My Boys!

Luther's Wittenberg

Martin Luther is easily my favorite historical figure. I read Roland Bainton's most excellent book on Luther, "Here I Stand," shortly after moving to Europe and fell in love with him. My favorite part of the book was the chapter on Luther's marriage to the ex-nun Katarina Von Bora who Luther helped to escape from a convent by smuggling her and a dozen or so other nuns out in beer barrels. Only Luther! Anyway, I found cheap flights to Berlin recently and realized that Wittenberg was just a short train ride away so Matt and I went for one night. Wittenberg is a cute and cozy little medieval town full of Luther. We stayed in a hotel directly across the street from the Castle Church where Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door in 1517. Luther also preached here and is buried here. We also visit the Stadt Church where Luther preached his famous Lectern sermons and where he and Katarina got married. The University of Wittenberg where Luther was a professor is just on the way to the Lutherhaus Museum. The Lutherhaus was an Augustinian monastery where Luther lived with Katarina. They also housed students here and this is where the famous table talks took place after dinner in Luther's living room. All these places were very neat to see but my favorite part was just being in the town, walking down the main drag and thinking to myself this is where Luther walked, lived, preached, drank beer, and fought for the truth. This little town is where God chose to light the fire of the Reformation. Amazing.

On Luther's Trail

Off to Germany to see Martin Luther's Wittenberg!

Anselm on the Death of Christ

A friend of mine recently loaned me a small book titled, "A Cloud of Witnesses- Ten Great Christian Thinkers" by Alister McGrath. In this book McGrath authors a dozen or so chapters on ten Christian thinkers of the past, giving a bit of biography and then focusing on a major topic each particular thinker dealt with during his life time. Though it is quite a small book it says a lot and I am really enjoying it and encouraged by it. I wanted to share some quotes from the chapter on Anselm of Canterbury who really wrestled with the death of Christ, wondering why did God have to redeem us through the death of Christ on the cross- wasn't there another way that God could have done it? After wrangling over God's mercy and justice Anselm's understanding and argument for the death of Christ came down to this:

1. Humans beings have an obligation, but not an ability, to make the satisfaction required if God is to grant us eternal life.
2. God himself has no obligation to make this satisfaction; however, he has the ability to make this satisfaction.
3. Therefore, Anselm concludes, if God became man, the result would be a God-man who has both the obligation and the ability to restore the situation, and allow us to regain eternal life.

I really like the clarity of the way he explained it. Shortly there after McGrath goes on to say this:

"God doesn't just say something like, 'Never mind- we'll pretend that sin never happened.' Even we would find that a shockingly superficial attitude.No- God deals with sin at its root, insisting that it is taken seriously,and really forgiven. And for those of us who know how real sin can be, it is vital that we know that our real sins are really forgiven. We need to know that our sins really have been cancelled and forgiven so that we can rest secure with the God who loves us. Forgiveness is shown to be a very costly matter. But the cost of our redemption also reminds us of how precious we are to God. We must mean something to God, if he goes to such lengths to forgive us, and restore us to fellowship with him."

Wow, what an utterly amazing and marvelous God we have!

Walking the Bible with Feiler

I came across this book just before I went to Egypt and Jordan this fall. I had hoped to finish it before my trip but only got about 1/3 of the way through it before I went. Finishing up the two thirds that was left after my trip proved to be better I think. The book and the author are very liberal but having just come from most of the places the author visits in this book made the book a very enjoyable read for me. I guess I was able to chew the meat while spitting out the bones more easily because I was still on a high from my trip. I enjoy reading travel literature- particularly from Israel and the middle east. This is the first book I have read on this subject from the perspective of a Jewish man and I found it very interesting in spite of the fact that he is so liberal when it comes to the veracity of the Bible (as are all the scholars and people he interviews along the way). I was excited for a while as his faith seems to be growing as you go through the book. However, by the end he is just as unbelieving as he was to begin with (though he doesn't see it this way) and so this was very disappointing. Another sad thing is the amount of people he talks to throughout his trip who seem to believe that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all worship the same God. This is in no way, shape, or form true in the least bit. Anyway, this being said there are some very insightful and interesting passages and experiences in the book. If you long to visit the lands of the Bible but cannot this is a good book to check out. If you are interested in what people in the middle east are like and how they view the bible this is a good book to check out. If you are interested in biblical archaeology and history you'll find a lot to chew on in this book- you'll just have to read it with discernment and with a healthy grain of salt!

Here is a passage from the book that I liked:

"... I returned to the essential triad at the heart of the Bible: the people, the land, and God. I had gone to the land, I had encountered a spirit, and in so doing I had become more human. That equation drew me back to one of the defining moments of the Pentateuch, Jacob's wrestling with the messenger of God in the valley of Jabbok, just north of Nebo. At first Jacob doesn't know who the messenger is. They wrestle, they struggle, one seems to be winning, then the other, until finally Jacob is scarred. The scar, significantly, does not end up on Jacob's hand, nor on his head, his heart, or his eyes. Humans experience God, the text seems to be saying, not by touching him, imagining him, feeling him, or seeing him. Jacob is scarred on his leg, for the essential way humans experience God, the text suggests, is by walking with him."