Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed The World

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Insured by NCUA. Hey everyone, it's Jay Shetty and I am so excited to let you know that my latest podcast interview is with the one and only Tom Hanks. I have left many wonderful atmosphere or a loving atmosphere without thinking, oh things were really wonderful back then I wish I was back there. Jay, I don't think I've ever thought that. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Trust me, you won't want to miss this one. I'm Julian Edelman. I'm Rob Gronkowski. And we are super excited to tell you about our new show, Dudes on Dudes. We're spilling all the behind-scenes stories, crazy details, and honestly just having a blast talking football. Every week we're discussing our favorite players of all times from legends to our buddies to current stars. We're finally answering the age-old question, what kind of dudes are these dudes?

We're gonna find out, Jules. New episodes drop every Thursday during the NFL season. Listen to Dudes on Dudes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.

And to search for the Our American Stories podcast, go to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Today's story is about one man who changed the world 500 years ago. The origin of this conflict flowed from a deceptively simple question, a riddle of sorts that a Catholic monk named Martin Luther wrestled with for years.

The question he asked himself was this, am I a good person? Here to tell the story is best-selling author Eric Metaxas. Eric wrote Martin Luther, the man who rediscovered God and changed the world.

Let's take a listen. When Martin Luther King Jr. was about five years old, okay, we're talking about the black leader in 20th century, his father was a famous Baptist preacher and he visited the Holy Land with a whole bunch of other Baptists. This is like, would have been, I don't know, 1920 or something, I don't get it right. And on the way back he went to Germany and visited Wittenberg and stuff and was so blown away, this is the Black Father, was so blown away by the life of Martin Luther that as an adult he changed his name from Michael King to Martin Luther King. As an adult he changed his name. That's how big of a deal Luther has been in history. And his son Michael Jr. changed his name to Martin Luther King Jr. Until the day Martin Luther King Jr. died, his close friends called him Mike. I would say Luther's the most influential man in 2,000 years apart from Jesus.

There's no doubt that God used this very flawed man and so I was really convinced that this is a gigantically important story. Luther was born on November 10th but the year in which he was born we actually don't know. We're sure that it's 1482, 1483 or 1484, I'm pretty sure it's 1483 but no one really knows, including his own mother who was nearby when it took place. We actually don't, that's kind of weird but it's true, but he's born on November 10th. On November 11th they take him to church and baptize him because the whole point was if you're not baptized you you'll go to hell forever, right?

So you might want to speed up the baptismal process, kind of important. So they baptized him on November 11th which was Saint Martin's Day and they named him Martin after the Saint for whom the day was named. So Luther was raised in a fairly well-to-do family. Now there's all these myths, you hear that he grew up and he always said I'm the son of a poor miner and I come from peasant stock. He was kind of like blowing smoke the way politicians do, they kind of like want to try to you know tell you they come from these humble roots but the reality is his roots were not that humble.

He was exaggerating a little bit. His father was not a poor miner, his father was an ambitious successful businessman in the mining business. His father wanted his brilliant son to go to the best schools and to go to the university, study law and then come home to Monsfeld and work in the family business. They needed a brilliant lawyer to work with them and they put him on this path.

