Grace on Tap

When Thomas Müntzer was installed as the Evangelical preacher at the Lutheran church in the small town of Allstedt, nobody could have predicted how things would progress over the next two years. By the time everything was settled, thousands would be dead and wounded in one of the most violent uprisings in Europe.

Müntzer wasn’t alone. Many people were ready for revolution. There were revolutionaries in the Black Forest, Bavaria, Thuringia, and Swabia. There were even nobles who supported the revolutionary cause.

Even though he wasn’t alone in his appeal for revolution, Müntzer was unique in his mixing of theology with the revolutionary call, a powerfully toxic amalgamation of teachings that he perfected while he preached in Allstedt. His preaching left the commoners believing they were doing God’s work, even as they pillaged and murdered those who stood against them.

In 1522, people were tired of the excesses of the rich and powerful. Revolution was in the air.

There was the revolution in Spain. The Revolt of the Comuneros, which was a revolt in Castile against Charles V.

There were characters like Franz von Sickingen, who proclaimed himself to be a sort of military-style Robin Hood, attacking the powerful on behalf of the weak.

There’s a lot going on at the same time here, so we’re going to use this episode to catch up with another revolutionary, Thomas Müntzer. In episode 30, we left off with Thomas Müntzer and the Zwickau Prophets being run out of Wittenberg by Martin Luther. We also covered Müntzer’s Prague Manifesto, where he outlines his apocalyptic vision.

This episode picks up when Müntzer shows up again in April of 1523 in Allstedt, a small village of about 600 people about 120 km (75 mi) southeast of Wittenberg.

Frankenmuth Brewery – BATCH 69 AMERICAN IPA

Batch 69 IPA is a delicious American IPA brewed with four pungent hop varietals that will wake up your senses to fine American hops! This IPA exudes a floral aroma and is also dry-hopped for a subtle bite, finishing off with pleasant notes of citrus and pine. Michigan’s 2015 World Expo of Beer Competition Gold Medal winner, for Best IPA!

The medieval world hadn’t heard the last of Thomas Müntzer. In many ways, his teachings were in line with the spirit of the times. The peasantry was excited about the changes that were being brought about by Luther and the Reformation, but they were unwilling to wait for the work of the Spirit. They wanted change now and were ready to take matters into their own hands.

Thomas Müntzer, with his unique apocalyptic vision, gave the peasants the kind of leader they were looking for.

We’ll be getting back to Müntzer and his leadership of the peasants as things ramped up to full out revolution in episode 35, but first, we’re going to use the next episode to take a look at Luther’s response as the revolution became violent.

Thanks to Josh Yagley, our sound engineer

James Kittelson – Luther the Reformer

Scott Hendrix – Martin Luther, The Man and His Vision

Matthias Riedl – Thomas Müntzer’s Prague Manifesto – A case study in the secularization of the apocalypse.

Eric W. Gritsch – Thomas Müntzer: A tragedy of errors

Wikipedia

Contact us

Let us know if you’d like to host a roadtrip.

graceontap-podcast.com

or catch us on Facebook at graceontap podcast

We would appreciate any reviews you could post on iTunes. Helps to get the word out.

The arrival of the plague in the mid 1300’s radically changed medieval Germany. The peasants, who were the foundation of the social system, were decimated between the arrival of the plague and the start of the reformation over 170 years later. Ironically, the plague opened up incredible opportunity for many of the surviving peasantry with salable skills.

But as large groups of peasants moved to the cities to become bankers, traders and other merchants, the peasantry that remained in the old feudal system became more and more burdened as the lower nobility sought to create laws and systems that would keep the peasants tied to the land and unable to advance in society.

These peasants who were being horribly mistreated began to make demands for justice. The most famous demands were the Twelve Articles of the Swabian Peasants, written in 1525.

Since the Twelve Articles were promoted as a Christian document, it caught the attention of Martin Luther. He was not impressed.

We’ve spent a couple episodes talking about Franz von Sickingen and Thomas Müntzer, the respective leaders of the Knights’ and the Peasants’ Revolts.

In our last episode, we spent most of the time talking about the Knights’ Revolt, but then we took a little time to go through the Twelve Articles of the Swabian Peasants, since this document did a lot to explain the societal issues that were behind these revolutions.

