Luther's 95 Theses
Posted on 06/08/2014 1:59:17 PM PDT by matthewrobertolson
In 2017, we will witness the 500th anniversary of one of the most important, influential and regrettable events in Church history: the Protestant Reformation, or the Protestant Rebellion, as some prefer to call it. Indeed, the latter term would suit me better, too. But, being German, I am used to the former expression and should I ever refer to said event as die protestantische Rebellion, people would think me some sort of radical. On that thought, perhaps it is worth noting that rebels are often quite radical themselves, which is one thing we can definitely say of the so-called "Reformers". To mark this anniversary, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has planned a number of events, beginning with a "Lutheran Decade" from 2008 to 2017. Each year has it’s own theme in the form of "The Reformation and…", i.e. Education, Freedom, Music, Tolerance, Politics and others.
The decade will culminate in the celebratory year of 2017, to which the President of the Evangelical "Church" in Germany (EKD), Nikolaus Schneider, has even invited Pope Francis. But, really, how likely is it His Holiness will hop on a plane and join in the celebration of someone his predecessor excommunicated? One might ask, is there any room for Catholics to take part in some sort of event? This is the question that is circulating in the mother country of the Reformation: Germany. The Most Reverend Gerhard Feige, Bishop of Magdeburg, is the Bishops' Conference's representative for ecumenical affairs. He has dedicated a lot of thought and time to the question how Catholics should view this event.
It begins with the name: Do we call it an anniversary, something that could imply happiness, or a commemoration of an event that has wrought such great damage upon the Body of Christ, His holy Bride, the Catholic Church? The German bishops have chosen the latter term. There is still confusion on the whole thing, though: The EKD is not being very clear on what exactly they want to celebrate. One hears catchy words such as "diversity", "conscience", and the like stuck onto the Reformation in their talk, but never do we hear of heresy, schism or even the antisemitism of Luther and his ilk. Indeed, who in his right mind would celebrate the chaos and harm inflicted on the Church by the so-called "Reformers"? Not even the Protestants organizing the event dare to say thus. Yet, one gets the impression that the whole event is not actually interested in critically evaluating the past, or their theology for that matter, but rather praising it as the dawn of an era of "tolerance" and "liberty".
Could this be any further from the truth? Professor Heinz Schilling of Berlin, a member of the advisory board for the anniversary, stated in an interview that Luther was "everything but tolerant" and criticized the EKD as "quite understandably not interested in any of the research’s findings". He went even further and said that the organizers made themselves appear "laughable among scholars" by claiming what they do. Margot Käßmann, who is the anniversary’s ambassador and a former Lutheran "bishop", once claimed that it was thanks to Luther that her sect had female "bishops". The professor criticizes this as yet another inaccuracy and something that Luther certainly did not envision. Is it any wonder, then, that the EKD has not come out clearly and said what the entire occasion is about for them, as the bishops have repeatedly bewailed, if even their own board members see through their catchy slogans?
What about us Catholics? Is there any way in which we can join our separated brethren in their commemoration? I argue: no. Some will disagree, but to me, the Reformation is intrinsically connected to fracture in the Body of Christ, heresy and the resulting total chaos. I could never join any such "commemoration", even if one doesn't call it an "anniversary" for the sake of appeasing Catholics. When have we ever "commemorated" the schism of 1054, or any heresy, for that matter? I believe we would do great harm to the effort of achieving Christian unity by taking part in any way. It obscures the borders between Catholicism and Protestantism, confuses people, and may even cause scandal.
The aforementioned Margot Käßmann suggested the following kind of participation of Catholics and Protestants: Each group could begin a pilgrimage on their own route, and reach one common destination. She would also like the program to achieve that all people learn "that 31 October is Reformation Day and not Halloween", to which Bishop Feige of Magdeburg replied "and the eve of All Saints". But the problem I see with Käßmann’s proposal is this: Although the idea might seem nice, it suggests that Protestantism and Catholicism are somehow equals. They most definitely are not. And certainly not according to Luther himself! Catholics know that their Church is the Church Christ the Lord founded on St. Peter, and Protestantism's very name already suggests otherwise. The Reformers made that point very clear. From a Catholic point of view, a heretical movement that splits the Church cannot be of equal worth as the One True Faith. Just think how we would have fought Arianism if such had been our position! This is not to say that Protestants aren't Christians, of course, but we must realize that Protestantism is not what our Lord willed us to have or believe: Catholicism is. Thus, two equal pilgrimages reaching one destination à la Käßmann would cause scandal and confusion. I assume she does not want it to symbolize the way we might some day find unity, but rather the common destination means Christ. But that is precisely the point: The Catholic Church is the ark of salvation, the Body and Bride of Christ, and She alone has "the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). She is Christ in this world apart from Whom "no one comes to the Father" (John 14:6). Protestantism has distorted those words of eternal life fundamentally, and thus cannot be on equal footing with Holy Mother Church. If Christ is "the Way, the Truth and the Life" apart from Whom there is no salvation, then so is the Catholic Church, for She is His Body (Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians 1:24).
