Reformation Rap

November 8, 2007 By 8 Comments

For those of you who consider yourself too cool for polka, I offer here a battle rap smackdown between Martin Luther and Pope Leo X. Yo.

(This is by students from Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. Caution: some bad language and irreverence in church.)

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Filed Under: Art, Culture, Movies, Theology 8 Comments
About Gene Veith

Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College, the Director of the Cranach Institute at Concordia Theological Seminary, a columnist for World Magazine and TableTalk, and the author of 18 books on different facets of Christianity & Culture.

  • Joe

    I’ll take the polka, thanks

  • jgernander

    I think Bethel is a Baptist institution. It would be interesting if they would show Luther’s “smackdown” of Zwingli at Marburg.

  • Eric

    Yep, Bethel belongs to the Baptist General Conference, the old Swedish Baptists before ethnicity was dropped.

    Jgernander, they maybe would do a version of the smack down, but it would have to be from Zwingli’s point of view. :)

    At other places on this board people have wondered why Luther does not get more play in the larger evangelical world. This video to some extent illustrates the challenge. Nailing the 95, Diet at worms and translating the bible into German. That is the Luther story, the end. The larger protestant and evangelical world glom on to these portions because they are easy to understand. It is Luther as action hero.

    The tough stuff; the hiddenness of God, Law and Gospel, Heidelberg Disputation; etc; this never gets talked about. If Confessional Lutherans want to make an impact, I suggest starting with the hard and misunderstood parts of Luther. Evangelicals have already seen the movie about the easy stuff. Hit them with the nuance.

    Dr. Veith’s book, The Spirituality of the Cross, broke through to me. At least it has made me a Luthero-Baptist if such a chimera can exist.

  • http://gpiper.org/katiesbeer Theresa K.

    Luthero-Baptist? To me that is an impossibility. Two completely divergent theologies, apart from believing in the Trinity and accepting the Bible as the word of God. Can you explain your use of the term? I believe that Veith coined the term Evangelical Catholic in that book, if I’m not mistaken.

  • Eric

    My tongue is planted firmly in my check. The two are irreconcilable. Luthero – Baptist is chimera.

    Strict Baptist theology has to be Arminian. Many Baptist have reconciled Baptist symbolism with Reformed soteriology. Trying to work in a confessional understanding of the means of grace is just so much… Word in the water… whhhaaat.

    Why have I not run into the arms of Missouri, or at least the ELCA. Well my spouse has not been moved as I have. So, here I sit … in a Baptist pew. Pastor reads “do this in remembrance of me” and I say to myself “this is my body …”

  • http://watersblogged.blogspot.com Bob Waters

    I feel a little better learning that Bethel is a Baptist school. Despite the doctrinally dubious materials a lot of us in the LCMS used in Confirmation class, neither Luther nor Lutherans believe in consubstantiation. Funny how everybody else thinks we do, though.

    In any event, I think I’ll stick with the polka and my Hacker Pschorr Alt. I’ll leave the ganja to Leo.

  • kerner

    I kinda liked it. If for no other reason, it was fun watching white Baptists from Minnesota trying to rap.

  • brian

    this was not by students from bethel university!


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