In this episode, we’ll be talking about Luther’s response to Twelve Articles, in a document titled Admonition to Peace. The full name is “Admonition to Peace, A Reply to the Twelve Articles of the Peasants in Swabia”.

Today, we’ll just cover Luther’s first thoughts on the subject of revolution, the Admonition to Peace.

The Weihenstephan Brewery can trace its roots at the abbey to 768, as a document from that year refers to a hop garden in the area paying a tithe to the monastery. A brewery was licensed by the City of Freising in 1040, and that is the founding date claimed by the modern brewery. The brewery thus has a credible claim to being the oldest working brewery in the world.[1] (Weltenburg Abbey, also in Bavaria, has had a brewery in operation since 1050, and also claims to be the oldest brewery in the world.) When the monastery and brewery were secularised in 1803, they became possessions of the State of Bavaria.

Late history: Since 1923, the brewery has been known as the Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan (in German Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan), and is operated in conjunction with the Technical University of Munich as both a state-of-the-art production facility and a centre for learning.

The brewery produces a range of pale lagers and wheat beers including Weihenstephaner Weissbier, a 5.4% ABV weissbier which is available in filtered (Kristall) and unfiltered (Hefe) versions. The strongest beers the brewery produces are Infinium (10.5% ABV), Vitus (a 7.7% ABV wheat beer) and Korbinian (a 7.4% ABV strong lager or bock).

Hefe Weissbier (Wheat beer) A golden-yellow wheat beer, with its fine-poured white foam, smells of cloves and impresses consumers with its refreshing banana flavor. It is full bodied and with a smooth yeast taste. To be enjoyed at any time, goes excellently with fish and seafood, with spicy cheese and especially with the traditional Bavarian veal sausage. Brewed according to their centuries-old brewing tradition on the Weihenstephan hill.

Thanks Josh Yagley for the help with the audio on every episode.

Contact us

[email protected]

Let us know if you’d like to host a roadtrip.

Would appreciate any reviews you could post on iTunes. Helps to get the word out.

In October 1347, twelve trading ships docked in the Sicilian port of Messina. When the ships were boarded, the locals were horrified to find most of the crewmates either dead or dying of a strange illness that covered their bodies with the black boils. Even though the authorities ordered the ships sent back out to sea, it was too late. The Black Plague had arrived in Europe.

The plague would not stop ravaging Europe until 1720, almost 400 years after it first arrived. During this time, the plague totally reordered society by killing off huge numbers of peasants who were the foundation of the medieval system of governance called feudalism.

The decimation of the peasant population resulted in increased bargaining power for the remaining peasants, allowing them to make some choices about how they wanted to live. The empowering of the peasants left the knights, who populated the lowest level of the ruling system, without peasants to tax and protect, throwing their entire existence into question.  In 1522, the knights decided to do what they did best – to fight in the knights’ revolt, a critical step in the reordering of Europe during the time of the reformation.

Franz von Sickingen was a knight who saw himself as a sort of Robin Hood, defending the poor against injustices.

In 1513, he took the side of a citizen of Worms who was driven out of town. He attacked Worms with 7000 men and won. In 1518, he fought for the citizens of Metz against the local government. He won that battle too. He was given 20,000 gold gulden and a month’s pay for his troops, but it’s unclear how this helped the citizens. He also offered his castles as refuges for any reformer who was under attack.

He made friends with Ulrich von Hutten, a humanist who was interested in enforcing reform through military means. Together, von Sickingen and von Hutten worked to promote Luther’s teachings, even offering Luther protection against the Emperor. Luther turned them down.

In 1522, Sickingen and Hutton decided to overthrow the Archbishop of Trier, who was a supporter of the pope. Part of his strategy was to get the people of Trier to revolt.

When Sickingen attacked, the people never revolted, so he was left with insufficient forces. He ran out of gunpowder after 7 days, and retreated to his castle in Landstuhl. Hutton escaped to Switzerland. This episode is about how their work upset the social system and laid the groundwork for the peasants revolt led by Thomas Müntzer.

CAKEWALK by Right Brain Brewery, Traverse City Michigan.

This is our second Traverse City Brewery in a row!!!

