LUTHER: THE MOVIE
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
LUTHER
Sola Scriptura
By Dr. Ted Baehr, Publisher of MOVIEGUIDE®
HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- Quality: * * * *
Acceptability: +1
At one important point in the movie LUTHER, a wonderful, entertaining
historical drama about the life of the 16th Century Protestant reformer Martin
Luther, Luther admits to the German Emperor that he may have been too harsh when
attacking some of the Roman Catholic leaders. Later in the movie, in fact, he
realizes, and painfully regrets, that some of his actions in support of
controversial ideas have led to many deaths during the peasant revolt in
Germany, which was inspired by his writings and fed by the intemperate zealotry
of some of his supporters.
At the same time, however, the Luther presented by this movie returns several
times to the central issue that occupied his mind, and changed the world: the
primacy of God’s Word, the Bible. “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and
plain reason. . . I will not recant,” Luther tells the German and Catholic
authorities accusing him of heresy. “My conscience is captive to the Word of
God.” For history tells us it was the demands of study for academic degrees
and preparations for delivering lectures as the teacher of biblical theology at
Wittenburg University that led Luther to study the Scriptures in depth. His
study of the Bible, the source of Christianity, convinced him that the Church
had lost sight of the central truths of the faith: Sola Scriptura!
The movie LUTHER covers the early years of Martin Luther’s life, from
his days as a monk in the early 1500s to the proclamation of the Augsburg
Confession in 1530, which founded the Lutheran Church in Germany. It begins with
the thunderstorm that led Luther to cry out to St. Anne, the patron saint of
miners like his father, “Help, St. Anne! I’ll become a monk.”
At the monastery, Luther is wracked by guilt because he feels completely unholy
in the face of the God of Justice. His mentor orders him to pursue an academic
career to relieve the strain. Soon, however, the young theology teacher is
trying to correct the corrupt Catholic Church in Rome, whose corruption Luther
saw first-hand. He begins teaching his students and the people in Wittenburg
about the mercy and compassion of God, while complaining about the Church
selling forgiveness of sins to the people for money.
All of this angers the Pope and many of his officials, who are trying to collect
money to build St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. They charge Luther with heresy,
and the climax of the first half of the movie occurs when Luther refuses to
renounce his writings, unless convinced by Scripture.
Joseph Fiennes does an excellent job of portraying this revolutionary historical
figure, whose Protestant Reformation clearly led to the founding of America and
the establishment of representative government in both England and the United
States. Although he appears to be a bit too thin and young by the end of the
movie, there are surviving portraits of Luther from the early 1520s when most of
LUTHER takes place which approximate Fiennes’ features. Supporting Mr.
Fiennes, as Luther’s supporter, Prince Frederick the Wise, is the legendary,
always enjoyable Peter Ustinov, star of such classic historical movies as SPARTACUS
and the great QUO VADIS.
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Core Universal Rights
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief
