Day 02 -Wittenberg, Eisleben, Erfurt

Another day down as we go to bed tonight in Erfurt. 

We woke up in Wittenberg- a crisp, beautiful morning that began with a morning devotion from the 1st Chapter of Galatians. We reflected on Paul's crisis, his single-minded dedication to the Gospel, and his insistence that he is trying to please God rather than man. 

There are parallels with Luther, who used this text to encourage him as he began his movement to restore the church in Wittenberg and beyond. 

The idea of the day, taken from both Paul and Luther, was “the Freedom of the Christian”. We talked about Luther’s important 1520 treatise with this title. As Christians, we are perfectly free- subject to nothing. And this freedom is not for its own sake, but for serving our neighbor. It is a freedom FROM (sin, death, and the devil) but also a freedom TO love our neighbor.

We began the tour at the Augustinian cloister that Luther and Katie lived in and then took a stroll up the street to see the homes of Philip Melanchthon, the “brains” of the Reformation, and Lucas Cranach, the “artist” of the Reformation. We talked about how Luther, the voice of the movement, needed all three to work together. 

After seeing the Schlosskirche, where Luther (maybe) posted the Theses (it was more important that they were printed, translated, and sent around the Empire with record speed). 

We went to the Mariankirche, Wittenberg's “people’s church,” where we saw a fantastic array of Lucas Cranach’s paintings. 

The day continued with a bus ride to Eisleben, where Luther was born in 1483, and coincidentally, died in 1546. We visited both houses (now museums) before getting into Erfurt for dinner and to get ready for another day.