Style: Vanilla Cream Ale

ABV: 4.5%

Package: Draft, 12oz Bottle 6-Packs.

Description: An extremely light and approachable cream ale brewed with real Madagascar Vanilla Beans. The addition of corn yields a light creamy mouth feel. This finishes smooth, not sweet.

When Thomas Müntzer arrived in Wittenberg in early 1522, Philip Melanchthon, Andreas Karlstadt and the other reformers had no idea of the radical ideas that had come to fruition within his heart.

These ideas, which would ultimately threaten to tear Germany apart, were still hidden from the other scholars in the Wittenberg circle. But they weren’t hidden from everybody. A few months before his return to Wittenberg, Müntzer had outlined his radical theology for the believers in Prague, in a document that would be called Müntzer’s Prague Manifesto.

Müntzer hoped the manifesto would help the believers in Prague to unite against the emperor to form a new society. Instead, it only served to highlight the radical nature of Müntzer’s thinking.

Although Luther was able to calm everything down with the Invocavit Sermons in Wittenberg, there was continuing unrest throughout the rest of Germany, eventually resulting in the Peasants War.

Before we dive into the Peasants War, we’ll introduce Thomas Müntzer, a former Wittenberger who eventually became the leader of the peasants in the war. He was also one of Luther’s earliest supporters.

When one of Müntzer’s parishioners, Nicholas Storch, showed unusual Biblical insight, Müntzer advocated making Storch a preacher without any formal training.

The city council of Zwickau became fearful of this irregularity, they summoned Storch to be questioned. Storch fled Zwickau with two friends, Thomas Drechsel and Marcus Strübner. Strübner was a former student in Wittenberg.

Storch, Drechsel and Strübner eventually ended up in Wittenberg, staying with Andreas Karlstadt. These were the Zwickau Prophets we mentioned back in episode 27.

Karlstadt, Amsdorf and Melanchthon were impressed by the Zwickau prophets claims of special revelation. But both Amsdorf and Melanchthon disagreed with the Zwickau prophets on the rejection of infant baptism. By the time Luther had returned, Thomas Müntzer had also arrived in Wittenberg. But by March 1522, Müntzer’s teachings had changed dramatically compared with when Luther knew him as a student.

North Peak Brewing Company – Diabolical IPA

North Peak Brewing Company is located in a historic building which was formerly the Big Daylight Candy Factory.

In March of 1899, a partnership was formed by John G. Straub, his brother, Anton F. Straub and George E. Amiotte in the creation of candies and confectionary in Traverse City.

Under the style of Straub Brothers and Amiotte, the firm soon established success with a large local following and an extensive wholesale trade. So rapidly did the business increase, that it became necessary to provide a building of sufficient capacity to meet the growing demands of the trade.

The building housing North Peak Brewing Company was Straub’s third and final building. Straub Brothers and Amiotte “Big Daylight Candy Factory” is a handsome imposing brick edifice of three floors and a basement. It was constructed with 400,000 bricks and 250,000 feet of lumber, erected and supplied with the latest and most approved machinery devices for the manufacturing of all kinds of candies. It compared favorably on a scale with the largest and most successful establishments of its kind.

Northern United Brewing Company beers, spirits and wines are made in Michigan. Using ingredients grown in Michigan.

Recognitions

Josh Yagley

Source materials

James Kittelson – Luther the Reformer

Scott Hendrix – Martin Luther, The Man and His Vision

Matthias Riedl – Thomas Muntzer’s Prague Manifesto – A case study in the secularization of the apocalypse.

Wikipedia

Contact us

[email protected]

Let us know if you’d like to host a roadtrip or catch us on Facebook.

Would appreciate any reviews you could post on iTunes. Helps to get the word out.

The Emperor released the Edict of Worms on May 26, 1521, officially declaring Luther and his teachings outlawed, only 3 weeks after Luther disappeared while traveling through the Thuringia forest. With the release of the edict, the reformation entered into a new and dangerous period.

It was most dangerous for those who proclaimed the gospel in areas like modern day Belgium, where the leadership was most loyal to both the pope and the emperor. In areas like this, the leaders were willing to attack the Luther’s teachings vigorously and ruthlessly, using the full force of the law.