They could never go to college you know so they said it's on you. So the problem is that Luther grew up at a time when salvation and the fear of hell was so real that while he is away from home at these schools he's thinking about eternal matters. Now his parents were Christians but I think that wherever he was that he had the freedom as being very sensitive brilliant young man to be thinking about this stuff and I think was eating at him and by the time he goes to law school he's 22 years old, his father sacrificed everything, things come to a head and he has heard of some people dying and on their deathbeds saying you know I wish I hadn't done this or that I wish I had gone into a monastery I wish I'd given everything to God because now I'm facing eternity and I'm scared. People often tell the story as though one day Luther's blithely mining his own business walking you know on the heath in the village of Stutterheim a thunderstorm comes scares him to death he thinks he's gonna be struck by lightning and enter eternity and he says Saint Anne save me if you save me I'll become a monk the Saint Anne was the patron saint of miners and he doesn't die and then he thinks well I've just made a vow I guess I've got to become a monk and he becomes a monk and that's of course ridiculous because he had been thinking about his own salvation very much in the years preceding this so the implication that this was just something that he blurts out in a moment of fear and then it changes the course of his whole life is just silly he was thinking incessantly about eternity so when the thunderstorm came and he says this vow which did happen it was only all of these things coming to a head it wasn't some dramatic thing. The bottom line is this was against his father's wishes but he said I cannot take a chance he was scared of obeying his father and going to hell forever and so he does this against his father's wishes and he gets into the monastery and what happens in the monastery well he realizes that if I have to earn heaven which was the basic way of thinking that means I've got to pray constantly I've got a fast constantly I've got to deny myself every pleasure I have to confess every sinful thought otherwise any sinful thought can drag me to hell unless I confess it to a priest not to God to a priest who will officially absolve me and if he doesn't officially absolve me I go to hell. And you're listening to Eric Metaxas tell the story of Martin Luther and we tell this story because of course America was founded by people who were a part of this split in the church that happened in the 16th century and what a fascinating story about his youth the myth busted my Metaxas that he came from a poor family and that the father was a minor a slight exaggeration as Eric would put it but one that was not true he came from a well-to-do family well enough to send him off to law school for the study of law but there was a crisis lurking in an existential one a philosophical one a spiritual one because Luther was worried about his eternal soul and worried about hell so he leaves law heads to the monastery and when we come back more of this remarkable story of Martin Luther here on Our American Stories Lee Habib here the host of Our American Stories every day on this show we're bringing inspiring stories from across this great country stories from our big cities and small towns but we truly can't do the show without you our stories are free to listen to but they're not free to make if you love what you hear go to our American stories calm and click the donate button give a little give a lot go to our American stories calm and give hello everyone it's your favorite president Donald J Trump here to introduce something really special you're gonna love it my new Trump watches it's one of the best watches made wear it proudly on your wrist and everyone will know what it's for who it's for who it represents get your Trump watch right now go to get Trump watches calm it's Trump time that's right president Trump has released his official Trump watches but don't wait because these limited-edition watches won't be around for long go to get Trump watches calm now to get your Trump watch before they're gone it's an easy URL to remember get Trump watches calm don't miss your chance to own a piece of history go now to get Trump watches calm and get your watch today see get Trump watches calm for details Trump watches are not intended for investment purposes hurry go now to get Trump watches calm hey everyone it's Jay Shetty and I am so excited to let you know that my latest podcast interview is with the one and only Tom Hanks Tom rarely does long-form interviews so I was so grateful to have the time to dive deep into family mental health and the mindset behind his long successful career dude I travel light and I can travel light emotionally my I'm done there's stuff that I cannot control I have left many of wonderful atmosphere or a loving atmosphere or a friendly atmosphere and like Ernie Banks the you know the ballplayer for the Chicago Cubs without ever looking back without thinking oh things were really wonderful back then I wish I was back there Jay I don't think I've ever thought that listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the I heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts trust me you won't want to miss this one I'm Julian Edelman I'm Rob Gronkowski guess what folks we're teammates again and we're gonna welcome you guys all to dudes on dudes I'm a dude you're a dude and dudes on dudes is our brand new show we're gonna highlight players peers guys that we played against legends from the past and we're just gonna sit here and talk about it and we'll get into the types of dudes what kind of types of dudes are there girls we got studs wizards we got freaks or dudes dude we got dogs dog we'll break down their games we'll share some insider stories and determine what kind of dude each of these dudes are is Randy Moss a stud or a freak is Tom Brady a dog or dudes dude we're gonna find out Jules new episodes drop every Thursday during the NFL season listen to dudes on dudes on the I heart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts hey