Jerusalem Commemorates 500th Anniversary of Protestant Reformation

The Israeli organizers were three leading scholarly bodies: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Institute, the Historical Society of Israel and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Another sponsor was the Jewish National Fund. The aim of the colloquium was to collectively address three issues: Martin Luther’s personality and impact, the Reformation itself, and the influences of Protestantism in the Holy Land. A ya Elyada, historian at the Hebrew University, spoke about Martin Luther’s enormous contribution to the consolidation of Germany’s national language by translating the Bible into German. However, she also highlighted the fact that Luther took the liberty of adding his own…