Pictures from Wittenburg

As we wrap our celebration of the 500th anniversary of the reformation, I thought that I would share a few pictures from Wittenburg, Germany that I took on my trip over the summer. Hope you enjoy!

Downtown Wittenburg. If you're looking for Luther gifts, you can find it here.

A monument to Luther, about halfway between the two churches he's come to be associated with.

The Theses doors. All 95 theses are printed on them. The original wooden doors were lost.

The Schlosskirche (castle church) where Luther nailed the Theses. The top of the tower has the opening lines to "Ein Feste Burg" (A Mighty Fortress is Our God).

The Stadtkirche (city church) where Luther preached regularly.

Inside of the Stadtkirche.

Luther's House, which is now a museum.

The altar piece in the Schlosskirche. 

The stained glass at the front of the Schlosskirche. For perspective, this is above the altarpiece shown in the picture before. Aside from being beautiful, it was a powerful reminder that, at the end of the day, Jesus is above all else--even famous, snarky theologians. 

Hound Dog Harmonies: "The Lutheran Song"

I'm going to be a terrible blogger and inflict "Lost and Found" on you twice within a month.

Unfortunately, this song doesn't really have any themes to analyze, but it does list off people who are--or were at one point in their lives--Lutherans. With no further ado, you can check the Famous Lutherans Song

If that wasn't enough Lost and Found for you, you may be slightly crazy, just like me you can also search for their songs about the LCMS and ELCA. (Unfortunately, they don't have a WELS song that I can find.) I think you'll recognize the tune right away.

Next week I'll be wrapping up my Reformation series with a series of pictures I took in Wittenburg, the birthplace of the Reformation.

The Luther(an) Tag

Alright, here's a little impromptu fun to share around as part of our celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. All are welcome to participate, even if you aren't Lutheran.

What significance does the 500th anniversary of the Reformation hold for you?

Like Luther, I was not born a Lutheran. I was a "latecomer" and therefore have a weird perspective on Lutheran-y things. On one hand, I think it gives me the clarity to prioritize Scripture over other things (like the liturgy) that can be a bit more difficult for life-long Lutherans. This also makes me hesitant to place too much emphasis on Luther. (He was, after all, just a man--and he would have been the first to admit it).

On the other hand, I'm quite happy to be a Lutheran, especially since I've more or less consciously chosen to be here with the other back row-sitting, coffee slurping, change-resistant folks who have a theology that I can agree to in good conscience.  This gives me a sense of pride and belonging that I didn't always get growing up in an inter-denominational school, where the theology and style often made me raise my eyebrows a bit. 

Regardless, 500 years is quite the momentous occasion. It brings a sense of pride that I'm part of something so storied and historic. My trip to Germany was organized, in part, to be part of the celebration of the anniversary, so that's a pretty big piece.

Going forward, I hope the anniversary inspires a steadfastness in the faith for myself and my fellow Lutherans, especially as the culture (here in the U.S.) seems to be changing so rapidly. 

List up to 5 of your favorite Luther quotes.

"Are you ignorant of what it means to be ignorant?"

"To go against conscience is neither right nor safe."

"I have held many things in my hand and lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."

"The Christian shoemaker does his duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship."

"Peace if possible. Truth at all costs."

List up to 3 of your favorite church/Luther websites (serious or otherwise).

The Lutheran Satire

Bring some thick skin and a desire to laugh at yourself or others (especially "experts" on the internet). No denomination is off-limits, including Lutherans themselves. "Horus Ruins Christmas" is highly recommended.

Worldview Everlasting

Nerd-dom meets pointed theology. Bible Studies to current events.

Table Talk Radio

They excel at mediocrity! Everyone's second favorite theological game show, containing hits like "Praise Song Cruncher", "Church Sign Theology", and "Iron Preacher".

Which version of "A Mighty Fortress" is your favorite?

And you thought I could get through this tag without being controversial! The classic hymn that has two competing tunes, causing nearly as much consternation as what color hymnbook is the best.

I have to say that I prefer the "isorhthmic" version of the song, a.k.a. the one that's easier to sing and has eight notes instead of an overabundance of half notes.

Got an answer you're dying to share? I'd love to hear it in the comments!

Feel free to steal this tag!

Hound Dog Harmonies: "Nailed"

The Schlosskirche (Castle Church) where
Luther nailed the 95 Theses.
The top of the tower has the opening lines
of "A Mighty Fortress is our God"
written in German.

Today we kick off our month-long celebration of the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with a rock song about Martin Luther and the 95 Theses. 

The Short: 

Song: "Nailed"

Artist: Theocracy

Album: As the World Bleeds

Genre: Metal

Listening Suggestion: With some Abendbrot to celebrate some German food?

Christian Author Listener(s): Wayne Thomas Batson

Selected Lyrics:

Here I am, a broken man who's done all that a man can do

And found that it's only filthy rags.

Monasteries, religious schools, indulgences, laws and rules

It all added up to nothing and darkness and death.

Vanity, heartache, and emptiness...

Never fight it anymore,

For the burden on my life has been released--

Nailed it to the door...

There's fire in my spirit, and fire in their eyes,

And now they'll want to burn me alive--

Yet freedom rings. 

Unworthiness is all I bring.

The blood of Christ is all I claim,

This grace revealed everything...

You can listen to the song on the band's YouTube channel, though brace yourself for a bit of strong metal--albeit with a really cool pounding sound for the hammer. It's also fairly easy to find on Spotify.

