The Wit of Martin Luther

Eric Gritsch ties Luther's wit and humor to his sharp polemical exploitation of the absurd or incongruous in service to his Reform. At a deeper level Luther'swit and witticisms reflected his keen appreciation of human frailty and theunknowability of things divine. Luther, Gritsch shows, especially relished humor in his interpretation of the Bible, in his pastoral relationships, and in hisencounters with death. Ultimately humor in face of mortality is a gauge of human freedom, a "lightening up" that makes of life a divine comedy.