Author's Note: Below is an essay I wrote for my Humanities class in the Spring 2007 semester. The topic had to be medieval/renaissance related. I had always been fascinated with the Reformation period and particularly Martin Luther's impact on modern day society. I decided to see what I could dig up about Luther's revolutionary ideas around sexuality, and was surprised to find that there were possibly polyamory links in his idealogies. So below ponders Luther's influence on modern day polyamory. By the way, I got a perfect score on the paper and the professor was most impressed with the original angle.
What Would Luther Do?
by Cherie L. Ve Ard
February 12, 2007
Imagine a prominent public figure that endorsed equality and partnership
between man and woman in marriage; a figure who promoted sexuality as
normal and healthy parts of marriage, and lack of sexual satisfaction in a
marriage as grounds for divorce. Imagine a figure that supported marriage
to first cousins and people of differing faiths. Imagine a figure who
believed that sexual satisfaction is a right, and if you can’t provide
it, you should find someone else who can for your partner. Some might
think such a person is perhaps radical and forward thinking in today’s
society, and you might be surprised that this person did not come out of
the 1960s free love movement. You may be even more surprised to learn that
the person with these views was an Augustian Monk in the 16th century, who
was responsible for setting the wheels in motion for the Protestant
Reformation. This person is Martin Luther, and beyond being a pivotal
figure in bringing the role of religion into the direct personal life of
Christians, he is responsible for much of the shape and form of today’s
marriage, family and sexuality. If Luther were alive today, would he be
pushing today’s social norms and condoning alternative relationships
styles such as polyamory?
Martin Luther was studying to become a lawyer in 1501 at his father’s
wishes. One day he was spared from being hit by a bolt of lighting and
vowed his life to that of his God. He studied to become an Augustinian
monk, and later became a theologian, priest and professor (Brecht 3-6). In
time, he became disillusioned with the structure of the Roman Catholic
Church, and challenged the church by writing the 95 Theses, which with the
advent of the printing press, was able to spread throughout Europe within
two months (Brecht 204). Response from the papacy in Rome was slow,
offering little rebuttal but plenty of time for Luther’s message to sink
in. This was the foundation of the Reformation. While exiled for his own
protection from the Roman Catholics, Luther dedicated himself to
translating the Bible into the language of his people, German, allowing
the common masses direct access to the book that was so central to their
lives for the first time. Luther encouraged church structures that allowed
each person to have a direct relationship with God, instead of going
through a priest or ‘intercessor’. Luther’s impact on Western
society and Protestant Reformation were significant.
Perhaps what is even more significant and has had more direct impact on
the way Western civilization, Christian or not, live their lives today was
Luther’s actions after challenging the papacy. In 1525, Luther married
Katharina von Bora, an ex-nun. This was controversial at the time for many
reasons, not the least of which was that priests had to take vows of
celibacy. Luther thought that monastic vows of celibacy were near
impossible to maintain for the vast majority of people, and that trying to
withhold the sex drive was on par with attempting not to urinate (Wiesner-Hanks).
The other controversy was that because Luther was a brother of God, and
his wife a sister of God, their marriage was technically one of incest (Wiesner-Hanks).
Many elements of their marriage challenged the social norms of the times;
including casting man and woman as fully equal partners. This was put to
practice by Luther not only living his own marriage in equality and
respect with Katy, but also leaving her as his heir to everything he
owned, a vast departure from the medieval practice of only leaving the
estate to another male (Carlson).
Luther also had a different approach to libido and sexuality, in that they
were to be viewed as sacred, healthy and integral parts of life and
marriage. “For Luther sexuality was as much a part of life as eating”
(Marius). The medieval Catholic view of sex was one of shame and only
should be done for the propagation of the species. Luther’s views were
far more liberal, even suggesting that woman’s sex drives were stronger
than men’s. He strongly supported the idea that women were not slaves to
their husbands and had rights, including the right to sexual satisfaction.
If a man could not please his wife and he loved her, then he should allow
her to take on other partners to meet her sexual needs, even while married
to each other (Marius 260).
Luther also departed from the ideologies of the Catholic church, in that
he supported the right to divorce, although he personally hated the idea
and would prefer bigamy be more acceptable. He recognized the Scriptures
did not denounce marriage to multiple people, and that only bishops should
be limited to one spouse, not the common Christian (Marius 261).
Luther had many alternative views on marriage, family and sex than the
church of the day promoted. It may have taken many centuries for these
ideas to propagate into society and switch marriage from being strictly a
business, procreation and sacramental union to being one based also in
love, partnership and sexual union. Luther’s views helped change the
model of marriage away from being based on the church, to instead being
based more on the culture surrounding society (Carlson). This allowed
marriage structure to be more amorphous in nature, and evolve as society
did. The structures of what constitutes much of today’s ‘traditional
family’ are based in Luther’s teachings and life. Luther was
revolutionary for his time, and perhaps many of his ideas are still
bordering on liberal for our time. This leads me to wonder, if Luther was
alive today what boundaries and socials norms might he be reforming?
One such relationship structure that exists today, polyamory, is one that
I think Luther might condone or perhaps even endorse. Polyamory is ethical
non-monogamy and literally means ‘many loves’. It’s not necessarily
multiple spouses, like the polygamy that Luther supported. However, with
Luther’s thoughts that sexual satisfaction was a right in marriage, and
that if a spouse could not satisfy his or her spouse that there should be
openness to pursue other partners; then it is not that far of a leap to
imagine Luther supporting those outside sexual partners to be more than
just sexual encounters and also having some emotional love basis. Yet
these are precisely the foundations of polyamorous relationships. Even if
Luther was presented with the context of our modern day society and did
not approve of polyamory, one might even be able to draw the conclusion
that had it not been for Luther reforming the shape of marriage and
acceptance of sexuality as a healthy part of loving relationships, that
the path for a polyamorous relationship style may not be able to exist
today. For this reason, I think people identifying as polyamorous should
take a moment and study the life of Luther and the impact he’s had on
society as a whole, and the building blocks he laid for relationship
styles like polyamory to surface.
Martin Luther’s attempts at reforming the Catholic church vastly changed
the course of Western civilization, even outside of religion. His impacts
upon society as a whole are widespread and reach into the hearts,
marriages and the libidos of men and women. While many of his teachings
regarding family, marriage and sexuality are now commonly accepted; some
of his teachings laid a foundation for the alterative relationship styles
that have been emerging in our society for the past few decades.
Works Cited
Carlson, Dr. Allan C. “A Revolutionary Theology of Sex: Martin Luther on
Sex, Marriage and Family” Family Research Council. 2 July 2004
<http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=wt04g01>.
Marius, Richard. Martin Luther: the Christian between God and death.
Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
1999.
Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. Trans. James L. Schaaf. Philadelphia:
Fortress Press. 1993.
Wiesner-Hanks, Merry. Interview with Rachael Kohn. The Ark – Luther’s
Libido. Australian Broadcasting Corporation Radio National. 16 January
2005.