everyone Jake story Ellie here from John Boy media I want to tell you about my podcast waking Jake it's your go-to spot for anything and everything sports baseball football basketball hockey golf college whatever's hot in the street we're talking about it on waking Jake so if you're a diehard fan or looking for the latest buzz we've got you covered no matter your favorite sport we're breaking it down with the passion that'll make you feel like you're in the stands with us plus we've got a bunch of guests foolish Bailey jolly olive Chris Rose and more mock drafts rankings whatever you want it's the sports world and come on and join our friends in the wake and Jake family you will not regret it so new episodes Monday and Wednesday you can watch along on the wake and Jake YouTube channel or listen awaken Jake on the I heart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast hey everyone this is Jimmy O'Brien from John Boy media I want to quickly tell you about my podcast it's called Jimmy's three things episodes come out every Tuesday and for about 30 minutes I dive into three topics in Major League Baseball that I am interested in breaking stories trends stats weird stuff sometimes I make up my own stats sometimes I do a lot of research and it ends up I was wrong the whole time so that's something you can get in on use Jimmy's three things podcast to stay up to date on Major League Baseball and to make you just a smidge smarter than your friend who's a baseball fan you listen to me and then you go tell him hey I know this and you don't so I make you smarter than your friends that's what Jimmy's three things is all about listen to Jimmy's three things on I heart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast you could also find it on the talking baseball YouTube channel and new episodes drop every Tuesday and we continue with our American stories and with Eric Metaxas he's the author of Martin Luther the man who we discovered God and changed the world let's pick up where we last left off Luther believed now think about this I mean later on he taught that when you make a confession to God and you repent to God you're good faith is all you need and God will forgive you but the church taught and Luther eventually fought viciously with this concept the church said it doesn't matter what is in your heart and with God you have to go to a priest only the priest has the right and the authority granted to him by Christ to absolve you of your sin so if you do not confess your sin officially with a priest it is still on you it's still on the books and will drag you to hell forever now if you take that as seriously as Luther took it you would never leave the confession booth and so he was miserable trying to please God trying to earn his way into the favor of God so Luther spends his life praying and fasting and confessing like a maniac driving his father confessor insane trying to seeing what Luther is going through how he's tortured and brilliant and passionate and intense and he sees that he's not finding peace and he says to him do you hate God or you think God hates you God loves you but Luther could not get this so he would come in and he he thought I've got to confess every sin and and he would confess things like you know on Tuesday I prayed for five hours and at the end of it I had a flicker of pride for having prayed for five hours and that flicker of pride will pull me into hell so I confess it and you can imagine when shop is like rolling his eyes he actually says to Luther only half joking bring me a serious sin bring me adultery or murder or otherwise get out I'm a busy man Luther was just driving him insane with every random of thought confessing infesting and he understood that Luther is never gonna find peace this way he's trying to earn the peace of God and Luther was failing so Luther had another idea he said since this is not working I wonder if someplace in the Bible there is the key the golden key that I'm looking for the cure for what ails me now people had not read the Bible up to this point for many many centuries obviously the printing press was not invented till the 1450s and Luther's at the monastery in 1505 so having Bibles was not a normal thing and the the Catholic Church of that day did not have Bibles and they didn't read the Bible they would use the Bible as a text to create commentaries on the Bible so you would study the commentaries and you'd study commentaries on the commentaries but actually studying the Bible was not done the Bible had been translated by Saint Jerome 1200 years earlier into Latin and they had the Latin Vulgate and that was the official Church translation in Latin well Luther was living at a time humanism this intellectual trend was coming out where because of the fall of Constantinople in 1453 all these Greek scholars had come out and suddenly they were revivifying the ancient languages and you people began to read ancient texts including the Bible in the original language so Luther jumps on this and starts studying the actual Bible digging into it like a man looking for the cure to a fatal disease saying if I don't find it I will die and Luther felt if I don't find it I will die the second death I will never be in the presence of God I need to find it and so he obsessively reads through the scriptures now he was a super brilliant Bible reader and he dug and dug and he taught Bible at the University and at some point around 15 17 he reads Romans 1 17 he reads this verse that he'd never really understood before it says for in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed as it is written the just shall live by faith and it finally strikes him I've been doing it all wrong it is only by faith that I can apprehend God and by faith I get the free gift of the righteousness of God I can't become righteous on my own it's useless but God who is holy and righteous gives me the free gift the gospel the good news is that he gives it to me as a gift I mean imagine somebody gives you a gift and you go let me just give you five bucks for that that's insulting he understands this is a gift from God the love of God and the righteousness of God are given to me and all I need to do is