December 10

George MacDonald, Emily Dickinson, Karl Barth, Thomas Merton, and Martin Luther's break with Roman Catholicism

Author

David Barnhart
December 10, 2025

St. Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny, Ireland, 2022.

On today’s date in 1520, Martin Luther publicly burned a Papal decree (or “bull”) in Wittenberg. The Pope’s message condemned Luther’s teachings and threatened him with excommunication. 

Today is the birthday, in 1824, of English author George MacDonald, whose death we marked on September 18. 

Today is also the birthday, in 1830, of Emily Dickinson, whose death we marked on May 15. 

Today marks the death, in 1968, of Karl Barth [pronounced “Bart”], Swiss theologian. Barth was one of the most influential Protestant theologians of the last century.

Today also marks the death, in 1968, of Thomas Merton, monk and theologian, whose birthday we marked on January 31. 

Reflection: 

Thomas Merton wrote: 

“The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them”

Karl Barth wrote: 

“At the beginning of all theological perception, research, and thought – and also of every theological statement – stands a quite specific amazement. Its lack in even the best theologian will threaten the heart of the entire enterprise, while even bad theologians are not a lost cause in their service and their duty, as long as they are still capable of amazement.”

Prayer: Holy God, fill our whole vision of the world with both love and amazement. Amen.