When the monks at the Augustinian monastery in Antwerp, Belgium openly proclaimed Luther’s teachings, they found themselves opposed by the most powerful forces in the empire. Most of them recanted, but three, Henry Voes, John Esch and Lampertus Thorn, refused.

Their refusal resulted in their martyrdom.

Jet – Bitter Old Fecker Brewery

Bitter Old Fecker Rustic Ales, based in Chelsea, Michigan, is a small batch brewery started by Nathan Hukill, an entrepreneur with an ideal lineage for brewing craft beer. His great grandparents were bootleggers in Detroit, running booze from Canada, who also ran a blind pig speakeasy out of their basement. Detroit police (including the Chief) were their main clientele. His great grandmother also made beer in her kitchen for the guys at the brickyard where she worked.

Nathan’s grandfather Cecil Fecker — rail worker, 17-year Ford employee turned weird angry recluse — left Detroit for Hillsdale, MI to start farming. Cecil started brewing in the early 80’s, naming beers after the things that inspired the recipes and included ingredients he grew or foraged.

After some frustration with trying to break into brewing, Nathan started Bitter Old Fecker, working under Cecil as an apprentice. During the start up process, Nathan took a job as an assistant brewer at Grizzly Peak, leaving after 18 months to focus efforts on Bitter Old Fecker exclusively.

Nathan and Cecil produce high gravity, bold beers brewed in a “rustic” style. No automatic equipment. Kettles, mash tuns, etc., stirred by hand in a brewery that can literally produce beer without the use of electricity. All beers are barrel-aged and include non traditional, foraged and locally sourced ingredients. All malt and hops are 100% US grown. His first brew, introduced in the Summer of 2013, is called Strutter, named after a nasty old rooster on Cecil’s farm. Darlin’, Kaplan, and Jet are brews that are soon to follow.

Jet is named after Cecil’s dog. For many farm dogs out here, life can mean a slow stretch of days, lazing in the shade on the family porch. But that’s not Jet’s life. Jet was rescued by old Cecil K. Fecker after a snarling dog fight on the farm down the road. Their love for each other was sealed in dirt and blood. Ever since, he hasn’t left his master’s side, and is a constant sentry on the farm. Jet’s quick to fight and sink his fangs into any intruder’s backside. This isn’t a friendship, but rather a kinship, born on the same black night, with the moon glowing like the devil’s eyes.

Let us know if you’d like to host a road trip.

Catch us on Facebook.com/graceontap.podcast

Although Wittenberg was ground zero for the reform movement in the 16th century, it was still home to many priests, monks and laity who were not comfortable with the changes proposed by the reformers. When Luther was in Wittenberg, these disagreements remained within the confines of discussion and debate.

After Luther was in hiding for 6 months, things began to change. Changes in Wittenberg began to be forced upon on the priests and laity, sometimes through edict, but often through threats and even violence.

When Luther returned in the spring of 1522, he was not pleased. He sought to return things to good order, and he had to do it quickly. Just a couple of days after his arrival, Luther began a sermon series that addressed the issues that had arisen. The name of the eight sermon series is the Invocavit sermons. Given over eight days during the first week of Lent, 1522. The Invocavit sermons shaped the implementation of the reform changes in Wittenberg, and still speak to us today.

This episode looks at how the eight sermons preached by Martin Luther when he returned to Wittenberg shaped his understanding of how the gospel motivates and defines the momentum of change in church practices.

Train Wreck – Imperial Amber Ale brewed with Michigan honey and maple syrup; 8.2% ABV. Steam Engine Stout – American stout with chocolate notes up front and a nice dry, roast finish; 6.2% ABV.

After successfully launching the Mountain Town Station Brewing Co. & Steakhouse in Mount Pleasant, MIch., the company’s beer grew in popularity. So owners Jim and Karen Holten formed a new company, Mountain Town Brewing Company, in 2007.

“I began brewing beer when I was a student at Central Michigan University,” said Holton. “I knew brewing beer was going to be a passion of mine and something consumers were going to love.”

As Holton’s craft beer grew in popularity, he and his wife Karen decided to open Mountain Town Brewing Company in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., in 2007. The two are no strangers to entrepreneurship—the brewery is their third business in the Mt. Pleasant area.