believe that and the word says it and it's imputed to me as righteousness I am free I am saved game over I don't need to climb and claw and work and pray I'm saved it's over and then when you appreciate that gift and you apprehend it by faith you accept the gift now you can do all kinds of good works but it's the motivation is gratitude to the God who gave you this free gift I want to bless him I want to love people with the love with which he has loved me I want to help the poor I want to feed the hungry I want to do every good thing out of the joy and the gratitude of this free gift of grace which I have apprehended only by faith Wow this changes Luther's life obviously it changes everything imagine living in a world where nobody gets this they have because of tradition over centuries kind of built this up where it's sort of about do this and don't do this and do this and don't do this but once Luther experiences this the famous moment the day he nails the 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral that's the moment and it's related but not that directly related basically Luther notices that in the Catholic Church at this time they're doing this thing where they preach indulgences where people are throwing money into the coffers of the church and buying you know these certificates kind of get out of jail free cards and it was creating this kind of corrupt cynical world and Luther said as a priest this is not good for the flock this is not good for the sheep as a theologian I need to tell my superiors what is going on now this is related to the works righteousness stuff that I was just talking about but it starts out with a specific thing of indulgences and Luther does not shake his fist at the church and you know we get this image of him he was a humble monk a humble man of God wanting to say in the humblest way to his superiors we have a problem we need to examine this problem so why don't we have a theological debate that's what we theologians do in the university so in Latin I'll write up these 95 theses I'll post it on the church door which by the way was only the local bulletin board he wasn't trying to be like a big shot by saying I'm gonna put it on the church door the church door was the bulletin board once you realize that it doesn't seem so heroic right but in retrospect we realized that when he did that it blew everything up it led to trouble and you've been listening to Eric Metaxas tell the story of Martin Luther and imagine this young man trying to save his immortal soul and confessing his sin trying to well work his way into heaven and to save his soul from hell and he's confessing and he's praying and he's fasting and he's essentially driving his confessor his priest crazy but he believes and knows at the time that the only way to get through or at least that was the Catholic Church's position was through a priest and then he discovers that he can take his case directly to God that and some other criticisms of the church were posted on the door of the church but back then this was not some high revolt the mere act of posting something on a church door it was akin to posting something on a bulletin board but it was what was on that paper that revolutionized the church his critiques and by the way these critiques out of love for the church not out of hate for the Catholic Church when we come back more of the story of Martin Luther as told by Eric Metaxas author of Martin Luther the man who discovered God and changed the world here on our American stories you hello everyone it's your favorite president Donald J Trump here to introduce something really special you're gonna love it my new Trump watches it's one of the best watches made wear it proudly on your wrist and everyone will know what is for who it's for who it represents get your Trump watch right now go to get Trump watches calm it's Trump time that's right President Trump has released his official Trump watches but don't wait because these limited edition watches won't be around for long go to get Trump watches calm now to get your Trump watch before they're gone it's an easy URL to remember get Trump watches calm don't miss your chance to own a piece of history go now to get Trump watches calm and get your watch today see get Trump watches calm for details Trump watches are not intended for investment purposes hurry go now to get Trump watches calm hey everyone it's Jay Shetty and I am so excited to let you know that my latest podcast interview is with the one and only Tom Hanks Tom rarely does long-form interviews so I was so grateful to have the time to dive deep into family mental health and the mindset behind his long successful career dude I travel light and I can travel light emotionally like I'm done there's stuff that I cannot control I have left many of wonderful atmosphere or a loving atmosphere or a friendly atmosphere and like Ernie Banks the you know the ballplayer for the Chicago Cubs without ever looking back without thinking oh things were really wonderful back then I wish I was back there Jay I don't think I've ever thought that listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the I heart radio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts trust me you won't want to miss this one I'm Julian Edelman I'm Rob Gronkowski guess what folks we're teammates again and we're gonna welcome you guys all to dudes on dudes I'm a dude you're a dude and dudes on dudes is our brand new show we're gonna highlight players peers guys that we played against legends from the past and we're just gonna sit here and talk about it and we'll get into the types of dudes what kind of types of dudes are there girls we got studs wizards we got freaks or dudes dude we got dogs oh we'll break down their games we'll share some insider stories and determine what kind of dude each of these dudes are is Randy Moss a stud or a freak is Tom Brady a dog or dudes dude we're gonna find out Jules new episodes drop every Thursday during the NFL season listen to dudes on dudes on the I heart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts hey everyone this is Jimmy O'Brien from John Boy Media I want to quickly tell you about my podcast it's called Jimmy's