Martin Luther

October 31–Reformation Day

From the Treasury of Daily Prayer:

On October 31, 1517, an Augustinian monk posted ninety-five statements for discussion on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Dr. Martin Luther hoped that posting his theses would bring about an academic debate regarding repentance, the sale of indulgences, and other matters of concern within the Roman Catholic Church. However, Rome eventually excommunicated Luther, judging him to be a heretic. Luther’s reforms, centered on the teaching that a believer is justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, sparked religious reforms not only in the German states but also in many European countries. In 1667, Elector John George II of Saxony standardized the custom of observing Luther’s October 31 posting of the Ninety-five Theses.

Christmas School–Day Ten

Today in school, our focus was on a single hymn–“From Heaven Above to Earth I Come.” I love this Christmas hymn, mostly because I know the story of how Martin Luther wrote it for his children. I think it is amazingly cool that he had the ability to do that for his family, and even cooler that generations of believers have also gotten to benefit from his talents. Plus, you have to love any hymn that has 15 verses!

We started by reading the children’s storybook of the same name. Sadly, this book appears to be out of print, but it is a fantastic resource to have. There is a brief summary of why Martin Luther wrote the hymn, and how it was originally sung, on the front jacket flap, and then the words from Luke from where the hymn’s stanzas come. The rest of the book is only the words to the hymn, along with illustrations to accompany each verse.

After we had read through the whole book, we then listened to all 15 verses of the hymn. The whole thing is available in the Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth CD set. I have used this set many times in school, for Reformation, (“A Mighty Fortress” can be heard in both German and English), Advent, (the only recording we have of our favorite Advent hymn, “Savior of the Nations Come), Christmas, and liturgical hymns. This set, along with the Heirs of the Reformation CD set, are great resources to have at home if you’re interested in good Lutheran hymnody, and each comes with a booklet that has additional information on each hymn.

Our craft for the day, since we had heard so much about angels in the hymn, were paper plate angels. These proved to be a little trickier than I thought they would be, I guess because there were no flat surfaces to work with, so Turkey and Bunny needed a little help to get them done. Even so, they really liked making them, and were quick to give them names (Turkey named his St. Michael) and play with them. I like crafts that have some (limited) play value, instead of having everything just hang on the wall–the only problem with playing with them is that they also have limited durability!

Quote of the Day

Since Your Majesty and your lordships want a simple, clear and true answer, I will give it. Unless I am convinced by the teachings of Holy Scripture or by sound reasoning–for I do not believe either the pope or councils alone, since they have often made mistakes and have even said the exact opposite about the same point–I am tied by the Scriptures I have quoted and by my conscience. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither safe nor right. Here I stand. God help me! Amen. Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, April 18, 1521

Hero Tales

Sonlight used to include a book in Core K called Hero Tales Volume One by Dave and Neta Jackson. Unfortunately, they swapped it out for something else before I had a chance to order, so I haven’t actually used the book in school. I *have* looked through it, though, and I think it’s a really cool idea (and from what I’ve seen, I would have preferred it way over its Sonlight replacement, I Heard Good News Today, by Cornelia Lehn, which we could just *not* get into). There are four volumes in the Hero Tales series, and each one has information on 15 heroes of the faith. There is a short biography on each, and then three short stories that recall accounts from specific life events. Volume One included stories about Martin Luther, D.L. Moody and John Wesley, among others.

This book got me thinking–wouldn’t it be great if there was a book that followed a similar format, but focused on Lutheran heroes of the faith? Sure we all know about Martin Luther, but what about the others? I know there must be someone out there qualified to write such a book (I also know that someone sure isn’t me!).

Every morning in school, we have calendar time, and we always check out our CPH church year calendar to see if there are any special commemorations that day. I can tell the children who the Biblical commemorations are for (if they don’t already know), and I can usually remember the major early church fathers, but I have to admit, I’m a little cloudy on some of the major players in Lutheran history. Johannes Bugenhagen? Fun to say, but I had to do some digging to find out who he actually was. And there are over 15 commemorations for key players in Lutheran history alone. That’s quite a lot of subject material.

Sure, I can (and often do) research the names on the calendar, but wouldn’t be great if there was a book out there, written on a middle to upper elementary school level, that could introduce our children to the men (and women–let’s not forget Katie Luther!) who shaped our church into what it is today? I could see it being useful in so many settings–Lutheran Day Schools, Confirmation classes, homeschools–so many opportunities for learning our history. I think it would be great to have a book that introduces children (and their families) to these people who may be unfamiliar, and shares how God used them to reform, share His Word, and shape, even if unknowingly, the denomination that we have today!

