Luther: Freedom, or Truth?

We saw it last night: Luther (the movie, DVD). It was great! Especially powerful was the part where the, ah, ministers of Saxony are summoned before the emperor. He tells them that they will hand over Luther, forbid his preaching, and worship in the Roman way. They all refuse and prefer to have their heads cut off, rather than obey that. Wow.

At the end, of course, they prevail. Just before the credits rolled, we saw some captions talking about religious freedom.

But Luther wasn't interested in freedom; he was interested in integrity and truth. And so, by the way, were the pilgrims that came to North America from Europe in the 17th century. Contrary to what I was taught in school, they didn't much care about freedom to worship as they chose. They were frustrated because the government forbade them from obeying the Lord.

Purity! Integrity! Truth! That, not "freedom", was the rallying cry. Not that there's anything wrong with freedom, as Paul says emphatically in Galatians. It's not about worshiping as I choose; it's about obeying God.

and now a word from Sheri

who wants me to tell you that she beat me in a round of Boggle this afternoon, 25-18, in spite of my finding stilt(s) on the board.