martha
Blue Crack Supplier
I saw this movie this afternoon. It was very well-done, with none of the romance that movies want to bring to the 16th century.
Being raised Lutheran, I was well-taught to be proud of the Lutherans' belief in the accessibility of Jesus and God. It appears that my mother and grandparents were right. The Catholic hierarchy in the movie were mostly corrupt, grubbing, power-hungry men. The priests were treated better by the script. They were portayed as honest, devout leaders of their illiterate congregations.
It brought back a memory of a family story. You see, one of my Lutheran relatives married a Catholic woman, back in the 20s or 30s, I think. This was somewhat of a family scandal even when I was a child, thirtysome years later in the 60s. The story went that their Bible was prominently displayed in their home, but left unopened, due to the Catholic prohibition against Catholics actually reading their Bible. The Norwiegan Lutherans in my family were unhappy with this, and there was a smugness in their repetition of the story. They were quick to use this tale as an illustration of the superiority of Lutheranism, and the pity that we should feel for Catholics.
I found myself wondering at how compressed was this movie's account of Martin Luther and his work. It was a very anti-Catholic hierarchy story; it was a very unflattering, unsympathetic view of the Pope and his cardinals of the time. Could it have been sympathetic to them, though? Can the story of the start of the Reformation be told without enumerating the corruption of the Catholic church in the 16th century?
Anyway, thanks for reading.
Your thoughts?
Being raised Lutheran, I was well-taught to be proud of the Lutherans' belief in the accessibility of Jesus and God. It appears that my mother and grandparents were right. The Catholic hierarchy in the movie were mostly corrupt, grubbing, power-hungry men. The priests were treated better by the script. They were portayed as honest, devout leaders of their illiterate congregations.
It brought back a memory of a family story. You see, one of my Lutheran relatives married a Catholic woman, back in the 20s or 30s, I think. This was somewhat of a family scandal even when I was a child, thirtysome years later in the 60s. The story went that their Bible was prominently displayed in their home, but left unopened, due to the Catholic prohibition against Catholics actually reading their Bible. The Norwiegan Lutherans in my family were unhappy with this, and there was a smugness in their repetition of the story. They were quick to use this tale as an illustration of the superiority of Lutheranism, and the pity that we should feel for Catholics.
I found myself wondering at how compressed was this movie's account of Martin Luther and his work. It was a very anti-Catholic hierarchy story; it was a very unflattering, unsympathetic view of the Pope and his cardinals of the time. Could it have been sympathetic to them, though? Can the story of the start of the Reformation be told without enumerating the corruption of the Catholic church in the 16th century?
Anyway, thanks for reading.
Your thoughts?