The new brewery and taproom allowed them to begin distributing beer across the state while providing locals with a place to enjoy a good beer. Today Michigan consumers can enjoy the Holton’s labor or love through their distinctive ales and lagers that include Gamblers Golden Ale, Railyard Raspberry Wheat and Cow Catcher Red Ale.

The ten-month (1521-1522) stay in the Wartburg castle was one of the most productive periods of Martin Luther’s life, but not all the action was in the castle outside of Eisenach. The team of theologians that Luther left back in Wittenberg were also busy during this period, but with decidedly mixed results.

Although the changes being implemented in Wittenberg were generally in line with Luther’s teachings, they were not carried out in a way that was consistent with Luther’s Evangelical theology. The individual freedom that Luther had defined in his seminal work, “The Freedom of the Christian” was pushed aside to force monks, priests and parishioners to embrace the new thinking.

Luther was not pleased, but there wasn’t much he could do except write to his colleagues to encourage them to be more gracious to those who were uncomfortable with the changes. When this didn’t work, Luther found himself in the uncomfortable position of engaging in an open disagreement with his own supporters, a precursor to the disagreements that we see amongst protestants even today.

While Luther was busy at the Wartburg castle, his friends were busy making changes in Wittenberg.

The primary driver for the changes in Wittenberg was Andreas Karlstadt, the dean of the University of Wittenberg.

You may remember Karlstadt from episode 12 on the 1519 debate in Leipzig. This was where Karlstadt engaged John Eck in a debate on Luther’s teachings. He ultimately fumbled the debate so badly (possibly because his notes were ruined when his wagon lost a wheel shortly after his arrival) that Luther had to step in to debate with Eck.

The first of the changes began when three priests near Wittenberg got married in the early summer of 1521.

Luther responded by writing “Themata de Votis” (Themes Concerning Vows) in September of 1521.

These were 280 theses on vows that he was ready to debate.

Arbor Brewing Co. – Sacred Cow IPA

DESCRIPTION Coppery-gold hue with a full floral cascade hop aroma. Rich bready malts lay a perfect foundation for the profusion of tangy, citrusy hops that infuse this beer with a distinct ruby-red grapefruit quality that starts on the palate and lingers through a long satisfying finish.

Communion was the second major issue that Luther had to address.

Even though the real theological change in the evangelical theology was in the discussion on monasticism, it was the discussion on communion that seemed like it caused the most problems.

Luther had been talking about sharing both the bread and the wine for communion for over 2 years at this point. Still, nobody had actually shared the wine with the laity yet, so this was all talk to the common people.

In the last episode, we briefly discussed Luther’s “Sin boldly” quote during a discussion on sharing communion in both the bread and the wine with the laity. Sharing the bread and the wine would be sinning since it was disruptive to other Christians. Not sharing the bread and wine would be sinning since it would be continuing to act against Christ’s command. Luther said, go ahead, sin boldly and share the bread and the wine. Even though he wasn’t a priest, Melanchthon understood and celebrated the sacrament of communion with several students on September 29, 1521. On October 6, Gabriel Zwilling, an Augustinian brother who had a reputation for giving strong sermons, started to discourage people from attending mass if the priests refused to share the bread and the wine.

Luther decided to see how things were going for himself.

Arrived in Wittenberg on December 4, staying for 3 days in disguise as Junker Jorg.

Luther returned the Wartburg and sent out a manuscript “A sincere admonition to all Christians to guard against insurrection and rebellion” on December 14 to try to calm everything down. Regardless of the letter from Luther, things continued to escalate in Wittenberg. In mid-December, Frederick rejected a call to reform the mass by sharing the wine, stopping private masses, etc.

It was too much change at once. It also threatened the priests who still adhered to the Roman Catholic beliefs.

Andreas Karlstadt ignored Frederick’s ruling and celebrated an Evangelical worship service on Christmas, 1521. Celebrated the Lord’s Supper in German and distributed both the bread and the wine to the congregants.

More dangerous than the Zwickau prophets was the priest that came with them, Thomas Muntzer.

