Posted on 04/02/2020 11:06:03 AM PDT by East Tennessee Redhead
Attributed to Martin Luther regarding the plague:
"I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence.
If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others.
If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God."
Citation?
Left column, last para beginning “No, my dear friends...”
I am not the poster but this is from "Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 43 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 119–38."
Title: "Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague
To the Reverend Doctor Johann Hess, pastor at Breslau, and to his fellow-servants of the gospel of Jesus Christ". [1527]
These lines are excerpted and can be easily found by searching for "I shall avoid". By this time, the reoccurrence of the Plague was an almost expected thing. From the first, devastating one, the BLACK DEATH of ~1349, there had been one almost every generation. SCARY!
I’m not able to look it up now, but the LORD’S words to Joshua came to mind...”Only be strong and courageous!”
No mention of public worship being cancelled. Because it wasn’t.
Thank you SES1066
Appropriate, thank you...Joshua 1:7
Public worship is never cancelled as long as believers still meet. You don’t have to be in a building for it to be “church”.
Martin Luther and his wife Katharina survived the Bubonic Plague that ravaged their city, Wittenberg Germany, in 1527. They survived even though they cared for many sick people in their home.
The guidelines you mentioned are from a letter he wrote to a fellow pastor. Forgive the self reference, but for much more on this go to:
https://kurtbrouwer.com/martin-luther-the-bubonic-plague/
Kurt
Thank you, Kurt...appreciate the link to your site!
As challenging as the present times are, it is good to try and maintain the long term perspective and realize that troubles have long persisted in this fallen world.
Job 14:1 (NIV) 1”Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.”
I’m not arguing for buildings.
I am arguing for meeting.
That’s my point...you can meet in a variety of ways. The class I teach is currently meeting online. Most of the group is in a higher age group so we’re being pro-active on this.
I disagree that that is the assembly ordained in scripture. Obviously many aspects or worship can’t be entered into that way.
I agree it’s better than nothing. A pale imitation.
As for class teaching we are not bound on that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.