Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Did Shakespeare read Luther?

"...What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet..." Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet," 1594.

Boy this is a looooong stretch...;-) Shakespeare could have been talking about a rival theater named "The Rose" which stank of unsanitary conditions, Luther was well aware of how much there is in the Name of Jesus....

Interesting thoughts by Luther though as to how the senses become dull to the miracles that surround us at all times...

AELW1:126
"But why does the creation of Adam and Eve seem so unbelievable and miraculous, while man’s propagation, which all men know and see, does not seem so miraculous? Undoubtedly because, as Augustine says, miracles become commonplace through their continuous recurrence. Thus we do not marvel at the wonderful light of the sun, because it is a daily phenomenon. We do not marvel at the countless other gifts of creation, for we have become deaf toward what Pythagoras aptly terms this wonderful and most lovely music coming from the harmony of the motions that are in the celestial spheres. But because men continually hear this music, they become deaf to it, just as the people who live at the cataracts of the Nile are not affected by the noise and roar of the water which they hear continually, although it is unbearable to others who are not accustomed to it. Without a doubt he took over this very statement from the teaching of the fathers, but they did not want to be understood as though sound were given off by the motion of the celestial bodies. What they wanted to say was that their nature was most lovely and altogether miraculous, but that we ungrateful and insensible people did not notice it or give due thanks to God for the miraculous establishment and preservation of His creation."

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