The Wit of Martin Luther

by Gritsch, Eric W.

• ISBN13: 9780800638030
• ISBN10: 0800638034
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-01
• Publisher: Fortress Pr

Summary

Eric Gritsch ties Luther's wit and humor to his sharp polemical exploitation of the absurd or incongruous in service to his Reform. At a deeper level Luther's wit and witticisms reflected his keen appreciation of human frailty and the unknowability of things divine. Luther, Gritsch shows, especially relished humor in his interpretation of the Bible, in his pastoral relationships, and in his encounters with death. Ultimately humor in face of mortality is a gauge of human freedom, a "lightening up" that makes of life a divine comedy.

Author Biography

Eric W. Gritsch is Professor Emeritus of Church History at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
The Power of Serenity	p. 7
Saved from Being Deadly Serious	p. 7
Jester at the Court of Public Opinion	p. 15
Waggish Polemics	p. 30
Wit and Witness	p. 42
Divine Comedy in the Bible	p. 42
Facetious Pastoral Care	p. 57
Gallows Humor	p. 65
Smiling through the Mean Meantime	p. 77
Penultimate Thinking	p. 77
Daily Life before the Last Day	p. 90
Reborn Free	p. 102
Postscript	p. 113
Select Witticisms of Martin Luther	p. 116
Abbreviations	p. 122
Notes	p. 123
Bibliography	p. 134
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