Posts Tagged ‘Martin Luther’
History of St George and the Dragon
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON aint George’s Day is April 23, likely the day of his martyrdom. He is often depicted as a knight in armor. He is the patron saint of England, and his day has been celebrated there since the 9th century and more recently throughout the British Commonwealth. However, he…
Read MoreHistory of the Diet of Worms: Martin Luther on Trial Over 500 Years Ago
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF THE DIET OF WORMS: MARTIN LUTHER ON TRIAL, OVER 500 YEARS AGO Podcast version ver five hundred years ago, on April 17, 1521, Martin Luther was tried before the most powerful ruler in Europe, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. While the name may sound unappetizing, the Diet of Worms was a…
Read MoreInformation Reformation: How the Web Was Like the Reformation
Reading Time: 3 minutesInformation Reformation: 5 Ways Martin Luther and the Gutenberg movable type printing press presaged the Internet explosion of information.
Read MoreHistory of October 31: What’s Martin Luther got to do with it?
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF OCTOBER 31: MARTIN LUTHER See my miniseries on the life of Martin Luther. On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed 95 propositions or theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, marking the beginning of the Reformation. Of course, the Reformation began long before that, but this date…
Read MoreHistory of Halloween: The Sacred and the Secular
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF HALLOWEEN Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve) is the evening of October 31. In its strictly religious aspect, this occasion is known as the vigil of Hallowmas or All Saints’ Day, November 1, observed by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. In the fourth decade of the 8th century, Pope Gregory III moved this holiday…
Read MoreHistory of the Kirking of the Tartans: Is it really Scottish?
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF THE KIRKING OF THE TARTANS This Sunday, all over the world, many churches will observe the Kirkin’ o’ th’ Tartans, a celebration of Scottish heritage and culture. What is The Kirking of the Tartans? Kirking Etymologically Kirking is from the Scots word kirk, which means church. In this usage, it means “blessing.” Tartans are…
Read MoreHistory of Christopher Columbus: Hero or Heel?
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS The man who sailed from Spain to discover America was neither Spanish nor did he actually discover America, at least not the mainland. But it was true that: In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue Where was he from, where did he go, who paid for…
Read MoreInformation Reformation: How the Web was Like the Reformation
Reading Time: 3 minutesHistorical parallels between the what Martin Luther did with the moveable type printing price that was the spark that ignited the Reformation and the advent of modern technologies that similarly transformed the Internet into the World Wide Web.
Read MoreHistory of Martin Luther: Part 8 – Legacy
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF MARTIN LUTHER: PART 8 – LEGACY If you stand outside the door of the house where Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, you can see above the rooftops the towers of St. Andreas Church. You can walk to it in 5 to 10 minutes. St. Andreas is still in use today. It rises…
Read MoreHistory of Martin Luther: Part 7 – Family Man
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF MARTIN LUTHER: PART 7 – FAMILY MAN How did Martin Luther, the bull in the China shop, the… “…fox [that had] arisen seeking to destroy the vineyard, [the] wild boar from the forest [that] seeks to destroy it…” …how did he become the very model of a modern Christian Family Man? My Lord…
Read MoreHistory of Martin Luther: Part 6 – Monk Marries Nun
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF MARTIN LUTHER: PART 6 – MONK MARRIES NUN When Martin Luther returned from the Wartburg Castle to Wittenberg, he had much to do (see Part 5). The religious unrest and political protests that had occurred in the city while he was in seclusion needed to stop. At the beginning of Lent, he resumed…
Read MoreHistory of Martin Luther: Part 5 – Kidnapped
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF MARTIN LUTHER: PART 5 – KIDNAPPED In 1521 Martin Luther was considered both an enemy of the Church and treasonous in the State. The Roman church had previously excommunicated him with the Papal bull and he has just left the Diet of Worms where the imperial ban of the Edict of Worms had…
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