Muntzer and Karlstadt banded together to start pushing more radical reforms. Luther disagreed with the reforms. Over the next couple of months, the disagreement between Karlstadt and Luther became an open conflict.

Luther decided to return to Wittenberg. Frederick wanted him to stay at the Wartburg, since the political environment was not yet settled. Luther wrote back with three reasons

Luther arrived in Wittenberg on March 6, 1522.

Gave eight sermons in eight days, starting on the first Sunday in Lent, March 9.

The sermons are called the Invocavit or the Wittenberg sermons.

Even though Martin Luther complained about suffering from laziness and sloth, Luther’s time in the Wartburg was one of the most productive 10 months of his life, resulting in 12 books, several sermons and devotionals. The most impressive of his accomplishments during this time wasn’t started until December 1521, when Luther kicked off a translation of the New Testament. Records indicate that he arrived in Wittenberg in March of 1522 with a completed first draft, a mere 11 weeks after he started.

Luther’s translation of the Bible has reverberated throughout history, commonizing the many dialects of medieval Germany, while also capturing the majesty of God’s Word. His translation work resulting in a frustrated compliment from Luther’s Roman Catholic adversaries “that even tailors and shoemakers, yea, even women and ignorant persons who had accepted this new Lutheran gospel.”

Background

After the Diet of Worms, Luther was kidnapped by friends and hidden in the Wartburg Castle, just outside the city of Eisenach. (Coincidentally, this was where Luther spent his teenage years). Although he left the castle a few times, he pretty much stayed in his room for the next 10 months.

From his personal letters, you would think this was a period of being incredibly unproductive. In July, after about 4 months in the Wartburg, Luther wrote to Melanchthon, “I should be ardent in the spirit but I am ardent in the flesh, in lust, laziness, leisure and sleepiness.”

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth – this was one of Luther’s most productive periods.

Jacob Latomus wrote an attack on Luther’s theology using biblical references. He was a professor at the University of Louvain in Belgium who was an intellectual opponent of the humanists, especially attacking Erasmus.

Luther felt he had to respond immediately, but he didn’t have a library in the Wartburg, so he had to rely on his memory of the writings of the fathers of the church.

Even without a library, Luther presented a forceful refutation in his small book, “Against Latomus”.

It really is a good summary on the central ideas of Lutheran theology.

There were also theological attacks on Luther.

Monasticism

Luther also dedicated a huge part of his time in the Wartburg to the question of monastic life. He had previously discussed that it wasn’t right for children to take monastic vows. Now the question was, should all the monks revoke their vows. Eventually, Luther came to the conclusion that, “Marriage is good, virginity is better, but liberty is best.” Basically stating that the monastic vow rests on the false assumption that there is a special calling for superior Christians. Luther stated that there were no “superior Christians”. Each person is called to their own tasks. The monastic vow is taken in a fit of piety which restricts our liberty to discover the tasks that God has given us.

Sin Boldly

This was also the time when Luther wrote, “sin boldly” in a private letter to Melanchthon. Even though this was a private letter, it has become one of Luther’s most famous writings since some Lutherans have taken this as a call to ignore God’s law. Significant enough that the 20th century theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, addressed its misuse in his famous chapter on “cheap grace” in his book “The Cost of Discipleship”.

“If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death and the world. As long as we are in this world we have to sin. This life is not a dwelling place of righteousness but, as Peter says, we look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God’s glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day.”

After reading that, some people only hear, “Sin boldly and commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day!” Becomes much more clear if we look at the context of the letter. Written to Melenchthon, who was Luther’s “right hand man”, about how to rework the Roman Catholic mass. Specifically, Luther was addressing a declaration from Karlstadt that said that it was a sin to withhold the wine from the laity. This declaration created a lot of controversy in Wittenberg. Some people agreed with Karlstadt, but some people disagreed.

Luther was telling Melanchthon, “Listen, if you change the mass, you will be sinning because you will be creating discord within the church. If you don’t change the mass, you will be sinning, because the Bible is clear that the bread and the wine should be shared with the laity. So you should go ahead and sin boldly by making the changes to align the mass with Biblical teachings. It’s the right thing to do.” Melanchthon understood and performed the first Evangelical sharing of the bread and the wine with a few students.