Thus, let me emphasize again: Celebrating the Reformation, or even commemorating it with Protestants, will blur the sharp line between the One True Church and those communities that came from the Protestant Reformation. It will scandalize and, actually, almost certainly make Christian unity harder to achieve. For in pretending Protestantism is somehow equally valid or of the same dignity as Catholicism, we take away the very reason for Christian unity: to be united in the one Church that our Lord left us, founded on Peter in the person of the Roman Pontiff.
Therefore, I hope the German bishops decide not to participate – however unlikely that is. It remains to be seen whether the ecumenical progress in achieving unity hoped for will come about. Let us pray, that 2017 will bring to many people's attention the Truth of Catholicism and the scandal that the separation of Christians is, fostering in them the desire for unity with Christ in His Bride, which is Holy Church.
Luther's 95 Theses
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I had a innocuous comment removed and I can only surmise that one of these God fearing Catholics snitched on me, the irony goes over their heads.
That or it was the Spanish inquisition!
So, you engage in debates but when someone disagrees with you, you snitch them off. Nice.
If they wanted to make it “Catholic Caucus”that would have been one thing, but it’s clear it was meant to be provocative.
ALL posts on the Religion Forum that contain potty language are removed as soon as we see them.
You said Catholics don't worship Mary. You pray to her and ask for her to intercede. I copied the Hail Mary for you.
From Merriam Webster:
Worship:
- reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of expressing such reverence
- a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
- extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem
Catholics worship Mary. You are wrong.
The reason is that flame wars ignite easily when the subject matter is deeply held religious belief.
If you said "Catholics worship Mary" that would NOT be "making it personal." However, if you say "You worship Mary" that would be "making it personal."
I didn’t snitch anyone. I don’t even know how to do that. Apparently the other guy did.
I’ll get off this thread. Was planning to anyway.
I know it’s fast and furious here, but two of my posts have been pulled for using the “t” word in reference to the original poster. in neither post did I quote “potty language.”
I came to know the Lord as my Savior outside of any church, and ever since then I’ve looked at all of them without any prejudice. And what I’ve come to see is that the Lord Himself brought about other denominations at the proper times in order to preserve the actual, invisible church, because in many ways man’s will, not His, was being done.
The one billion Catholics and one half billion Orthodox Christians know the difference.
Discuss the message, not the messenger.
Are you aware that most of the Hail Mary is from the Bible?
Hail Mary, full of grace, — Gabriel’s greeting to Mary at the Annuciation
The Lord is with thee — At the Visitation, Elizabeth greets Mary by saying, “How is this that the Mother of my Lord has come to see me?”
Elizabeth then continues “Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” The word Jesus was added later.
Holy Mary, — just a greeting,
Mother of God — back to Elizabeth and “the Mother of my Lord.”
here is the request “Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Please read Luke to verify.
We only have the Bible as being inspired by the Holy Spirit.
This would be a better article if it acknowledged that there were abuses at the time that led to the reformation. Without that, it's hard to take this seriously.
It's also hard to take seriously someone's heartburn with German Catholische joining with German Evangelische and commemorating the event. That event pretty well defined the history of most German states for hundreds of years. First, it means this author don't have a clue about today's Germany, and second it means they're among those few from both sides who still prefer this to be a matter for armies on battlefields rather than Christians in serious reflection with one another.
What we will glean from Protestant or secular sources is that the entire history of the world, from the Old Testament through the Classics through Shakespeare, was that the struggle for power ravaged the lives of the citizens of every country on the planet as far as we know. That was CHAOS and it was PRE Reformation ( thanks for supplying the evidence in your very own post Julius II, Medicis, etc) Then came along a little Protestant country founded on the Protestant principles of John Locke among others and all but eliminated that chaos. You knew that when you posted what I consider to be a tr-—ish screed, nothing personal intended, believe me, as I have been admonished by the Religion Moderator with a heavy hand.
And the Catechism?
At least you are honest about the fact that reforms were needed. You can continue to assign ill will to Protestants as you wish. We exist because Rome failed to be the honest steward of Christianity. You needed our help to nudge you in the right direction. We are glad (mostly) you cleaned up your act more or less.
Earthly institutions are all flawed when run by men.
No one “snitched.” I noticed the potty language and removed the original post and the post which quoted it.
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