Hymn of the Day–“A Mighty Fortress is Our God”

A mighty fortress is our God,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from every need
That hath us now o’er taken.
The old evil foe
Now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.  Lutheran Service Book #656

Happy Reformation Day!

Quote of the Day

I would not trade my Kate for France and Venice for three reasons:  (1) Because God has given her to me and me to her. (2) I have seen, time and again, that other women have more faults than my Kate. (3) She is a faithful marriage partner; she is loyal and has integrity….To have grace and peace in marriage is a gift second only to the knowledge of the Gospel. “Kate, you have a god-fearing man who loves you. You are an empress; realize it and thank God for it.” From one of Martin Luther’s “Table Talks” as printed in Katharina Von Bora

Book Review: “Katharina Von Bora”

I guess in the interest of full disclosure, I should admit right off the bat that I was biased going into this book, being a Missouri Synod Lutheran and all.  That being said, I love Rudolf and Marilynn Markwald’s biography of the wife of the famous Martin Luther.

This is probably the easiest to read biography I have ever come across.  I’m sure part of that is the material, but it is also due to factors such as the fact that it reads more like a novel than a biography, and the fact that there is so much humor laced into the letters shared between the Luther family that were printed in the book.

Not only did this book give me a better understanding of Katie Luther’s life–the type of family she came from, her willingness to take desperate measures to leave the convent, how she came to marry Martin, and the family and home life she built for herself–I also gained a greater understanding of Martin Luther, as well as other key players in the Reformation, and the general political and religious climate of that time.

I also discovered how glad I am not to have been a wife and mother during the Reformation.  From the burden that fell on Katie’s shoulders in managing a very large household, full of family, friends, visitors and refugees (and with a very limited amount of money!), to the way she was treated by people who should have been kind to her following her husband’s death–she lived a life that I’m pretty sure I could not handle.

This is an excellent biography for anyone interested in the Reformation, the life of the Luther’s, or the birth of the Lutheran Church.

Martin Luther School

That’s what Turkey and Bunny called our school time on Friday.  I condensed our regular lessons into four days so we could focus solely on the Reformation on Friday.  Actually, had they not gone to the fantastic Fall Bible School in Freeburg (alliteration, anyone?), we would have had a full week’s worth of Reformation School.  As it turned out, though, they learned so much there, and did enough projects that overlapped with what I had been planning, that I only needed one day to do the stuff that I considered particularly important for their age level.

I love our special units.  It was so fun to come up with stuff to do to help them understand who Martin Luther was, and why he was important to the church.  As it turns out, there is a lot of stuff you can teach, even at the kindergarten level, about the events of the Reformation.

We started by listening to a recording of “A Mighty Fortress” in German.  We talked about what country speaks German, and then located Germany on the map (which Bunny actually found with no help–we must have pointed it out before.  I figured Turkey would be the geography minded one, but Bunny is really great at remembering where countries are!  Sadly, I bet she knows more about world locations than a lot of adults…).  I also told them that some of their own ancestors are from Germany, along with Martin Luther and other key players in the Reformation.

We read Psalm 46 (verse one was our memory verse for the week), and talked about how “A Mighty Fortress” was based partly on that part of the Bible.  We continued to listen to some hymns that were written by Luther (I snuck a few Christmas hymns in there!), while putting our Luther’s coat-of-arms project together.  I was particularly proud of that, because I came up with the idea myself.  On Wednesday, we had used gold glitter to cover the outer ring of the seal, and white glitter to cover the rose.  After they had plenty of time to dry, we were able to layer the different elements of the coat-of-arms, while talking about the symbolism behind each part.  They cut the blue circle out of construction paper (I had cut out the heart for them), and we also had a black felt cross to put on last.  They look really cool–the glitter really makes them stand out, I think.

We read “Martin Luther:  A Man Who Changed the World,” by Paul Maier, and then went back through and looked at the pictures and retold the story that way.  We also practiced counting by fives (to 95, of course!), and then writing the number five, as well as the word five.

At the end of “Martin Luther School,” we sang the verse of “A Mighty Fortress” that they had learned at Fall Bible School, and then listened to a different recording of the hymn in English.

It never ceases to amaze me the way you can use one topic to teach so many subjects.  Just in talking about the Reformation, we covered math, world cultures, music, arts and crafts, religion, and the obvious history lesson.  That’s one of my favorite things about homeschooling–it’s a much more natural approach to learning.  No need to force certain subjects, when they cross over each other so easily!