Martin Luther Humor Analysis

The Humor of Martin Luther Martin Luther was the hero of the Great Reformation. He swung a special hammer to nail the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg door. His swing ignited sparkle on the protestant churches. His hammer was made of the silver of intelligence, the iron of theology, and the gold of humor. Surprisingly, the gold in his hammer can poop and fart. Luther employed his scatological humor smartly and habitually in ecclesiastical, theological, and sociopolitical circumstances. Luther was not born with humor. Luther adopted humor. Before the Great Reformation, Luther was a very pious and serious monk. Because of his serious biblical studies, he encountered mental conflicts and troubles about the subject of penance. He kept thinking that indulgences could only provide sinners with …show more content…
The gold of humor started to shine on Luther’s golden hammer. Furthermore, just like every carpenter brings his hammer everywhere, Luther brought his golden hammer to everyplace he has been to. When he went to the Roman Catholic Church, he preached, “Out of a desperate ass never comes a cheerful fart” (Gritsch 114). In this way, he humorously announced his own theology core ideas, which are freedom and the joy of salvation. When rages came to his head, he criticized the Roman papacy, “As I am a crude ass, and do not read books, so there is no one in the world who reads them; rather, when I let my braying heehaw, heehaw resound, or even let out a donkey’s fart, then everyone will have to consider it pure truth” (Martin Luther, 1545). Martin Luther used humor in this way to punch the Roman papacy. Luther also employed humor in sociopolitical situations. For instance, he claimed, “The world is like a drunken peasant. If you lift him into the saddle on one side, he will fall off again or the other side. One cannot help him, no matter how one tries. He wants to be the devil” (Gritsch, 117). With a sense of humor, he showed us his world