Martin Luther

Luther's Ninety-Five Theses
$5.00
This book is a key document for all those (students, professors, ministers, scholars) who are interested in understanding the Reformation from its very beginning. Which were Luther's (and many theologians' and clerks') demands at the beginning of the 16th. century? The major answers to this question are in this booklet, written by the great Reformer's own hands.

Martin Luther
$14.99
VCI Entertainment presents "MARTIN LUTHER" (8 May 1953) (103 mins/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) --- Narrator John Wiggin begins the film with a scholarly overview of the place and time of the life of Martin Luther. He points out that power is divided between the Emperor and the church. To set the stage for the presentation of Luther's conflict with the church of his day he states, "the church had largely forgotten the mercies of God; and, instead, it emphasized God's implacable judgments."

Our story and plot, the time frame of the film is 1507-1530 from the time Luther entered the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt to the presentation of the Augsburg Confession. It recounts Martin Luther's struggle to find God's mercy, his discovery of the gospel in Romans 1:17, his posting of his Ninety-five theses, and the controversy that followed which led to his separation from the church of Rome. It shows Luther's resistance to the forces of radicalism, and his work to establish and maintain the evangelical movement of his day. The dramatic highlight is his "Here I Stand" speech before the 1521 Diet of Worms.

However the film is pretty faithful account of his conflict with the organized Church, and how it led to the creation of Protestantism (and, in particular, Lutheranism). It gave Niall MacGinnis the best straight dramatic lead role in his career ---- MacGinnis always was a superior supporting actor in small parts, so it is worth noting that when he was given an important part like Luther he gave it his all.

Special footnote, the performances in the film are excellent, as are the scenery and costumes, shown in stark black and white photography. The producers spared no expense to present the wide range of political and religious figures with whom Luther interacted. The dialogs are poignant and always clearly understandable --- A must see film that gives you thought provoking questions.

Under the production staff of:
Irving Pichel - Director
Allan Sloane - Research for the screen
Lothar Wolff - Research for the screen
Jaroslav Pelikan - Screenwriter
Theodore G. Tappert - Screenwriter
Lothar Wolff - Producer
Louis De Rochemont - Supervising Producer
Robert E.A. Lee - Executive Producer
Mark Lothar - Original Music
Joseph C. Brun - Cinematographer
Fritz Stapenhorst - Film Editor
Paul Markwitz - Art Director
Fritz Maurischat - Art Director
Herbert Ploberger - Costume Designer

Scene Index -- Martin Luther
1. Introduction [6:00]
2. Friar Luther [7:10]
3. Questioning Mind [11:19]
4. Wittenburg [8:47]
5. Rome [11:17]
6. Truth Thru Debate [8:33]
7. Stronghold [7:37]
8. Dissension [9:42]
9. Worms [8:34]
10. Heretic [8:00]
11. My Pulpit [8:36]
12. Declaration [10:19]

the cast includes:
Niall MacGinnis ... Martin Luther
John Ruddock ... Vicar von Staupitz
Pierre Lefevre ... Spalatin
Guy Verney ... Melanchthon
Alastair Hunter ... Carlstadt
David Horne ... Duke Frederick
Fred Johnson ... Prior
Philip Leaver ... Pope Leo X
Heinz Piper ... Dr. Eck
Leonard White ... Emissary
Egon Strohm ... Cardinal Alexander
Annette Carell ... Katherine von Bora (as Annette Carrell)
Alexander Gauge ... Tetzel
Henry Oscar
Irving Pichel ... Brueck
Ronald Adam
Joss Ambler
William Abney
Michael Maick
Wolfgang Oelze
Hans Lefebre ... Charles V
John Wiggin ... Narrator

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Martin Luther's 95 Theses
2. Trailer
3. Miracle of Marcellino 'Then and Now' - a promo for 1955 and 1992 versions
both available from Amazon and VCI Entertainment.

BIO:
1. Niall MacGinnis
Date of Birth: 29 March 1913 - Dublin, Ireland
Date of Death: 6 January 1977 - Wales, UK

2. Irving Pichel (Director)
Date of Birth: 24 June 1891 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of Death: 13 July 1954 - Hollywood, California

Hats off and thanks to Robert Blair and his staff at VCI Entertainment --- VCI was named in Variety and Hollywood Reporter as the first company to produce and release motion pictures directly to the home marketplace --- order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- VCI are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector -- looking forward to more Nostalgic Collections.

Total Time: 103 mins on DVD ~ VCI Entertainment ~ (02/24/2009)

Martin Luther
$14.99
Martin Luther was a man without Cant. He Shattered the structure of the Medieval Church. He fiercely spoke against the corrupt religious practices that existed in his days. He waged an intellectual war against the moribund religious hierachy of the Catholic Church. A climate of social change had splintered the unity of medieval christian culture. These changes provided the background for Luther's theological challenge. The development of his thought was both sympton and catalyst in the transformation of the middle ages into the modern world. His demand that, the only religious authority ought to be the Bible and Doctrines and not the Bishops, Popes or Ecclesiastical councils echoed around the world and ignited the great reformation of the Christian Church. Luther was accused of heresy, debased and expelled from the Catholic Church. He never gave up the fight. His crusade against religious abuses ushered in the Protestant faith. To his credit, the world have Christians who are not blind worshippers of Hierarchy, Doctrine and Faith, but critical thinkers backed by Reason and Conscience.

The Bondage of the Will
$9.99
In this classic Reformation work, Martin Luther aims to disarm and slay the doctrine of free will as argued by Desiderius Erasmus in his book "The Diatribe of Free Will." Luther perceived Erasmus' arguments to be dishonest at best, and damnable at worst, which granted to man a will that could freely choose either good or evil, God or sin. Luther argued vehemently that man is in fact born a hopeless slave of sin, whose will is never free, and who will inevitably service the kingdom of darkness unless the Spirit of God intervenes.

Erasmus taught that man naturally possesses a will that is free to do good or evil, reasoning from the commands of God that we see throughout Scripture that man can freely choose either to obey or to disobey the commands. Luther countered with various passages of Scripture to show that man cannot keep these commands, and that the primary function of the Law is to show man his inability to keep it, and to cast him into despair, so that he might run to and rely on the grace of God through faith for salvation, and not on his own works.

Throughout the book, Luther defends other doctrines that are cherished by many Christians, such as the power and sufficiency of Scripture, the sovereignty of God, and our assurance of salvation. Although many Christians will disagree with various of Luther's points, we can all appreciate the passion that he shows in defending the grace of God.

I highly recommend this book for several reasons - to gain appreciation and perspective on the history of Protestant thought, to enjoy the quality of the writing and translation, to revel in the wit and genius of Martin Luther, to sharpen your mind and beliefs, and to enlarge your view of the sovereignty of God and the sufficiency of his grace.