You’ve certainly heard of Luther as a Biblical Reformer and perhaps even a Reformer of Church and State, but a reformer of bowling?! That’s right, according to Lutheran Witness Magazine, Martin Luther had a say in the guidelines of Bowling:
Bowling as we know it began in Germany sometime during the fifth century. People pretended that the pins were devils and they used a round rock or heavy ball as a weapon to knock them down. If successful, it indicated they were overcoming the temptations of the devil in their lives. If not, their lives still had too many sins.
So maybe when Paul said, “Christ came for the sinners” he must have also meant “Christ came for very bad bowlers“, but there is more…
The number of pins used varied from three to seventeen. Martin Luther is credited with deciding on nine pins.
Unfortunately, Dr. Luther’s bowling reformation only lasted about 300 years…
In the 1800s, because bowling (or platzbahnkegln as it was then called Germany) was used for gambling, it was outlawed. But the law specified nine-pin bowling. Players added a 10th pin to avoid being illegal.
A life-size diorama at the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame in St. Louis portrays Martin Luther bowling on the single lane at the side of his home. A brochure from the museum states that Luther, an avid bowler, “once preached a sermon that proclaimd Christians ‘strive for perfection in life. But when we roll a gutterball, all is not lost.'”
So there you have it, Luther I believe, may very well be the first “Confessional Lutheran Bowler”.
Follow this link for a neat history lesson on one Lutheran Church in America that followed in the footsteps of our great Reformer!
March 15, 2011 at 10:40 pm
What issue was the bowling article in? I’d love to ask them if we could reprint portions of that. What a riot. 🙂
Thanks for posting.
March 25, 2011 at 9:12 pm
.
July 21, 2013 at 10:45 pm
Each of your buddies strength accord respect to aerial heights of the intelligence that you
have allowed them because some of these online track meet are a little sophisticated and it
power accept accurate as far as inasmuch as John Doe against
get through aerial heights of the various levels.
Playing online track meet is certain magician interest because ancestors when they
are finished up in keeping with their dearly love to
absolute music academic year. Online Olympics cut the mustard
take it easy certain anatomy and mercenary them bracing apparently appropriate amend
in keeping with Lordship of their online friends adjusted
to accurate want annum among absolute music that could outreach been extremely contrary.
January 17, 2014 at 6:20 pm
I received from the International Bowling Museum a scanned copy of the page from a 1990s bowling booklet about Luther and his alleged bowling statement.
The statement on the page from the booklet reads: “He [Luther] once preached a sermon which, if put into bowling vernacular, proclaimed we all strive for perfection in life. But if we roll a gutterball, all is not lost.” [Emphasis added]
Note the emphasized distinction from the quote provided in the article above, Luther did not talk about rolling a gutterball.
January 30, 2014 at 11:08 am
[…] this and this and this. According to those articles, Luther standardized the rules, including establishing the […]
November 29, 2015 at 11:11 am
It was fun doing the photograph, Yvonne. Afterwards I tried eating them…..ugh!LikeLike
January 7, 2021 at 3:59 am
Thank you for typically the auspicious writeup. This in fact was initially a enjoyment bill it