Not a Bad Lutheran, Just a Bad Person
April 20th, 2008
On another Lutheran blog site, a blogger posted his confession that he does not much like the writings of Martin Luther, the paintings of Lucas Cranach, or the music of J.S. Bach. He asked, "Does this make me a bad Lutheran?" A person responded by saying, "No, it doesn’t make you a bad Lutheran, just a bad person." I thought this was one of the funniest quips I’ve read on a Lutheran blog site in a long time.
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Categories: Lutheranism
ROFLOL!
So you’re not going to tell us which blog this was?
McCain: I don’t remember where I read it.
Luther: Great writings, but his hymns sound like they were written by a tone-deaf dog. Great words, though.
Cranach: OK but I prefer icons.
JS Bach: Organ works – rock. B-minor Mass and St. John Passion – heavenly. Sunday contatas – tedious. Give me those 17th century guys any day (Praetorius, Hammerschmidt, Schuetz, Buxtehude)
McCain: This is a very good example of a person who is a fairly good Lutheran, being a bad, BAD, person!!
It was me…and I still think Raphael is way better than Cranach.
So, then, shouldn’t the retort shouldn’t have read:
“No, it doesn’t make you a bad Lutheran, just a bad PArson.”??? ;^) LOL
I’m just saying…
I know this comment was tongue in cheek, and it was a cute play on words, but it still troubles me a little. I do have some difficulty understanding a Lutheran saying he dislikes the writings of Luther. However, as Sasse pointed out many times, Lutheranism is not really merely a cult of personality built around Luther – it’s all about the Gospel. We adhere to the Lutheran Confessions because they are faithful to the Word of God, not because they are what Luther taught.
Likewise, I love Bach, and I feel sorry for someone who does not hear the multi-layered beauty in his music. But let’s be honest, it can be an acquired taste. The difference between Bach and, say, Mozart is not immediately obvious to the uninitiated; but whereas I find Bach to be endlessly beautiful, I find Mozart (with a few exceptions) to be, frankly, a little dull. So I can see how someone might feel the same about Bach.
The danger in saying that disliking Luther, Bach, and Cranach makes you a bad person (again, recognizing that it was at least partly in jest) is that it gives support to those who claim that liturgy is just for people who like a certain style. “See? The only reason they worship that way is because they like the music and art. Fine for them. But WE’RE going to reach out to the Seekers, the people who like all music, not just old classical music on pipe organs.” Not saying it’s right, but there are plenty of people who think just that when they read this comment.
Mind you , I am referring to the original post, not the banter between Pastor McCain and Pastor Cwirla.
Does it make me a really, really good person that I like all these guys? (I do think that Raphael is a better painter than Cranach, but I still like Cranach- especially his portraits.)
I love Bach.