Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World<\/em>. \u00a0Here\u2019s a passage from that book that I thought some might find interesting. \u00a0It describes popular attitudes toward the Father and the Son in the early 1500s, just prior to the beginning of the Protestant Reformation:<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
God the Father and Jesus the Son were both principally thought of as fierce judges. \u00a0So the role of comforter fell to Mary, the human one who understood us and our trials, the soft mother full of grace who could protect her beloved child from harsh and unyielding men. \u00a0Although Christian doctrine had always clearly taught that Jesus himself had been fully human, and could therefore understand and sympathize with our trials and sufferings and temptations, the reality of church life at this point in history was that this part of Jesus had mostly been ignored, so that he was now thought of as every bit as distant and remote and terrible as God the Father ever had been. \u00a0So only Mary, his entirely human mother, could comfort us. \u00a0And not only that, but she could appeal to her harsh and perhaps indifferent son as only a dear mother could. \u00a0Similarly, the faithful frequently appealed to the saints to understand human difficulties, again feeling that by dint of their humanity, they were closer to us than Jesus, who might technically have been human but who we knew was actually God. \u00a0The saints would therefore be more patient with us and more desirous of helping us, and perhaps the implication was also that they had more time on their hands than God himself, who was far too busy running the vast universe to be bothered with our insignificant concerns. \u00a0(35-36)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just a few pages before (on page 31), Metaxas had related the pivotal episode of young Martin Luther\u2019s terrifying experience outdoors during a fierce thunder and lightning storm when, in terror for his life, he had screamed out \u201cIch will ein M\u00f6nch werden!\u201d<\/em> (\u201cI will become a monk!\u201d). \u00a0His first instinctual response, though, was to cry for divine help. \u00a0But not directly to God. \u00a0\u201cHilf du, Sankt Anna!\u201d<\/em> he had cried, appealing to the mother of the Virgin Mary. \u00a0\u201cHelp me, Saint Anne!\u201d<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I will, incidentally, be leading a tour in Germany in June 2020, not only to the legendary Oberammergau Passion Play but to a number of sites associated with the very dramatic story of Martin Luther and the Reformation:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.cruiselady.com\/tours\/experience-germany-oberammergau\/<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Eric Metaxas is an author for whom I have great admiration, and I\u2019ve recently commenced reading his biography of\u00a0Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World. \u00a0Here\u2019s a passage from that book that I thought some might find interesting. \u00a0It describes popular attitudes toward the Father and the Son in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
"Hilf du, Sankt Anna!"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Eric Metaxas is an author for whom I have great admiration, and I've recently commenced reading his biography of\u00a0Martin Luther: The Man Who\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Hilf du, Sankt Anna!"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Eric Metaxas is an author for whom I have great admiration, and I've recently commenced reading his biography of\u00a0Martin Luther: The Man Who\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-10T18:27:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/06\/Wittenberg_Market_square.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"Hilf du, Sankt Anna!\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-10T18:27:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-10T18:27:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Eric Metaxas is an author for whom I have great admiration, and I've recently commenced reading his biography of\u00a0Martin Luther: The Man Who\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Hilf du, Sankt Anna!”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Hilf du, Sankt Anna!\"","description":" Eric Metaxas is an author for whom I have great admiration, and I've recently commenced reading his biography of\u00a0Martin Luther: The Man Who","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Hilf du, Sankt Anna!\"","og_description":" Eric Metaxas is an author for whom I have great admiration, and I've recently commenced reading his biography of\u00a0Martin Luther: The Man Who","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2019-08-10T18:27:06+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/06\/Wittenberg_Market_square.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html","name":"\"Hilf du, Sankt Anna!\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-08-10T18:27:06+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-10T18:27:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Eric Metaxas is an author for whom I have great admiration, and I've recently commenced reading his biography of\u00a0Martin Luther: The Man Who","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/08\/hilf-du-sankt-anna.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Hilf du, Sankt Anna!”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76956\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Marktplatz](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/06\/Wittenberg_Market_square.jpg\")
<\/a>