MOVIE STUDY GUIDE Session 4

DVD scenes for this segment include: 1. Should Anything Happen 2. The Great Leveling 3. 100,000 Dead Peasants This segment is app. 19 minutes in length [Meter #1:20:29 – 1:39:07]

INTRODUCTION TO THE VIDEO SEGMENT: In this segment you will see the devil try to destroy what the Lord has done Elector Frederick through Luther up to this point. As a result of what Luther says at Worms, Emperor Charles declares Luther an “Outlaw,” meaning that it’s now legal for anyone to kill Luther on sight. On Luther’s way back from Worms, armed men kidnap him and take him to a secret hideaway, a castle called The Wartburg. We then find out who is behind the kidnapping and why.

Meanwhile, back at Luther’s home of , the devil gets busy. He uses Carlstadt. Carlstadt is a fellow teacher with Luther at the University of Wittenberg, but he completely misunderstands what Luther’s work is about. And so while Luther is missing, Carlstadt begins to preach riot, revolution, and destruction in buildings. At the Wartburg during this time, Luther begins to translate the into the language of everyday people so that everyone, not just pastors and teachers, will be able to read God’s Word. The mess created by Carlstadt, however, convinces Luther that he needs to go home to Wittenberg.

But Carlstadt is not the only one who misunderstands Luther’s work. Peasant workers throughout think that the “freedom” which this brave monk has been talking about is the freedom to overthrow their government instead of the freedom from sin’s guilt through faith in Christ. As a result, government forces must put down a massive peasant revolt; and in the violence, 100,000 people die.

At the end of this segment, several nuns escape in fish barrels from a convent and come to Wittenberg. One of these escaped nuns will change Luther’s life.

As you watch this segment, get ready to discuss the following questions: 1. Who was behind Luther’s kidnapping, and why?

2. In your own words, describe the message Carlstadt was preaching in Wittenberg. How does this compare with what Luther was preaching? 3. Luther’s work was all about returning to the message of the Gospel. Try to read the devil’s mind for a moment: What do you think the devil was trying to do through Carlstadt and the Peasants’ Revolt?

4. Luther once said, Satan hates light, life, and laughter; for he is a spirit of darkness and despair, and he likes to drag man into darkness and despair by representing the sinner’s case as hopeless. During this portion of Luther’s life, how did the devil try to do that? How does he try to do that to you and me today?

5. 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. How can you use this verse as a weapon when the devil tries to attack you with despair?

People, Places and Things:

Wartburg: Castle where Luther was hidden for about a year. Translated NT there. “Knight George”: Luther’s alias while staying at the Wartburg. Cranach: An artist and friend of Luther who painted Luther’s portrait. Black Bear Inn at Jena: Where “Knight George” stayed on way back to Wittenberg. Carlstadt: A fellow teacher with Luther at Wittenberg. In Luther’s absence he preached unnecessary changes and unnecessary destruction of items within church buildings. : 3 men who denied infant baptism and taught direct revelation. Muenzer: Denied need for baptism and taught direct revelation. Led peasants in revolt. Great Peasants’ War 1524-25: Peasant uprising partly due to peasants’ misunderstanding Luther’s Freedom of the Christian. Nearly 100,000 peasants and soldiers died. 12 Articles: 12 rather reasonable demands some peasants listed during Peasants’ War. Against the Murderous and Thieving Bands of Peasants: A letter in which Luther urged rulers to stamp out the peasants’ rebellion. Battle of Frankenhausen: Battle that brought the Peasants’ War to an end.

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