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| Melanchthon and Luther are on YouTube. |
Apology, I-IV, YouTube
I. Europe considered Melanchthon a genius. He could have gone many places to be Number 1 there.
II. Luther thought of Melanchthon as an ideal partner in their religious work together.
III. When Luther died, Melanchthon preached the sermon.
Those are three reasons people should have the highest regard for Melanchthon, the key person writing the Augsburg Confession and the author of its defense - The Apology of the Augsburg Confession. We should use the old-fashioned and perfectly good words - like Apology - so we do not end up like Dick, Jane, Sally, Spot, and Puff - endlessly repeating short words to make up for a lack of study.
Audio Gutenberg - Launched by the Internet
The Internet has proven to be the greatest achievement in communication since a wine press was turned into a printing press. Every book became available at a low price, and illustrated lessons, like the Small Catechism, could be printed by the thousands. Radio and TV were intermediate steps but both require plenty of money for an individual to launch. Having a computer and broadband is cheaper now than owning a used car.
Listening to something worthwhile has grown as a hobby, even a necessity, for many people. If it is easy to access and free, time spent watching scripted celebrities can be converted to enjoying the treasures of the Gospel.
Travis and Lauren Cartee began Audio Gutenberg, the YouTube series backed by the Audio Gutenberg blog. They have put together Travis reading the first part of the Apology, so an impressive but overlooked expression of the Gospel can be enjoyed on any digital device.
I asked our Philippine Missionary Pastor Jordan Palangyos if those readings would be useful for his congregation. (Looking far ahead, I think they will.) His reply was brilliant - "They will be very good for pastors. It will be helpful for future students."
Of course! If the leaders know and appreciate the Apology, so will their members. Lutherans have gone through many times when the Reformation was little more than a dimly remembered spark. Times of recapturing the witness - the Defense - of the Gospel has always been rewarding for those on the verge of becoming generic atheists.
Picture the classic church library. When I was tied to real estate and buildings, the library was invariably a collection of Reader's Digest Condensed Books that nobody read or wanted. Our current church library - on the Internet - has almost 300 classic books as PDFs and is moving toward 100 printed books.
We have over 100 people on Facebook looking for free Lutheran books for world missionaries.
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| Audio Gutenberg Blog |
