The Commons Spring 2019: Graduation Edition | Page 5

SCHOLAR’S CORNER
was murdered by his own brother. Enzi-
Knowing that Enzinas is alluding to Luther’s friend, Camerarius, poleaxed
nas, the author, was actually a friend of Augustine’s City of God provides inter- some of Luther’s followers who he felt
Juan Díaz’s and wrote the account just pretive clarity. It makes the translation were dangerously radical and threatened
months after the murder.
that much more accurate—Anna is able to destabalize society. In place of writing
Such a book easily lends itself to hagi- to cleave closely to every allusion with a treatise, Camerarius wrote a fictional
ography—the study of the saints. Juan the larger context in mind. These kinds account in which Luther returned from
is portrayed as a pious but flat hero and of insights are difficult to have without the dead. In it, Luther is concerned and
his brother as an utterly unredeemable, a guide like Dr. Tipton.
anxious and voicing Camerarius’s objec-
mustache-twirling villain. However, En-
tions to his opponents’ rabble-rousing.
zinas knows how to tell a good yarn and
Luther confesses that, even though he
he creatively frames the whole story as a
attacked popes and princes throughout
Bringing Reformation
repetition of Cain and Abel. Dr. Tipton
his life, he did not relish the task. In fact,
works back from forgotten
made a great case that Enzinas is subtly
he had hoped to strengthen and support
history
…
feels
like
a
once-
evoking Augustine’s City of God: Augus-
both church and state. It’s a fun text,
tine saw Cain’s murder of Abel as just the
and one that exemplifies the importance
in-a-lifetime opportunity.
first of the many conflicts between the
of Christian institutions, something
city of God and the city of man. Cain’s
that we don’t seem to value much today.
murder of Abel and Alfonso’s murder of
My own work is Joachin Camerarius’s
Bringing Reformation works back
Juan are simply different examples of the “The Complaint of Martin Luther, or a from forgotten history under the super-
same epic struggle. By framing the mur- Dream.” It was written in the aftermath vision of a professor like Dr. Tipton feels
der within this larger context of the con- of Martin Luther’s death. At the time, Lu- like a once in a lifetime opportunity. I
flict between God and the devil, Enzinas ther’s supporters started attacking each hope that New Saint Andrews and other
portrays Alfonso as a dupe of the devil, other with a vengeance. Political chaos Christian institutions can continue to
someone who is as much demon-pos- unstabilized the reigon, and the sur- lead the way in recovering and translat-
sessed as malevolent.
vival of the Reformation was uncertain. ing such rich and valuable gems.
SPRING 2019 5