three things episodes come out every Tuesday and for about 30 minutes I dive into three topics in Major League Baseball that I am interested in breaking stories trends stats weird stuff sometimes I make up my own stats sometimes I do a lot of research and it ends up I was wrong the whole time so that's something you can get in on use Jimmy's three things podcast to stay up to date on Major League Baseball and to make you just a smidge smarter than your friend who's a baseball fan you listen to me and then you go tell him hey I know this and you don't so I make you smarter than your friends that's what Jimmy's three things is all about listen to Jimmy's three things on I heart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcast you could also find it on the talking baseball YouTube channel and new episodes drop every Tuesday hey everyone Jake story Ellie here from John Boy Media I want to tell you about my podcast waking Jake it's your go-to spot for anything and everything sports baseball football basketball hockey golf college whatever is hot in the street we're talking about it on waking Jake so if you're a diehard fan or looking for the latest buzz we've got you covered no matter your favorite sport we're breaking it down with the passion that'll make you feel like you're in the stands with us plus we've got a bunch of guests foolish Bailey jolly olive Chris Rose and more mock drafts rankings whatever you want it's the sports world and come on and join our friends in the wake and Jake family you will not regret it so new episodes Monday and Wednesday you can watch along on the wake and Jake YouTube channel or listen awaken Jake on the I heart radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and we continue with our American stories and the story of Martin Luther as told by Eric Metaxas author of Martin Luther the man who discovered God and changed the world let's pick up where we last left off people said who does he think he is criticizing indulgences and they you know threw mud at him and he threw some mud back he defended himself and it turned into a conflagration that consumed all of Europe this humble monk never intended that he never intended to break away from the church this was the only church he knew he never intended to start another church never there were other reformers who said almost exactly what Luther said a hundred years earlier Jan Hus the famous Hungarian the Wycliffe in Dale and then there are some reformers like st. Francis who never were incendiary or troublemaking but that's just because they had a good Pope or they had a good who knows but but Wycliffe and Jan Hus they had said almost exactly what Luther said but the church and the power was able to contain the trouble and crush it and burn them at the stake and that was the end of that the difference was when Luther brought his information forward the printing press existed which of course it did not in 1415 when when whose was condemned and people without even asking Luther took the 95 thesis that oh this looks interesting they translated into German and they printed it and it's sold like hotcakes and next thing you know everybody in Europe not just Germany is reading these 95 thesis and again hey this is a hot potato this is the Pope's not gonna like this it started to get kind of you know beyond the horse got out of the barn and there was no bringing it back in so everything he wrote then he would preach a sermon to clarify like oh listen I don't read the theses let me let me give my my more considered thinking on the subject of indulgences I'll preach a sermon I better preach a sermon and clarify because people are all hot-headed about the 95 theses which I only meant for other theologians to read in Latin but now everybody's talking about it so he preaches a sermon and prints it up and translates into German and then that gets distributed and then the Archbishop says to him well you know that's causing trouble too can you can you can you stop distributing that can you say well of course he was very humbling but but eventually Luther learned to use the medium of printing and he could get his message out to the people there really had never been a people before they were just there was rulers and the people whom they ruled and and and they had nothing to say about anything but suddenly Luther his writings are getting out there and the people are reading it they're getting excited and they're thinking this man speaks for us he's saying exactly what's true he's talking about the corruption he's talking about this he's talking about that and this is exactly what we feel and so as I say the horse got out of the barn and so even if they had killed Luther the movement these intellectual ideas were out and there was no bringing them back eventually in 1521 at the grotesquely named diet of worms worms forms was a city in Germany and Luther was called to go to the city of worms to face the music the Pope had sent a representative the Holy Roman Empire was represented by the Emperor Charles and all of the nobles and they're there to hear this man defend himself four years into this insanity where the whole world is talking about these ideas and suddenly he's there and they say to him because they're trying to crush this descent things have gotten out of hand and they're trying to say to him excuse me shut up right not not excuse me what did you mean by that how can we help you it's excuse me you shut up recant what you said and we'll let you walk out of here but if you don't you will be taken to Rome and burnt at the stake so Luther has an opportunity to walk away and it reminds me of my friend Chuck Colson he was given a plea bargain at Watergate and they basically said to him look look look you want to avoid jail time you got teenage kids you don't want to do jail time just sign on this I just say you did these things that you didn't do but you do that and you walk out of here take the deal Chuck you're nuts not to take the deal sign it and he said why I have a problem I'm a Christian I can't do that and Luther was in the same position he said I understand that all I have to do is say I recant everything I've said sorry won't happen again and I