Posted on 06/26/2014 2:47:24 AM PDT by markomalley
It’s been roughly 500 years since Martin Luther introduced the language of the people to the Mass – the Divine Liturgy of the Church. 500 years since the historic language of the Western Church was purged from the worship of God’s people. As a student of history, I understand why Luther thought this was necessary. Indeed, there is goodness in hearing and understanding the Liturgy in one’s native tongue. But Luther’s experiment with language should end. It’s time to restore Latin to the Mass of the Western Church. It’s time to reintroduce the language of the Church to her people.
For those bristling at such a suggestion, I offer the following observations:
1) The Lutheran Reformers did not seek to abolish the Mass. Our confessions, contained in the Book of Concord, make this abundantly clear. These are the same confessions that every ordained Lutheran pastor swear to uphold and affirm. In other words, the Lutheran Church is a Liturgical Church and our worship is properly called the Mass.
2) Concerning matters of the faith, there was widespread ignorance among laity AND clergy during the time of the Reformation (Cf. Luther penning his Small and Large Catechisms). This, coupled with a literacy rate of ~20% (which radically changed with the introduction of the printing press), meant that the vast majority of those attending Mass had little knowledge of what was being said (by priest or people). Again, it’s no wonder Luther thought the vernacular was important.
3) While the Lutheran Church affirms sola scriptura, it does not reject Tradition or the importance of ritual. Catholicity is not adiaphara (optional/indifferent), especially with respect to worship. And nothing affirms our catholicity like the Mass. It is, I believe, THE defining characteristic of what Lutherans confess.
But why ditch the vernacular in our worship and relearn – reintroduce – and re-embrace Latin in the Mass? What possible benefits can come from such a change? I’m glad you’re curious…
1) Despite that the fact that the Lutheran Confessions affirm the Mass, many Lutheran churches today reject it altogether and embrace a worship style that is more akin to what one would find in a non-denominational church. Lex orandi, lex credendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief) is absolutely true and those who reject the Mass or think they should arrogantly rewrite it based on what they think their congregation wants/needs, I believe, reject the very substance of Lutheranism. Can you imagine a contemporary Latin Mass? Neither can I. They are mutually exclusive, which is why the use of Latin in our Mass will help restore our catholicity in matters of worship, and affirm what our Confessions already do.
2) Our clergy and our people are very educated on matters of faith these days, much more than those prior to the Reformation. The Holy Scriptures, the Book of Concord, the writings of the church fathers, etc., are almost all in our native tongue. But with the expulsion of Latin, there is no longer a common language of the Church catholic. I know, very few clergy and even less laymen know Latin. But what a powerful educational tool the Church could be if it took it upon herself to educate her people in this language. As we relearn this language, some of our hymns, the assigned readings, and the sermon, could remain in the vernacular, along with a translation of the Latin in the hymnal or worship folder. But once again Christians could have a language that unites every congregation around the world – regardless of time or location.
3) Finally, re-embracing Latin in our Mass will further solidify the Lutheran Church as a communion that embraces the catholicity of the Christian faith. This embrace, I believe, will allow us to refocus our efforts on ending our schism with Rome. Sadly, most Lutherans have no desire for reconciliation with those in fellowship with the Bishop of Rome. However, this runs contrary to the intent of the Reformation and to the spirit of the Augsburg Confession. But how can our communions be reunited if our worship is so radically different? Let’s embrace the language from whence we came and in it, find a new platform for dialogue and reconciliation.
It’s time. For the sake of the church and our faith – restore Latin to the Mass.
Soli Deo Gloria
Slowing down when I type helps too.
I'm always amazed at how many text editors volunteer their days working on FreeRepublic. In fact, I don't even proof my stuff anymore, as I know one of them will readily do it for me.
You’re welcome : )
Exactly.
I was just trying to say that the argument from tradition for Latin doesn’t work, because Greek and Hebrew outclass it in all its ‘qualifications.’
But the purpose isn’t any kind of language debate, it’s the advancement of the Gospel.
I YESSESSE TENGWAINEN ¨
THE FIRST AND SECOND CHAPTERS OF GENESIS IN QUENYA WITH TENGWAR1
http://folk.uib.no/hnohf/tgenesis.pdf
Any synod that rejects the authority of the Bible and the Book on Concord should not be called Lutheran. Even though the ELCA contains Lutheran in the name, they are not Lutheran in practice. Or maybe it's just that members of the LCMS are embarrassed every time Lutheran is mentioned and the ELCA is the focus.
I also missed in the article anything about churches in Missouri; rather, the author refers to a Lutheran communion.
The title contains the abbreviation LCMS, which stands for Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Even though the name contains Missouri, the LCMS churches are around the world. It really confused Canadians, so they changed the name in Canada but maintain communion fellowship.
Naaah...
They're going to embarrassed a lot then, since the ELCA is the largest "Lutheran" Church in the United States. It's not surprising they're in the news more than the LCMS.
According to the ECLA, they believe in the authority of both the Bible and the Book of Concord: http://www.elca.org/Faith/ELCA-Teaching
Of course, I understand if LCMS members want to make an argument that the ECLA doesn't practice it in reality.
Their belief and authority is different in quality. They do not believe that the Bible in inerrant. Their writings include the careful phrasing "Inspired by God’s Spirit speaking through their authors". So anything in the Bible they don't like was the authors speaking and not God. They use it as a buffet rather than a rule and guide.
How can they claim the Bible has authority when they can throw any parts of it out the window? For example, the ELCA tolerates the belief that Jesus was not born of a virgin. They say that in general, Lutherans believe in the virgin birth. The Bible with that kind of authority is no authority at all. If they do that to the Bible, imagine what they do with the Book of Concord...
RE: “Mystery”
A lot of us don’t want mysterious mumbo-jumbo. We want to UNDERSTAND the Christian faith and rites as clearly as humanly possible. We must know what we profess to believe. Give me light, not darkness.
If a particular language must be used, I'd agree with you. I find nothing in scripture that requires any particular language. I'm suspicious that people wanting Latin services do so because they spent a lot of their life learning Latin, cannot find much non-scholarly use for it and happen to be full of themselves.
Didn’t doctors and pharmacists and some technical subjects use Latin?
Yes but I doubt very many converse in it.
From most liberal to most conservative
ELCA = Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Its Canadian aquivilant is the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC). About 9800 congregations
NALC = North American Lutheran Church (US + Canada), formed in AD 2010 in response to the ELCA/ELCIC’s embrace of the gay agenda. About 600 congregations.
LCMC = Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (All of North America); formed in 2000 in response to the ELCA/ELCIC embrace of The Episcopal Church through the document “Called to Common Mission”. About 900 congregations.
LCMS = Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Covers all of the US; Missouri refers to the fact that headquarters are in St. Louis. Canadian equivilant is Lutheran Church-Canada (LC-C)
WELS = Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Covers all of the US. Headquarters in Milwaukee.
No one disagrees with understanding. My 6 year old just received Holy Communion and we went to great pains to explain to him Whom he was receiving.
But human understanding is going to run out at some point, and the Mass is mysterious by nature. "This is my body" is a mysterious concept. Isn't it better to acknowledge that?
I have been to several Lutheran churches in my area and not one of them adhered to the traditional liturgy, including #4 that you referenced.
“a designated sacred language ...”
By whom?
A Latin mass will put the parishioners to sleep faster than the memorized English version.
I’d ask how the invaders from the south ( which are mostly Catholic) would adjust to Latin masses, but then I realized, most of them are coming from Latin America, so no problem.
Hebrew is the language that G-d gave to Abraham.
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