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Luther on Truth

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Description

In this simple thought, the great reformer of religion, education, governance, music, economics, gender relations and a whole lot else sums up the worldview of the Renaissance and Enlightenment mind: It is better to torture oneself with hideous truths than to flatter the world with beautiful lies. This deceptively simple combination of the philosopher's eloquence, the theologian's humility, the lawyer's certainty and the musician's passion is a demonstration of why Western civilization is and will long remain indebted to this remarkable period of history.

The woodcut depicts a later-model Gutenberg press, Luther's devastating weapon. As Will Durant remarks, "Printing was the Reformation; Gutenberg made Luther possible." The picture of Luther is from a copperplate by the famed artist Lucas Cranach the Elder, who also was one of Luther's first publishers. For all you literalists, yes, I flipped the image. It's art; it can't be wrong. :-P
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Comments4
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shibamage's avatar
Haha wow, I faved this because of the artist's description. You should publish that somehow :P