The Long: 

While this song might not suit all tastes musically (I'm a self-professed headbanger and even I can only stand to listen to it occasionally), I think it does a good job of telling Luther's story--you might even say it hits the nail on the head. From his brokenness as a monk trying to reach God through his own works to his final reliance on Christ and realization that all the works in world won't save him, Luther's story is relayed in this somewhat angsty rock ballad.

Beyond just telling Luther's story, the song does a fair job of referencing the gospel--the fact that we can't save ourselves, that Jesus is ultimately everything, and the confidence of knowing that fact  as we face troubles in life. 

Also, let's be honest--it's just exciting to find a song about Luther. I may have had a little nerd moment when I initially heard it.

What songs about Luther do you know of?

Reality, Meet Fiction: Architecture

A view of the Berlin governmental district across the river Spree.
The dome pictured is the Reichstag Building, where the
German Parliament meets.

Reality:

Growing up in the Midwest, my exposure to different types of architecture was rather limited. My home state is only a little over 200 years old, so old buildings are hard to come by. If they do exist, they're typically simple structures, such as log cabins. One of my favorite aspects of Germany was the variety of architecture present in the country and the stories behind their design.

One building that had a particularly interesting story was the Reichstag building, seat of the German Parliament, or Bundestag.

The building originally housed the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) during the time of the German Empire. When it was succeeded by the Weimar Republic, it housed the Reichstag, or Parliament. 

However, just before Hitler came to power, it burned down under mysterious circumstances. Some hypothesize that the Nazi party was responsible for the fire, which gave them an excuse to arrest political enemies immediately prior to electing Hitler as Chancellor. 

Throughout the Nazi era, the building was left mostly unoccupied and in deteriorating condition as WWII raged on. 

Courtesy of Avda
(I wish I could take credit for such a nice picture.)

The building was repaired more fully during the Cold War, but the German Parliament, now called the Bundestag, did not return to the building until after German reunification in the 1990's. The current glass dome was built on top to replace the cupola that had been destroyed. It is made of glass to symbolize transparency in government, a theme that is repeated throughout most governmental buildings, which also utilize large windows. Walkways allow visitors to climb to the top of the dome, symbolizing that the people are above the government. 

In short, the building's architecture tells the story of a nation that has faced many trials in the past few centuries. 

Fiction: 

Perhaps the nations you feature in your book have a more straightforward history than modern Germany, but how can you have architecture tell a story within your story?

Why did your characters (or their government) decide on a certain style of architecture? Is it due to the region's climate and available materials as a primitive society? Does it represent part of their religion? 

Does your nation honor past rulers with statues and monuments? Or do they eschew such gestures due to a checkered or short past? 

Does your nation's architecture reveal any of their fears--fears of peasant revolt, invasion, dictatorship, etc? How can these be revealed in the architecture? Is it well fortified, or does it have more of an open design? 

Does your nation's architecture reveal their values? Is this reflected in materials they use (or don't use)? If they value fresh air, are large windows present? If they value strength, do they rely on materials they consider strong? Are buildings designed to be beautiful or utilitarian? 

How long has your nation been in existence? Do they value buildings from older, former kingdoms? Or do they feel the need to replace these buildings and place their own mark on the world? Have wars or natural disasters impacted which buildings remain? 

What buildings or styles have cultural significance? Have certain buildings served important purposes in the past? What buildings would your nation choose to rebuild if they were destroyed?

What buildings do you know of with an interesting backstory?

Reality, Meet Fiction: Translation

Zion Church in Berlin, the site of one
 of a handful of
underground print shops in
communist East Berlin.

As you may have noticed, my posting schedule decreased for a while as I was gone in Germany. This is the first of (hopefully) several posts that was partially inspired by the trip. 

Reality: 

While most people in Germany speak a fair bit of English, there were a number of times where our group leader had to translate signs or tours for us, especially if the subject was rather technical or if we were along on a German-only tour. 

Whether it's just his personality or the fact that he's a physicist, our guide tended to shorten things quite a bit for us to understand. Occasionally, with my (very, very) limited amount of German, I could tell that he was omitting some parts of the narrative or making them more succinct for our understanding. (This was totally fine with me, because being in a country where pretty much everyone seems to be at least bi-lingual, it's embarrassing to admit that you only speak one language and I also felt like I was an inconvenience to native speakers by needing everything translated).

However, when translation got really interesting was when there was a flurry of back-and-forth rapid German between our group leader and the tour guide, followed by a quick consultation with another bi-lingual speaker in the group. The result of this conversation usually began with a statement in English something along the lines of, "I don't think you have a word for it, but it's a similar concept to..." followed by a few sentence description of what was probably one word in German. A couple of times, he also added, "It's pretty much untranslatable."

Even though I went into the trip realizing that different languages don't always have a word-for-word equivalence of concepts, it surprised me how frequently these exchanges occurred and how narrow one language can be for expressing ideas.

Fiction:

While it's common to see multiple languages used in fantasy books, I don't think I've run across the idea of something being lost in translation. It would be a cool concept to utilize more frequently.

What factors influence what each language in your story has vocabulary for? For example, a sea-faring society likely has more words for nautical and marine terms than a desert society. How can this cause confusion in translation between characters?

Are certain languages considered valuable to learn for economic or social reasons? Are others looked down upon for being local dialects?

Is there a trade language or a language that most characters are expected to learn? Do certain professions require training in a certain language? (Church work in the Middle Ages and Latin). What factors influence what language(s) your characters know--schooling, social class, occupation, country of residence, language spoken at home, age, etc.?

Are certain languages considered more difficult to learn? How are languages in your storyworld related? What history--conquests, trade, etc.--affects shared vocabulary or similar syntax?

Have you traveled to a country that doesn't speak your native language? What was the experience like?