“How did Martin Luther die?” he asked me.
I thought it was a bit of an odd question, but I responded honestly, “I don´t recall”.
We were talking about the Protestant Reformation and what he, as a Roman Catholic, knew about it. Alberto is one of the people at the local market I try to chat with once or twice a month. He is sincere in his faith and does not participate in all the ridiculousness surrounding the saints. Yet, his faith is still marked by Roman Catholic theology and thus disordered and deficient. But, he is open to conversation.
“So, how did Luther die then?” I asked.
“Well, they say when he died that his body emitted a horrible smell. Usually the saints who died would emit a sweet fragrance, like flowers or incense. So it was strange that Luther´s body gave off the opposite kind of smell: a foul stench.”
I smiled. “It makes sense the Roman Catholic church would say that, after all, Luther was their enemy.”
Alberto shrugged his shoulders. “You know what they say, ‘When the river sounds, it´s carrying water.’” (the Mexican version of “When there’s smoke, there’s fire.”).
After my conversation with Alberto I was curious to know where this rumour had originated. Apparently, several months before Luther actually died a pamphlet was published in Italian that reported his death. It also reported that the day after his death his grave was opened and his body was not there, only a revolting, foul stench. This of course was taken as good evidence that Luther was a heretic. Roman Catholic tradition taught that the holy dead were expected to give off an “odour of sanctity”, while a body that emitted a foul, decaying stench was seen as a sign that the person had been a heretic.
What was interesting to me was that this “rumour”, circulating even before Luther died, is still alive today. Alberto didn´t know where the rumour originated; he didn´t even really know that much about Luther, but he had heard that Luther was probably a bad guy.
Unfortunately that Italian pamphlet from five hundred years ago was fairly effective and its propaganda worked to some extent. However, it should be added, Luther´s own message was also fairly effective and still reverberates in Christian churches and homes all across the world. It is Luther´s message of salvation through faith, by grace alone that we aim to preach and teach from our little church plant here in Mexico, attempting to win people to Christ alone, just like Alberto.
Let’s pray that people would turn from rumours, propaganda, and traditions, and seek the Living God in His Word.
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