Lichtgedanken 02

S C HW E R P U N K T 22 local ruler and criticized these experi- ments. Reinhart and Karlstadt were ba- nished from Saxony. Anton Musa was appointed to Jena in 1524 as a pastor and later superintendent. He kept the Reformation on an orderly, Lutheran track. Where can the traces of the Reforma- tion be seen in Jena today? The most important site is the Church of St. Michael’s with the pulpit from which Luther preached and the original gravestone. The second site is that of the »Schwarze Bär«, the inn where Luther argued with Karlstadt – in those days situated outside the gates of the town. Of central importance – for the uni- versity – is the Collegium Jenense, the former Dominican monastery in which Johann Friedrich I. had the »Hohe Schu- le« established. The town hall is also a site of the Reformation, as is the Carme- lite monastery in which the Jena Luther Edition was printed and the remains of which can now be accessed again. The Jena Luther Edition is currently on show in an exhibition of the ThULB. Also being presented is an edition of the New Testament from 1540, on the last page of which Luther’s close as- sociate Georg Rörer has left a hand- written note intended to document the nailing of the Theses in 1517. How do you think the publication of Luther’s Theses actually happened? Did he re- ally »nail« them to the door? What is documented is that Luther sent a letter to Archbishop Albrecht of Brandenburg the day before the Feast of All Saints – namely on 31 October 1517 – in which he challenged him to a public disputation on the sale of in- dulgences. He had his theses for this disputation printed in the form of a pos- ter and we can assume that he also had them proclaimed in Wittenberg. But of course, he never had a hammer in his hand for this purpose! He had them at- tached to church doors by the beadle, the attendant from the university. This was usual practice in those days. The poster was not attached with nails, ho- wever, but with glue – the church doors would have never survived otherwise. But there are no eyewitness reports for the attachment of the Theses. Neverthe- less, there are some clues, among them Georg Rörer’s note although he was not present on 31 October 1517. The con- temporary witness Melanchthon also reports that the Theses were attached to the door. What do you personally think of Luther? Is he a hero in your eyes? Luther was a genius. I regard the term hero as inappropriate, as it allows no differentiation. For all the sympathy one may have for Luther and admiration for his amazing talents, there are aspects of him which I find alienating and difficult to accept. For example, the oppressive, anti-Semitic polemics in his late writings on the Jews. Nevertheless, it is beyond doubt that he was a religious teacher who provided the Christian faith with significant impetus such as his trans- lation of the Bible, his repertoire of hymns, the Small Catechism, the subject of freedom, etc. But he – doubtless like all great intellectuals – was a man with ambiguities and not just a shining light. Is enough attention paid to this »dark« side of Luther – especially on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation? Yes, undoubtedly. The subject of his writings on the Jews occupies the minds not only of historians and theologians but is also one of the main topics of the anniversary of the Reformation. It has by no means been swept under the carpet as has been suggested by some journalists. The subject is discussed not just in colour supplements but also cri- tically debated in position papers by the Evangelical Church in Germany and in Central Germany. What reforms would Luther advocate today, in your opinion? He would have a serious heart-to-heart with the Church. He would ask: Where are you with the core message of Chris- tianity? What are your concerns regar- ding faith and the people? What are you undertaking to pass on the relevance of the faith that supports us in life and death, to the next generation? Don’t ar- gue about trivialities! Develop visions for a living Church with a future! To put it succinctly: He would initiate a reform of the Church. For him it would be about the truth, and so I think he would warn us to focus more on enqui- ring after the truth. And he also would not tire of preaching that faith and love belong together at an elemental level. If we took that to heart, many aspects of our society and environment could be designed to be more sustainable. Church historian Prof. Dr Christopher Spehr is the authorized representative of the Executive Committee of the FSU for the anniversary of the Reformation, and has just co-published the brochure »Sites of the Reformation — Jena« which illuminates the local traces and sites of the Reformation as well as the history of its impact (ISBN 978-3-374-04415-3). We agreed to meet in Jena’s Church of St. Michael’s for the photo shoot — »the most important location for the Reformation in Jena«, as he says (see also photo on p. 20).