walk out of here but he felt compelled by God not to do that he felt compelled by God to demand of them that they show him where he had made a mistake he said if I'm wrong I don't want to paper this over show me where I screwed up show me and of course I will recant and repent but you have to show me from the scriptures what did I get wrong they didn't do that they said are these your books yes or no yes do you recant what you've written in these books yes or no he said how can I recant what I've written I've written many good things in these books show me what it is that I've gotten wrong show me they weren't gonna do that they wanted just to say shut up bow before the authority of the church and everything will be fine and he says I can't do that and the famous line is here I stand I can do no other you want me to to recant unless you show me from the scriptures here I stand I can do no other God help me amen he casts himself on the mercy of the Lord Luther did not fear what they could do to him he said I fear God I fear the truth I want to represent what is true what about all those people depending on me God's gonna hold me responsible all those people I have to speak the truth so he spoke the truth and this is one of the watersheds in the history of the world when you appreciate what happened in that room it is mind-blowing it's an epical moment in history others had done it before but somehow when he did it it opened the door to what we call the future I say that he was the man that created the future the man that discovered the future by by holding the gospel up in this way he did something that changed the world forever and ever and and all of the freedoms that we take for granted the very idea of democracy the idea that the individual can speak against power and that it all of these things the whole modern world started that day and it's not an overstatement to say that that is exactly what happened on that day in forms and you're listening to Eric Metaxas tell one heck of a story of Martin Luther and again Eric is the author of Martin Luther the man who discovered God and changed the world he's also the author of one of my favorite books Bonhoeffer pick both up you won't regret it two of the greatest reads you'll ever experience in your lifetime you're hearing a good bulk of the story here and it was just simple he was saying to the church and his superiors let's have a discussion I have a problem and I have some text to back it up you see the Bible was now within reach of some people they were printing presses and this was a problem for the superiors and of course well what people do with power is what they do with power and they wanted Martin Luther to simply recant and not recant on principle not recant after a debate or a discussion but simply to recant and repent because they said so and of course he didn't here I stand I can do no other was his reply and of course he didn't fear man he feared God and this would begin a revolution in the world his example would begin a revolution in the world more of the story of Martin Luther the man who discovered God and changed the world here on our American stories and we continue with our American stories and with Eric Metaxas the author of Martin Luther the man who rediscovered God and changed the world here is Eric with the final part of this remarkable story he's declared not just a heretic but now an outlaw meaning that the Pope says he's a heretic but then the Holy Roman Emperor declares him an outlaw because if the Pope says you're heretic you are now also illegal you're an outlaw renegade and so they let him go back home but it's pretty clear that as soon as he gets home there's gonna be you know somebody's gonna come to arrest him and then he's gonna be taken to Rome and he's gonna be burned at the stake so his protector in a way Frederick III Frederick the wise who he sensed that Rome those Italians are not treating him right they didn't give him a fair hearing and I don't want him to go down there and be killed and whatever so here's what we're gonna do we're gonna kidnap him and it's out of a movie right that he is on the way home from forms going home and he knows this is gonna happen they've told him but they told him they didn't tell him who's gonna kidnap you nor where they're gonna take you you know nothing just go along with it and they kidnap him with crossbows drawn it's actually kind of a scary scene the people in the wagon didn't know that this was fake and so Luther is kidnapped by these strangers and dragged through the night to a castle called the Vartburg it's way up in the Thuringian forest and it's this castle and nobody knows he's there and then if that's not you know exciting enough he has to be disguised so he grows out his tonsure you know the tonsure they would shave their their heads he grows out his hair and he grows a beard a Cavaliers beard to look like a knight because he has to blend in with the other Knights at the castle they're not told that this is Martin Luther so they call him Knight George or Juncker Georg and he's now incognito as a knight in the castle for a year and of course while he's there he's dressed as a knight and he's kind of bored because he's a very busy guy when he's back home now he has nothing to do so what does he do he translates the New Testament into German in 11 weeks people say well was this the first time it had been translated to German no but it was the first time it was translated from the original Greek not from the Latin Vulgate so it was accurate he was obsessed with what exactly does the Word of God say what does it say and there were some mistakes in the Latin Vulgate translated by Jerome with the church had accepted and so he wanted to get it exactly right and he wanted to write it in such a way that the common men and women of Germany could understand what it said he knew that this book has never been read by these people and so his writing was so good this is the thing this is this man is nothing but it but a genius of history his writing was so good that to this day Germans read the Luther translation I mean it's not like it was some primitive thing that they've improved upon he was a poet with the