LOVING LUTHER
By ALLISON PITTMAN
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Publisher: Tyndale House
Date of Publication: September 1, 2017
Number of Pages: 432
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Germany, 1505
In the dark of night, Katharina von Bora says the bravest good-bye a six-year-old can muster and walks away as the heavy convent gate closes behind her.
Though the cold walls offer no comfort, Katharina soon finds herself calling the convent her home. God, her father. This, her life. She takes her vows–a choice more practical than pious–but in time, a seed of discontent is planted by the smuggled writings of a rebellious excommunicated priest named Martin Luther. Their message? That Katharina is subject to God, and no one else. Could the Lord truly desire more for her than this life of servitude?
In her first true step of faith, Katharina leaves the only life she has ever known. But the freedom she has craved comes with a price, and she finds she has traded one life of isolation for another. Without the security of the convent walls or a family of her own, Katharina must trust in both the God who saved her and the man who paved a way for rescue. Luther’s friends are quick to offer shelter, but Katharina longs for all Luther has promised: a home, a husband, perhaps even the chance to fall in love.
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Praise for Loving Luther:
[Pittman] pens an exquisite tale, capturing the emotions of a nun grappling with the faith she’s always known vs. a new and unfamiliar freedom in faith. Simmering with tension of Katharina’s discontent and longings, the novel unveils a slow morphing that follows Katharina’s own personal transformation, from reverence to spirited determination in choosing her own way in the world. — Booklist
Loving Luther is a moving and rich historical romance based on Luther’s relationship with his wife Katharina. In addition, it shows how their marriage was actually significant to the Lutheran faith. Instead of dwelling on the couple’s courtship, the story goes deep into the roots of the Reformation. Luther and Katharina interrogate their faith, living out their convictions in a way that is both inspiring and profoundly human. Loving Luther has depth, and it is unexpectedly touching. Katharina and Luther, in search of a happy ending, find one another. Their love, Pittman shows, really did change the world. — Foreword Magazine
A historical novel with characters who are brave, strong and willing to take chances in times of persecution. The plot is partially based on the teachings of Martin Luther and the many lives he changed, some for the better, some for the worse. Pittman is a talented author who touches on topics that have been debated over the decades and are still being talked about today. — Romantic Times Reviews
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Eight Things I Learned about Martin Luther
Guest Post by Allison Pittman
Luther was fond of singing and pioneered the inclusion of congregational singing as part of the worship service. His hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God,” has maintained a prominence in worship, and even has its place in pop culture on the popular show Gilmore Girls. (“Dude, what’s a bulwark?”)
Luther was centuries ahead of his time in his views of gender equality. An excerpt from “The Estate of Marriage,” published in 1522:
Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool, though that father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith, my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling, not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. Those who sneer at him and see only the task but not the faith are ridiculing God with all his creatures, as the biggest fool on earth. Indeed, they are only ridiculing themselves; with all their cleverness they are nothing but devil’s fools.
He loved his wife, his home…and his beer. (pretty much in that order) From a letter to his “Dear Kathie” dated July 29, 1534:
Yesterday I had to take a nasty drink, and I do not like what is not good. I keep thinking what good wine and beer I have at home, as well as a beautiful wife, or shall I say lord? And you would do well to send me over my whole cellar of wine and a bottle of thy beer, or else I shall not be back before the new beer is ready.
Luther married his wife after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at matchmaking. From a letter to Heironymus Baumgartner, a young student in Nurnberg, October, 1524:
Moreover, if you intend marrying Katherine von Bora, make haste before she is given to someone else, for C. Glatz, pastor in Orlamunde, is ready waiting. She has not yet got over her love for you. I wish that you two were married.
He wasn’t afraid to present the gospel to anyone—including the King of England. An excerpt from a letter to Henry VIII, September 1, 1525
Is it not almost a miracle when a king or prince loves the gospel? Oh, how I long to be able to rejoice over such a miracle in your Majesty! Would that God, before whom I write this, would endue my words with power, so that the King of England may, ere long, become a devoted disciple of the Lord Christ and a confessor of the gospel, and also Luther’s most gracious lord.
Luther is the reason you battle with strings of lights every Christmas. While Christians used boughs of evergreen to decorate their homes for Christmas, Martin Luther is credited with attaching small candles to the branches. Legend says he was inspired by the stars twinkling through the trees on a crisp winter night.
Source: History.com
Luther was an early spokesperson for Staying in School. In 1530 he wrote a sermon on the subject, saying:
For in this [education] they have shown generous Christian consideration of their subjects, contributing faithfully to their eternal salvation as well as to their temporal well-being and honor. God will assuredly strengthen such a work with ever increasing blessings and grace, though the devil must strive against it for a while since he cannot be happy when so excellent a tabernacle is built to the Lord in this sun. He must assemble clouds and mist and dust, trying in every way to keep such glory from shining too far, or at least to dim its splendor.
Martin Luther had a sense of humor, quoted as saying, “If God has no sense of humor, I don’t want to go to heaven.” His sharp wit brought focus to matters of complex theology to basic human nature.
Source: Uncommon Travel Germany (translated)
Allison Pittman is the author of more than a dozen critically acclaimed novels and a three-time Christy finalist—twice for her Sister Wife series and once for All for a Story from her take on the Roaring Twenties.
She lives near San Antonio, Texas, blissfully sharing an empty nest with her husband, Mike.
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