Luther: In Real Time

Experience the Drama at the Dawn of the Reformation

Faith Alone

 

It’s 1520. Martin Luther has been declared a heretic by Pope Leo X, and his books are being burned. How much longer before Luther himself is thrown into the fire?

Enter the German Reformer’s dramatic story with Luther: In Real Time. First released 500 years after the events described, this podcast allows you to walk in Martin Luther’s footsteps from his heresy charges to his famous stand for the authority of God’s Word at the Diet of Worms. Share this podcast with people of all ages so they can hear—in Luther’s own words—what Protestants are protesting and why it still matters today.

Season 1 of the podcast contains 30 episodes that were released on the date of the events being dramatized, exactly 500 years later. This season aired from October 10, 2020, to May 5, 2021. You can listen to the complete season today.

Season 2 is a 13-episode abridgment of season 1 with added discussion questions to help you, your family, or your study group get even more from the experience. This season begins October 8, 2021, and will continue every Friday through the end of the year. Subscribe today using the links below.

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Subscribe now on your favorite podcast app and listen every Friday.

Who Was Martin Luther?

Would God receive me if I died today? Caught in the open during a thunderstorm, Martin Luther was plagued with fear. Lightning struck the ground nearby and, at that moment, he made a promise: If God allowed him to survive, he would dedicate his life to becoming a monk. Luther’s survival, however, brought nearly fifteen years of self-inflicted torture as he attempted to make himself right before God. As he continued studying the Bible, Luther realized this was impossible to do of his own accord. He needed to be justified by trusting in Jesus Christ alone, not in his own good works. When Luther discovered this truth, he experienced a newfound freedom and began proclaiming the Bible’s message to the masses. Despite being opposed and declared a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church, Luther remained steadfast in his valiant preaching to help restore the true, pure gospel in a time of rampant corruption.

About the Presenter

Barry Cooper

Barry Cooper is a British author and screenwriter who was educated at Oxford University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is supervising producer at Ligonier Ministries and host of the Simply Put podcast. His other work includes Luther, Puritan, The Church, Can I Really Trust The Bible?, Discipleship Explored, and (as co-writer) Christianity Explored, a series that has so far been used in 100 countries, and translated into 50 languages.

About the Writer

Douglas Bond

Douglas Bond is tutor for the Oxford Creative Writing Master Class and adjunct instructor in church history at Western Reformed Seminary in Tacoma, Wash. He is also a conference speaker and author of numerous books, including The Mighty Weakness of John Knox.

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For Further Study

Luther: In Real Time contains the actual words of the people involved, translated from the original languages in which they spoke or wrote. In each episode of the podcast, “sanctified imagination” has been used to illuminate the life, times, and teaching of Martin Luther. For example, Luther’s view of the doctrine of transubstantiation is given in one episode. The precise context in which Luther expresses or discusses his theological views is not always recorded for us in the historical documents, so in this episode, we hear Luther voicing his views to Philip Melanchthon while walking beside the Elbe River. Even where imagination is used in this way, care has been taken to capture the views of those involved accurately and in their own words.