vernacular and as a result of that the gospel was allowed out of its cage into the world in a way that it had never been before and this is not to say that the gospel didn't exist before Luther God forbid but it had been sort of hidden and forgotten Luther rediscovers it in a way that he brings it into the world not just so that we can get saved but so that we who get saved can then take that gospel and do every good thing imaginable in the world in gratitude to the God of mercy the gospel frees us to bring justice and truth and life slavery would never have been abolished in the United States of America if not for born-again Jesus freaks who believed were all created in the image of God what do you think the idea came from secular people church people born-again Jesus freaks who believed in the Word of God said slavery is an abomination and we don't care what has been going on for thousands of years it needs to end that is the gospel of Jesus Christ freed into history Luther is a huge piece of that and I have to tell you if he had not had the courage in the faith to stand when he stood I have no idea how it would have gone down this is one of the most beautiful things that fairly late in life for him he was 41 and he decides to get married and it wasn't because he was lusting and he said I've got to get married it wasn't because he was madly in love and he had to marry this woman he found himself in a place in life where this nun had escaped from the nunnery actually Luther sprang her from the jug he was the you know the main orchestrator of this escape of the nimshun 12 nuns from nimshun we call them the nimshun 12 and they had to figure out what they're gonna do you can't just these nuns had been there against their will and he thought it's not right and they need to be able to make their own decisions if they don't want to be nuns they shouldn't have to be nuns and so this was highly illegal and he springs them out of there and suddenly where do they come they all come to Wittenberg and sort of say well okay now what do we do so he had to get them married off I mean he had to find them you know a position in a house or something had to do something because they were poor and one of them didn't want to marry the man that they had kind of picked for her and she was kind of brassy and outspoken you know instead of saying okay thank you very much I'll marry this guy she she didn't like him and she told Luther's friend Nicholas von Amstorff I really don't want to marry that guy and she said rather cheekily I would marry you meaning Nicholas von Amstorff or dr. Luther so in a way she's the one that proposed it's very funny Amstorff was not at all interested in marrying and Luther somehow his head got turned slightly around at first he thought she was arrogant or something but at some point he decided he esteemed her that's the the phrase that I use and I think that he uses that he really respected her she was only she was 15 years younger far less educated but he really really respected her and that grew into a beautiful and deep love that is so beautiful that it should be a model for all of us we're all looking for these feelings and stuff he had this really beautiful relationship the two of them esteemed each other and loved each other and they had six kids and he loved his kids and it shows you a dramatically different side the playful side of the human side of Martin Luther Luther said many things in his life that were extremely positive about the Jews which were he was way ahead of his time in understanding their plight the way Christians treated them and stuff but the Nazis cynical satanic Lee influenced that they were they found what Luther wrote just a few years before he died he was for him very ill and cranky and he had by that time in his life gotten to where he was saying extraordinarily nasty things about everyone he was vicious his friends told him you know you got to stop tweeting it's not presidential and I oh you know what I'm sorry I I didn't get a lot of sleep last night I apologize but at his very funeral his dearest friend Melanchthon is saying in his eulogy that Luther was not a perfect guy so everybody kind of knew it but the point is that Luther was vicious to the Catholics and to the Pope and I quote some of it because it's very funny and very vicious and very crazy he was vicious to his fellow Protestants with whom he disagreed vicious vicious to the Muslims but of course nobody ever hears about that you only hear about what he said about the Jews why because the Nazis grabbed what he said about the Jews and they said look our national hero the sainted Luther said this they didn't quote what he said about Jesus and about loving your neighbor and about he said ninety nine point nine percent of what he said the Nazis didn't want to quote and didn't believe and despise but they found just what he said and so everybody today says he was an anti-semite he said this and he said that well what he said is horrible let's not you know sugarcoat it but when you put it in context it's at least different than simply horrible it's it's far more complicated and a terrific job on the production editing and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler and a special thanks to Eric Metaxas and he wrote Martin Luther the man who rediscovered God and changed the world he's also the author of Bonhoeffer pastor martyr prophet and spy and we've done that story with him as well and they did very different things at very different times but in the end they did hard things and they challenged well the world order and the order in front of them and they did it in obedience to their God and the story of him being kidnapped or the fake kidnapping to get him out of this outlaw mode I mean imagine the Pope declaring you a heretic and the Emperor of Rome calling you an outlaw well your life expectancy well it just went down a notch and while living in this beautiful prison he decides to translate the Bible and does so in 11 weeks from Greek not from Latin but from Greek into German as a result Eric said the gospel was out of its cage the story of Martin Luther the man who discovered God and changed the world here on our American stories