The reformer, Martin Luther, is well-known for his often colorful and vulgar language. Why does he do it? Luther says,

I can cut through a willow branch with a bread knife, but to cut through tough oak requires an axe and a wedge, and even with these one can hardly split it.

Stephen J. Nichols (who I believe teaches here, though I can't verify it), in his book Martin Luther: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought, says that for Luther, "urgent situations...call for strong language" (170). Growing up in a tradition where this was, in fact, the case, or where such language could be justified by calling it "barnyard language," I can relate to Luther to a degree. Still, the words of Paul are hard to ignore.