My Friend Martin

Reformation Day - Today is October 31st, the 492nd anniversary of Martin Luther nailing 95 thesis to the Wittenberg Church door. This served as a catalyst for a series of events we know as the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther has always been one of my historical heroes. His courage, exemplified by his "Here I stand" declaration at Worms (the history of which is disputed, but does not invalidate the point of his courage); his theological insights -- particularly as it relates to justification by faith alone, double imputation, and the bondage of the will -- are classic; and his down-to-earth (and sometimes earthy) realism exemplified in his writings (he could eviscerate his enemies with rhetoric that makes todays politics look like child's play while also displaying a tenderness and humanity demonstrated in his Tabletalk and letters make him a man I would have loved to get to spend time with.

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It is quite coincidental that my wife bears a similar first name to Luther's but it has provided fodder for jesting throughout my marriage to "Katie my rib." (I do realize that Luther often did also call his wife "My Lord, Katie" but that term of endearment is not used quite as frequently here.) So on this Reformation Day 2009, I am pleased to post this picture of Martin's Katie with mine, as well as a photo of a Luther beer and mug, along with one of the first biographies I read in my teens, J. H. Merle D'Aubigne's The Life of Martin Luther, all of which will combine to make this day a more enjoyable one.