Martin Luther Would Have Ruled Twitter

[Randy Bosch]

An interesting little opinion article from afar: "Martin Luther Would Have Ruled Twitter".
Link: https://unherd.com/2021/01/martin-luther-would-have-ruled-twitter/

No mention of who was the Pope's and Emperor's Zuckerberg censor, though...

[Charles Austin]

The book "brand Luther," reinforces this opinion. Luther was a terrific user of the media, and perhaps, to Some extent, had been created by the media.

[Randy Bosch]

The book "brand Luther," reinforces this opinion. Luther was a terrific user of the media, and perhaps, to Some extent, had been created by the media.

Perhaps, and equally, the media was to some extent created by Luther... can't sell papers without compelling content.

[Charles Austin]

The "Brand Luther" book says he was savvy about publishing, chided a Leipzig publisher for using a shoddy font in one book, conned Durer into doing drawings for the pamphlets and was concerned about "marketing" his writings.
Meanwhile, publishing, a new business then, saw Luther as a hot seller. No copyright or publishing contract laws then, so they just took his stuff and printed it, meaning he didn't make a lot of money as an author.
He also wrote for "everyone" at a time when theology was considered the realm of academics and clergy.

[Weedon]

Was a great article, Randy! Thanks.

[Dave Benke]

Thanks for the article, Randy and agreed in full that Luther would have ruled Twitter. 

When it comes to use of the internet for religious purpose, how about this one?  https://www.aol.com/news/priest-voter-fraud-exorcisms-leaves-160754102-164842985.html.

I speak as one who has done house blessings virtually during the pandemic, and there is a prayer of casting out evil as well as protecting against it in that service.  Voter fraud is not included in my price list, however.

Dave Benke

[Randy Bosch]

Thanks for the article, Randy and agreed in full that Luther would have ruled Twitter. 

When it comes to use of the internet for religious purpose, how about this one?  https://www.aol.com/news/priest-voter-fraud-exorcisms-leaves-160754102-164842985.html.

I speak as one who has done house blessings virtually during the pandemic, and there is a prayer of casting out evil as well as protecting against it in that service.  Voter fraud is not included in my price list, however.

Dave Benke

Do you have a "exorcise Social Media" prayer?  Would be not just overdue, but timely...

[FrPeters]

If they would not have shut Luther down. . .

[Daniel Lee Gard]

If they would not have shut Luther down. . .

You beat me! Yes, Luther would have been banned and cancelled.

[Charles Austin]

But despite efforts of pope and Holy Roman Emperor and others in "power," Luther's works were not successfully banned. The "media" of the time continued to spread his words and ideas.
This remained true even when his words were not very polity and Durer's drawings were graphic and intentionally offensive.

[Dave Benke]

Charles is absolutely correct here.  The Reformation was successful in large part because Luther could not be canceled, won the social media war - pamphleteering through that weird new thing called the printing press - by a landslide in that era, and outflanked with very direct words, phrases and imagery those who tried to shut him down.  His was a populist protest and it spread through the then-known world, ergo we are, like the label or not, called Protestants. 

And so the article Randy linked for us is accurately entitled "Martin Luther would have ruled Twitter."  The Twitterverse of those days went with Luther.

Dave Benke

[James S. Rustad]

Charles is absolutely correct here.  The Reformation was successful in large part because Luther could not be canceled, won the social media war - pamphleteering through that weird new thing called the printing press - by a landslide in that era, and outflanked with very direct words, phrases and imagery those who tried to shut him down.  His was a populist protest and it spread through the then-known world, ergo we are, like the label or not, called Protestants. 

And so the article Randy linked for us is accurately entitled "Martin Luther would have ruled Twitter."  The Twitterverse of those days went with Luther.

Dave Benke

The printing press social media Luther made use of is not really comparable to the currently dominant internet social media.  Today's dominant internet social media would have banned and canceled Luther, just as they have banned an canceled other voices that are not acceptable to the companies running the social media sites.  Luther's social media is more properly compared to upstart social media sites -- including the early versions of those same sites that are now dominant.

[Dave Likeness]

It was the printing press which fueled the spread of Luther's tracts to the man on the street.
The beliefs of Martin Luther and his return to Biblical theology made an impact on his nation
of Germany.  Of course it spread to other nations for their consumption.  Twitter does not
provide much depth to discuss the theology of Martin Luther.  I do not think that Luther would
have wasted his time on Twitter.

[Donald_Kirchner]

[Luther's] was a populist protest and it spread through the then-known world, ergo we are, like the label or not, called Protestants. 

One's opponents can call one anything they want. Germans preferred the term Evangelical, not Protestant. Swiss and their English, Scot, etc counterparts, Reformed. In France, Hugeunots. Ergo, Lutherans are not Protestants.

[Dave Benke]

[Luther's] was a populist protest and it spread through the then-known world, ergo we are, like the label or not, called Protestants. 

One's opponents can call one anything they want. Germans preferred the term Evangelical, not Protestant. Swiss and their English, Scot, etc counterparts, Reformed. In France, Hugeunots. Ergo, Lutherans are not Protestants.

At the same time, for lo these five hundred years, Lutherans are listed as among the five branches of Protestantism, and Martin Luther as the father of the Protestant movement. The appellative "Protestant" does seem to have stuck on us for half a millenium.  Go figure. 

What we'd have to do then is to protest being called Protestant.  Double down.

"Evangelical" has normally been followed by "Lutheran" - or Evangelische Lutherische - so as to distance from the evangelistas - but adding the title that the founder didn't want added - so should we drop "Lutheran?"

Dave Benke