fbpx

Luther: Now streaming with Amazon Prime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuPYJPsvOWM

Yesterday I learned something pretty exciting: Luther: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer is now available to stream with Amazon Prime. If you’ve not already had an opportunity to watch the film, this is a great way to do it.

Discover the story behind the man who sparked the Protestant Reformation. Told through a seamless combination of live-action storytelling and artistic animation, Martin Luther’s daring life is presented in extensive detail while still making the film relevant, provocative, and accessible.

This was definitely one of the unexpected highlights of my writing career so far. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

I couldn’t take my eyes (and hands) off this book

Nearly two years ago, long before I left Canada, I started a fun project with my friend, Stephen McCaskell: a script for a documentary which became LUTHER: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer.

The film was released earlier this year, premiering at TGC 2017 in Indianapolis, and has since been featured at a number of Christian film festivals—even being named the best documentary at the Christian Family Film Festival this past August.

During the production of the film, Stephen and our partners on the film, Eleazar and Rommel Ruiz of Patrol, began exploring ways to share the story in another form—to allow the material to find life in another medium. Luther: A Visual Book, a companion to the film, is the result.

Luther Book Cover

Based on the screenplay, Luther: A Visual Book allows you to sit with the story and drink in the gorgeous illustrations from the animated segments of the film.

Luther Interior 2

Luther Interior 1

Luther Interior 3

I received my copy of it in the mail yesterday, and I couldn’t take my eyes (and my hands) off it. It’s a book that begs you to touch it. To feel the paper, and take in every element. I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. The book officially releases on October 3, 2017, so I hope you’ll order a copy for yourself (and a copy of the film, too) today.

The truth about Luther is more beautiful

Early in 2016, my friend Stephen McCaskell asked if I’d be interested in working on a new project with him: a documentary about Martin Luther. My first reaction? “I have no idea what to do him.” For weeks, I tried to figure out how to approach telling the story of the controversial German Reformer. And it was sitting with the controversial aspects of the man that made me realize that that is what makes his story beautiful. What makes his story worth sharing. Recently, I wrote about this tension and the beauty of the truth of Luther for Patrol. Here’s a brief excerpt:

It’s tempting to ignore the more unsavory aspects of Luther, the man. To focus only on the great Reformer and all the powerful ways God used him, and offer (at most) a quick but ultimately dismissive acknowledgement of unpleasant things he said and did. To gloss over the inconvenient truths. At the same time, there’s the opposite temptation: to vilify the man and only focus on the horrible or embarrassing moments. We want to see him either as a hero or heretic. As brilliant or a buffoon. But to present either is to present a fictional Luther; a caricature that bears a passing resemblance but is, ultimately, empty.

That’s what I realized as I waded through a sea of biographies, articles and essays, trying to make sense of this man. For me to honor Luther, to tell his story honestly, I needed to embrace this tension. To strip away all the mystique we’ve built up around him, and get to the heart of Luther as he really was: a normal, frail, fallen, sinful human being who was used extraordinarily by a gracious God.

Keep reading at Patrol.


Image: LUTHER/Patrol

LUTHER: The Life and Legacy of the German Reformer releases April 21. Order your copy today.