as am I, though undeserving... and I pray you are as well, if you can ever accept that gift, because you most assuredly will never earn it by being bitter and resentful.

[Gamecock]

Why would anybody go to Mary when Jesus is the way?

[piasa]

That’s pretty funny... I’m Lutheran but had never heard that legend. Sounds like the Lutheran equivalent of finding the image of a saint in a potato chip.

Maybe it was all the beer... not enough alcohol in it to burn.

[samtheman]

The difficulty, of course, in establishing whether Luther was combustible or not is that, as noted, no one ever succeeded, to our knowledge, in lighting a match to him.

I think it's safe to assume that there was no difference chemically or physically between Luther's body and any other human body that ever lived. If doused in a flammable liquid and set on fire, the result would be the same for Luther as for any other human who ever lived.

Am I missing something here?

[Celtic Conservative]

I am justified by faith in Christ Jesus and am Catholic, they are not mutually exclusive as you might suggest. And you choose to portray me as an angry hater simply because I disagree with you. Isn’t that a liberal tactic?

CC

[the_daug]

If Luther had burned? The reformation would have continued anyway because of the other protesters of the Roman Catholic Church and Luther would have been a martyr for Jesus Christ and his church.

[Celtic Conservative]

BTW I could never earn Gods forgiveness, it’s a gift, freely given. Or do you simply go with what others have told you about what those “evil Catholics” believe?

CC

[chajin]

Oh yeah, he was a Christian. Then he became an apostate.

He was a Catholic who did not wish to leave the Catholic Church, but that is not the same as not being a Christian. This point is essential, considering that the Catholics and Lutherans have found common ground in the issue of justification: cf. here. If both Catholics and Lutherans have a similar view towards justification, then Luther is as much justified towards God through Christ as any Catholic.

[Mr. Lucky]

No; claiming to be a victim when an argument doesn’t go well is pretty much a liberal tactic.

[Celtic Conservative]

The point may be essential. But it is also debatable.

CC