Edward’s Portly Brown, American Brown Ale – IBU: 31 – ABV: 5.4 %

A malty, chocolatey and robust brown ale named after the beloved Springer Spaniel of Witch’s Hat Brewing Company.

Tasting Notes: Chocolate, sweet malt, toasted bread, light brown sugar

Food Pairings:  Sharp cheddars, dark chocolate desserts, prime rib

The name of the brewery itself comes from a South Lyon landmark: a one-hundred-year-old train depot called the Witch’s Hat after its conical design. It stands in nearby McHattie Park, where Ryan and Erin exchanged wedding vows in 2007.

“That area is kind of the downtown of South Lyon, and it obviously has a spot in our hearts,” says Ryan. “We figured what better way to showcase the town than with this name?”

Witch’s Hat has created 25 jobs and put South Lyon on the map for craft beer lovers. After 3 years, the company outgrew its original location, moving to a larger 10,000-square-foot-building that alllowed for increased seating and production.

Witch’s Hat is also committed to being a part of the community with more than $60,000 donated to local charities, including The Humane Society of Huron Valley (currently sponsors 4 cages with proceeds from Edward’s Portly Brown Ale), Gleaners Food Bank, American Cancer Society, Wigs for Kids, Blessings in a Backpack and more.

Luther is best known for his translation of the Bible while he was in the Wartburg.

What kicked off the project?

Translating the Bible was something Luther had been doing for a long time before 1522. In March of 1517, six months before the posting of the 95 theses, Luther published a translation of the seven penitential psalms. Between 1517 and 1522, he also published translations of sections of the Old and New Testament, The Ten Commandments, The Lord’s Prayer, and The Magnificat.

We also know that Luther’s friends in Wittenberg, especially Melanchthon, were asking him to translate the entire Bible.

He first mentioned the project in a personal note to John Lang in December of 1521, only three months before he permanently left the Wartburg.

Probably came up in a discussion with Melanchthon during a stealth visit to Wittenberg in early December, 1521.

Luther didn’t complete the entire Bible in the Wartburg, only the New Testament (which is still remarkable, given that he completed the first draft in 11 weeks).

The full Bible wasn’t completed until 1534. Although Luther completed the first version in the Wartburg, it was a pretty rough draft. After he returned to Wittenberg, he worked very closely with Melanchthon and other scholars who could provide greater expertise. For example, Melanchthon was a much better Greek scholar and Bugenhagen was an expert in the Latin found in the Vulgate. The entire group was called the Bible Club (Collegium Biblieum).

Other notable members of the Bible Club were: Justus Jonas, Bugenhagen (Pommer), Cruciger, Aurogallus and Georg Rorer (who was the 1st clergyman ordained by Luther).

This core group would then go outside for special experts and others for help. For example, Spalatin provided the names of the precious stones in New Jerusalem.

It took a few months for the Bible club to get out the final version of the New Testament. It was released in September 1522.

As English speakers, it’s difficult to understand the importance of the Luther Bible. Even though several dukes tried to outlaw the Bible, they were unsuccessful in stopping the spread of the gospel. A Roman Catholic scholar of the time complained:

“Luther’s New Testament was so much multiplied and spread by printers that even tailors and shoemakers, yea, even women and ignorant persons who had accepted this new Lutheran gospel, and could read a little German, studied it with the greatest avidity as the fountain of all truth. Some committed it to memory, and carried it about in their bosom. In a few months such people deemed themselves so learned that they were not ashamed to dispute about faith and the gospel not only with Catholic laymen, but even with priests and monks and doctors of divinity.”

Even though it’s difficult for us English speakers to appreciate the Luther Bible, there are some things that are extremely helpful to us. Luther wrote an introduction to each book of the New Testament. Even today, these are extremely helpful for us as we read through the Bible.

While Luther was working diligently in the Wartburg, the scholars in Wittenberg were making major changes, eventually resulting in riots. To calm things down, Luther left the safety of the Wartburg.

We’ll be covering the events in Wittenberg, along with Luther’s return, in our next episode.

Source materials

Would appreciate any reviews you could post on iTunes. Helps to get the word out.

