Reading Bolling’s book on Romans reminds me of how reading Romans did change one man, and how that altered the religious and political landscape of Europe. I am reading Bolling’s book on Romans with re-reading Roland Bainton’s biography of Martin Luther. I have posted a longer comment on Luther in another setting.
But re-reading Luther’s biography by Roland Bainton, Here I Stand reminds me of his conversion experience beginning page 60 in Bainton’s book. It is sometimes referred to as his ‘Tower Experience’.
Martin Luther brought changes to the world of his day that left a legacy of an open Bible for the common people. The Bible had been a forbidden book for centuries, only to be read and interpreted through the priesthood of the established church. By 1534 Martin Luther had translated the whole Bible into German for the German people. England had to wait until 1611 before we had the King James Version of the Bible.
Right now Germany is undergoing the “Luther Decade Commemorations”. It commemorates the time of Martin Luther’s arrival in the German town of Wittenberg in 1508 and the beginning of the 16th Century Reformation in 1517 when Luther nailed his famous 95 Thesis to the door of the Castle church of Wittenberg. Part of the celebration will be 800 colourful miniature figures of Luther - each about a metre in height - being placed in the market square in Wittenberg.Next year, Melvin Bragg will be presenting a new documentary on BBC2 to mark the 400th Anniversary of the publishing of the King James Version of the Bible, and what influence it had on the world of that time. The Bible Society will also be celebrating the 400th Anniversary of the publishing of the King James Bible.
The Bible Society says, “Next year promises to do unto the Bible what last year did unto Charles Darwin. 2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Version, arguably the most important and influential book ever published in the English language.”
