Rev. Dr. Eric Gritsch

Rev Dr. Eric W. Gritsch is Emeritus Professor  of Church History,  Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary where he also directed the Institute for Luther Studies.  A native of Austria, he experienced firsthand the reign of Adolf Hitler and the tyranny of Communism; he came to the United States in 1954.  He received his Ph.D. from Yale University and is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  He has taught at Wellesley College, the Catholic University of America, California Lutheran University, the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, and in the Dr. Eric W. Gritsch Chair at the Melanchthon Institute in Houston, TX.

What is my interest in Eric Gritsch? Currently, his review and insight into the 2003 movie LUTHER; as well as his book “The Wit of Martin Luther”. Both of which I find to be enlightening and highly interesting. I anticipate finding more treasures from Gritsch’s work.
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Reviews of Luther Movie by Seminary Faculty

Reviews of the movie LUTHER (2003) from faculty of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. Original comments here: http://www.ltsg.edu/luthercolloquy/themovie.htm

Overall, they feel the movie to be an “ok” introduction to Luther, but absent in relaying the power and drama of Luther’s historical personality. They find the Luther movie to be “nice”.

I have also seen the Luther film. I liked it, but I am not so deep in the facts and history of Luther to know the difference. So I defer to more learned minds…

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Martin Luther – O Lord, Look Down From Heaven, Behold

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcqCvDUackg

From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 26-27:
A paraphrase of Psalm 12, this hymn was written in 1523, the same time as many of Luther’s other psalm-hymns. It was published in the first Lutheran hymnal, Achtliederbuch, of 1524. Luther’s version of the psalm reflects much of his own experience in the early days of the Reformation. Though several different tunes were used for this text with various levels of success, the present tune dates from 1524 and is possibly by Luther himself.

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Martin Luther – If God Were Not Beside Us Now

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsMnZO8b2_Y

IF GOD WERE NOT BESIDE US NOW – By Martin Luther 1524

From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 17-18:
Luther’s friend Justus Jonas in 1524 wrote an eight-stanza paraphrase of Psalm 124. In contrast to the smooth-flowing style of Jonas, Luther also undertook the paraphrasing of the same psalm, his being shorter, more rugged, and closer to the text of the psalm. After Luther’s version was published in Walter’s Wittenberg hymnal of 1524, both his and Jonas’ paraphrases were included in early Lutheran hymnals. Walter’s tune is the one most associated with this text.

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Martin Luther Lyrics – A New Song Shall Now Be Begun

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st6gRfIr86Y

“A New Song Shall Now Be Begun” – Composed by Martin Luther 1523
From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 8-13:

On July 1, 1523, the infant Reformation saw executed in the Brussels market place Heinrich Voes and Johann Esch, two Belgian Augustinian monks and followers of Luther. Since wandering minstrels and their ballads served as the mass media of the day, Luther wrote this first hymn of the Reformation as a ballad recounting the martyrdom of these witnesses. First appearing in 1523 in broadsheet for, it, along with Luther’s tune, was published in Johann Walter’s 1524 Wittenberg hymnal.

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Mario Lanza’s “Nessun Dorma”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJZ2XA84MPI

Mario Lanza sings Nessun Dorma in the 1956 Classic, Serenade. Enjoy.

From the video author:
I didn’t make this video though, I found it and decided to spread the joy of his amazing voice to those who have not heard it. Also I wanted this to be on the video response of the Ultimate Nessun Dorma video since Mario Lanza was, unfortunately, not included in that video. Therefore I wanted to “add” him by doing a video response for all to see this. So yeah. Like I said, enjoy it.

German Drinking Songs

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLl2C3ChYY

“DRINK! DRINK” from THE STUDENT PRINCE with Mario Lanza.
Book & Lyrics by DOROTHY DONNELLY Music by SIGMUND ROMBERG
Originally Staged by J.C. HUFFMAN
First produced at the Jolson Theatre on December 2, 1924, with Ilse Marvenga as “Kathie” and Howard Marsh as “Prince Karl Franz”.

German drinking songs follow:

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Martin Luther on Music

My favorite excerpt from this writing of Martin Luther is this:

“A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.” – Martin Luther

As quoted by Carl F. Schalk in “Luther on Music”. More thoughts on Martin Luther’s views on music and the quoted text in context follows:

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Martin Luther’s Account of his Conversion

Martin Luther’s Account of His Own Conversion by Martin Luther (1483-1546)

The following selection is taken from the Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther’s Latin Writings. It was written by Luther in Wittenberg, 1545. This english edition is availble in Luther’s Works Volume 34, Career of the Reformer IV (St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1960), p. 336-337. In the first few lines of this selection, Luther writes, “during that year;” the immediate context indicates he is refering to the year of Tetzel’s death (July, 1519). This puts the date for Luther’s conversion, in his own view, two years after the posting of the ninety-five theses.

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