Martin Luther was cut to the core when he read the words of the young emperor Charles who wrote, “A single friar who goes counter to all Christianity for a thousand years must be wrong.” Luther couldn’t help but wonder, could the emperor be right?

Now that he was safely ensconced in the Wartburg castle, Luther was free from the day-to-day challenges that consumed his attention as the accidently spark of the Reformation. He could finally stop and deeply consider the words of the emperor. Was Luther the only person in a thousand years who could rightly read the Bible?

As he always did, Luther sought his answers in Scripture, eventually settling on an unexpected reading to evaluate his leadership and ambition, and the leadership and ambition of the pope – the song of Mary, the mother of Christ – the Magnificat. In this episode we discuss both the way that Martin Luther arrived at the Wartburg and how the Magnificat provided a lens through which he could understand his path forward, as a servant of Christ, during a time of discord.

When Luther left the city of Worms with Jerome Schurf and Nicolaus von Amsdorf on April 26, 1521, he only had 21 days of promised safe conduct from the emperor. Once the safe conduct expired, anybody could kill Luther as an outlaw.

As part of the safe conduct, the emperor provided a small troop to travel with Luther to make sure nobody hurt him. Luther released them after a couple days, so they returned to Worms with letters from Luther to the emperor and to Spalatin (supposedly also for Frederick) where he explained his actions at Worms.

Luther was told that the safe conduct was only in effect if he did “not stir up the people either by teaching or writing.” Luther tried to listen, but he was compelled by the people in Hersfeld, Eisenach, and Mohra to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jerome Schurf left the group right after they left Eisenach to continue to Wittenberg, leaving Amsdorf and Luther with the driver of the wagon. Luther and Amsdorf decided to travel south, away from Wittenberg to visit Mohra, the city where Luther’s father had grown up. Shortly after they left Mohra, Luther was kidnapped in the Thuringen forest, not far from the Altenstein castle.

A group of armed men on horses came out of the forest and stopped the small traveling party. The driver was terrified. When the armed men asked if one of them was Luther, the driver pointed to Luther immediately. The armed men were two nobles, the castellan of the Wartburg, Hans von Berlepsch, and the resident lord of Altenstein. The armed men took Luther and rode off into the woods. They took Luther to the Wartburg castle, which was owned by Frederick the Wise.

The way the kidnapping was orchestrated in such a way that even Frederick could honestly say he had no idea where Luther was hiding. Luther’s stay in the Wartburg Castle began in May 1521. (Coincidentally, the Wartburg overlooked the city of Eisenach where Luther spent his teenage years.) Although he left the castle a few times, he mostly stayed in his room for the next 10 months.

Black Lotus Brewing Co., 1 East 14 Mile Road Clawson, MI 48017-2132.

Detroit Hip Hops X IPA – American 10% ABV

This is their 10 year anniversary edition of their double IPA. Its a high gravity IPA with notes of citrus and pine and compliments food and conversation extremely well. Put on some vinyl pour a glass and explore the flavor of sound.

Martin Luther had decided to accept the invitation to the Diet in the city of Worms, Germany, even though he knew there was a very good chance he was going to his death. The pope, who was one of the most powerful people in the world, was clearly aligned against him. And, to make matters worse, the emperor was starting to agree with the papal position.

Even though Luther’s appearance at the Diet was supposed to be a sidebar discussion, everybody knew that the discussion at Worms was going to be a decisive turning point in what to do with Luther and his reforms. The pope and the emperor would only accept a recantation of his teachings. Meanwhile, Luther had made clear many times that he would only accept a hearing based on Scripture. Something had to give.

In this episode we discuss Luther’s speech at the Diet of Worms and the days after his speech. The condensed history of the Diet of Worms is that Martin Luther made his speech, left the city, and then he was “kidnapped” to the Warburg on his way home. In fact, Luther did not immediately leave the city. There were a series of negotiations to determine if anything could be recovered from this situation.

Eternity Brewing is a microbrewery and taproom in Howell, Michigan. They create handcrafted beers in small batches. The owners are Mike and Dayna Tran. The beer we try in this episode is the Aerial Ace, which is a cream ale. It is dry-hopped with Sorachi Ace from Belleville Hops. The cream ale has a bright lemon aroma and smooth flavor with notes of lemon, dill, and grain.