Wittenberg

(Created 08/15/17)

On Sunday we went to Wittenberg, where Martin Luther lived and preach. It was the city where the reformation began, kind of crazy we got to go there. Anyways we got to worship in the church where Luther infamously nailed his 95 questions and complaints to the church door. Though the original door burned in WWII (like most things in Germany), a bronze door has replaced it with his thesis written in raised letters on the front. The cool part was we got to walk out of those doors when we exited the service. I was surprised at the size of the city, it was pretty small. You could walk across the town in less then a half hour. Also Luther’s house is huge. After becoming the most famous man in Germany he became very rich. A lot of people offered his family and him donations. A lot of animals and barley for beer.

Reflections on Wittenberg

In Europe, religion has been losing its importance for quite some time. At one time, the catholic church would choose who the rulers of Europe were, and they had a “divine right” to rule. That monarchy has now almost completely disappeared aside from a few symbolic positions. I don’t know the exact reason this has happened but when the nobility no longer requires people to be of the same religion, the importance of religion to the average person will be much lower. Also, the horrors of war in Europe probably led many to question their beliefs. In their minds God is either not all-loving because he lets terrible things happen, or he is not all-powerful and cannot stop bad things from happening.

I would wager that this will probably happen in America, but not to the same extent.

The Tourist Church

While in Wittenberg, we visited the church that Luther nailed the 95 theses to and began the reformation. This was a very different city from the ones that we had visited before. One thing that many of us noted was that it seemed that Wittenberg was a town that was working hard at becoming a major tourist attraction. This was especially true with the 500th anniversary of the reformation just a few short months away. This  seemed very weird to a lot of us because the only really monumental part of Wittenberg was the Church. Other than that, Wittenberg is really just a small town in Germany. Continue reading “The Tourist Church”

Reflections on Wittenberg

In a country with so many elaborate churches, why do you think religion has lost its importance and does not appeal to people like it used to? Do you think this could happen to America in the future? Why or why not?

It is hard to see how a country with so many beautiful church structures and the cradle of the Reformation could have grown so cold with regards to their faith. Many people were so passionate about their faith that they were burned at the stake and died because they wanted to read their Bibles in their own homes. However, now I would say that religion has lost its much of its importance in Germany and all of Europe because the people are moving farther and farther away from God. Also, secular teaching for several generations that separate the secular and the sacred make it easier for people to put religion in a box they don’t have to think about unless they want or need to. Viewing churches just as architectural and artistic masterpieces without the acknowledgment that they were built that way as an act of worship also helps make religion very cold. Continue reading “Reflections on Wittenberg”

Wittenberg: The Land that Time Forgot?

Image may contain: sky, cloud and outdoor

 

 

I think it is quite unfortunate that Wittenberg is not a more popular city among the tourists. It’s the hometown of Martin Luther, the man who single-handedly sparked the Protestant Reformation! Not only did the Reformation reshape realign religion as we know it, but some say that the Reformation cleared a path for the Scientific Revolution! Now I’m not saying that Luther invented the Smart Phone, Continue reading “Wittenberg: The Land that Time Forgot?”

The Place of Reformation

On a typical Sunday morning, I am at church by 8 AM. I do not groan or complain because I have to get up early, but I get to church ready to worship God in a similar way to how it would have been done after the Reformation in 1517 even though we have an organ, microphones, and the like today. It has been 500 years since Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Schloss Kirche and today I worshipped at that church.

Continue reading “The Place of Reformation”