The popular view of Martin Luther

[Erland Gadde]

I'm from Sweden, a country with a Lutheran state church that was only
resently separated from the state. Today, Sweden is highly secular but
we still have a lot of Lutheranism in our cultural inheritance. I once
asked my mother (an atheist, like myself) why she always cleans her
house very carefully, always putting away all objects that disturb the
perfect order. (A typical mother, right?) She replied: "Because Martin
Luther is sitting on my shoulder and telling me what to do." That was
of course a metaphor, but it reflects how Martin Luther is perceived
in Sweden, and probably in other traditionally Lutheran countries too.
(Or...?)

Martin Luther is, in peoples minds (in Sweden), associated with
obedience to the authorities (including your parents), diligence, and
a proper Christian behviour: you shouldn't misbehave by partying,
dancing, drinking alcohol, and sex should only be practiced within
marriage in order to beget children. You should be content with your
life and not try to change the society. In religious matters, you
should always obey the Lutheran state's clergy and not try to form
your own opinion by e.g. interpreting the Bible in your own way.
(1726-1858 it was actually illegal in Sweden to have private religious
meetings not lead by a clergyman of the state church.)
This oppressive pattern of thoughts is still associated with Martin
Luther in peoples minds.

But this is utterly unfair to Martin Luther. It is well known that he
wasn't that way at all. Instead, he was a cheerful person who liked to
have fun. He drank beer and he was happily married and problably he
and his wife had a good sex life. In no way he was that moralistic
killjoy he is percived as in people's minds. And the core of his
religios ideas was that there is no need of a clergy between the
individuals and God: everyone has a personal relation to God and can
pray to him and find out his will without any clergymen.

My question is then: Why is this pattern of oppressive ideas
associated with Martin Luther? How did this (unfair) connection in
peoples minds arise?

It would also be interesting to learn if this popular malicious
portrait of Luther also exists in other traditionally Lutheran
countries and communities than Sweden.

Note: At one instance, the popular view is correct: Luther wanted
people to obey their (secular) authorites. He condemned the peasants
in some German states that rebelled against their princes. Is this
perhaps the key to the answer of my question?

[DKleinecke]

Post by Erland Gadde
My question is then: Why is this pattern of oppressive ideas
associated with Martin Luther? How did this (unfair) connection in
peoples minds arise?
It would also be interesting to learn if this popular malicious
portrait of Luther also exists in other traditionally Lutheran
countries and communities than Sweden.

I was raised as a Presbyterian in a community without (detectable)
Lutherans. To us Calvinists Martin Luther was nothing but a name. I
believe that is true of all the non-Lutheran Protestants. So, at least
outside of Lutheran circles, there is probably no such malicious
portrait of Luther - nor even much awareness of him. This conclusion
applies to the United States.

Lately I had some close and fraught contact with the Missouri Synod
Lutherans. I entered into this contact with some trepidation because
the Missouri Synod has the reputation of being close-minded and old-
fashioned. To my relief they proved to be perfectly normal (I doubt if
any of them were registered Democrats - but that is as far as the
conservative streak goes). They never brought up Luther. There were no
pictures of Luther or books with his name on them in their meeting
halls. In short, Luther was about as invisible to these Lutherans as
Calvin was to us Calvinists.

[B]

On Apr 16, 5:33 pm, Erland Gadde <***@bredband.net> wrote:
I once

Post by Erland Gadde
asked my mother (an atheist, like myself) why she always cleans her
house very carefully, always putting away all objects that disturb the
perfect order. (A typical mother, right?) She replied: "Because Martin
Luther is sitting on my shoulder and telling me what to do." That was
of course a metaphor, but it reflects how Martin Luther is perceived
in Sweden, and probably in other traditionally Lutheran countries too.
(Or...?)
Martin Luther is, in peoples minds (in Sweden), associated with
obedience to the authorities (including your parents), diligence, and

**snip

B - It's been my experience that many Scandi persons have a problem
with religion and see Christianity as something that takes away all
the "fun"...I never really understood why when many Asatruar people
here are so close to God/Gods and see it as beautiful and life
affirming... It seems an odd schism. Now I know that it was that
Martin Luther ethic of toeing the line so to speak. I hope that many
more Scandi folks will reclaim Christ for themselves and see how
beautiful it can be. Blessings B.

----

[One well-known aspect of Luther's theology was his understanding of
authority. He considered that authority in various spheres (family,
government, etc) was God-given, and that we generally owed obedience.
Of course this view can also be found in the Bible. Of course there
are certain things that no human authority can legitimately order us
to do.

As far as I can tell, this understanding wouldn't eliminate fun from
life.

--clh]