a good kind of thuggery

Listening to a talk by John Piper, who quotes Luther saying, "I beat importunately upon Paul". Here Luther sounds like the kind of man one wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley! This reminds me of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32:22-32. We are often reminded that Jacob limped after this encounter with God but Jacob is more struck by the fact that he survived at all (v30)! A fuller quote from Luther is below, taken from here :

I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. But up till then it was not the cold blood about the heart, but a single word in Chapter 1, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed,” that had stood in my way. For I hated that word “righteousness of God,” which . . . [I had understood as that] with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner. . . . I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God. . . . Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted! (Luther’s Works, vol. 34, pp. 336–37)