If you celebrate Reformation Day it would be good to remember Martin Luther as just one of the many men and women who defended the word of God at that time.
Martin Luther is a Christian that even the youngest can look up to, particularly with his passion for the Bible. He would ask people to quote Scripture to him, but instead they would quote the church fathers. He complained that it was just like asking for the light of the sun only to be offered the dim alternative of a torch or lantern: ‘With all due respect to the Fathers, I prefer the authority of Scripture.’ With heroes like that we would hope that our children would find their lives strongly rooted in God’s word.
Here are a few titles about Luther that span the breadth of ages:
The Banner of Truth have published a board book on Katharine Luther. The Woman who Helped a Reformer (ISBN: 978 1 848 717 695). This title accompanied by the Little Lights book Martin Luther: What Should I Do? (ISBN: 978 1 845 505 615) would be a good introduction for pre-schoolers to Reformation characters.
The Reformation ABCs (ISBN: 978 1 433 552 823) published by Crossway introduces young children to the broad spectrum of people, places, books and ideas that impacted this time period.
For older children When Lightning Struck by Danika Cooley (ISBN: 978 1 506 405 834) is like a fast-paced fiction novel. It tells the story of Martin Luther with an engaging fiction-style narrative to get its theological message across.
Although a champion of God’s word, Luther was plagued with bouts of depression and other problems. So why not encourage young adult readers to stretch their wings a bit by diving into an adult book such as Genius, Grief & Grace: A Doctor Looks at Suffering & Success (ISBN: 978 1 845 503 598).
If you and your family are looking for some additional resources and activities in the run-up to Reformation Day, look at the website Thinkingkidsblog.org. There are several links to crafts and devotional resources which are found after the entry Best Books on the Reformation for your Family.
Danika Cooley’s new series of church history books for middle primary (Who What Why?) is a good way to introduce the Reformation through people and objects: the Who was Martin Luther? What was Gutenberg Bible? and Why did the Reformation Happen?
The fact is that Martin Luther lived, there was a Gutenberg Bible and the Reformation did happen – for that we should be very relieved.
