Posted on 08/12/2016 3:59:59 PM PDT by ebb tide
Germany’s Catholic bishops have praised Martin Luther as a “Gospel witness and teacher of the faith” and called for closer ties with Protestants.
In a 206-page report, “The Reformation in Ecumenical Perspective”, Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg, chairman of the German bishops’ ecumenical commission, said the “history of the Reformation has encountered a changeable reception in the Catholic Church, where its events and protagonists were long seen in a negative, derogatory light”.
“While the wounds are still felt to the present day, it is gratifying that Catholic theology has succeeded, in the meantime, in soberly reconsidering the events of the 16th century,” he said in the report, published this week by Germany’s Bonn-based bishops’ conference.
Bishop Feige said the “history and consequences” of the Reformation would be debated during its upcoming 500th anniversary, but added that there was consensus that previous mutual condemnations were invalid.
“Memories of the Reformation and the subsequent separation of Western Christianity are not free from pain,” Bishop Feige said. “But through lengthy ecumenical dialogue, the theological differences rooted in the period have been re-evaluated – as is documented in the work presented by our ecumenical commission.”
Martin Lazar, the Magdeburg diocesan spokesman, told Catholic News Service on Wednesday that the Reformation still caused tensions in Germany, especially “in religiously separated families.”
The bishops’ report said the “Catholic Church may recognise today what was important in the Reformation – namely, that Sacred Scripture is the centre and standard for all Christian life.
“Connected with this is Martin Luther’s fundamental insight that God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ for the salvation of the people is proclaimed in the Gospel – that Jesus Christ is the centre of Scripture and the only mediator.”
The Reformation is traditionally dated from the October 1517 publication of Luther’s 95 Theses, questioning the sale of indulgences and the Gospel foundations of papal authority.
Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X in January 1521 and outlawed by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
The German bishops describe Luther as “a religious pathfinder, Gospel witness and teacher of the faith,” whose “concern for renewal in repentance and conversion” had not received an “adequate hearing” in Rome.
They said the reformer’s work still posed a “theological and spiritual challenge” and had “ecclesial and political implications for understanding the Church and the Magisterium.”
The report said a joint Catholic-Lutheran statement in 1980 commemorating the Augsburg Confession, which set out the new Lutheran faith, had been crucial in bringing churches closer, while another ecumenical statement in 1983, on the 500th anniversary of Luther’s birth, had started an “intensive engagement” with the reformer’s work.
A historic 1999 joint declaration on the doctrine of justification was a “milestone in ecumenical dialogue,” the report said, by recognising that remaining differences should “no longer have a church-dividing effect.”
The bishops’ report includes June 2015 conciliatory letters between the German bishops’ conference president, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, and Lutheran Bishop Heinrich Strohm, president of the Evangelical Church of Germany, outlining plans for a 2017 ecumenical pilgrimage to the Holy Land and a Lent service devoted to “healing memories.”
In an interview with CNS, the ecumenical commission’s deputy chairman, Bishop Heinz Algermissen of Fulda, said Catholic-Lutheran ties had improved since the Second Vatican Council, but that churches must work for “visible unity, not just reconciled diversity.”
“This means not only praying together, but meeting the challenge of speaking with one voice as Christians when we are all challenged by aggressive atheism and secularism, as well as by [radicalised] Islam. Otherwise we will lose more and more ground,” he said.
“In commemorating the Reformation, we cannot just see it as a jubilee, but should also admit our guilt for past errors and repent on both sides for the past 500 years,” he added.
Catholics make up 29 per cent of Germany’s 82 million inhabitants, with the Evangelical Church of Germany accounting for 27 per cent, although all denominations have faced declining membership.
Surely you are not suggesting Christianity be governed by Scripture!
Is that right? Cherry-picking again?
[46] It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins. 2 Maccabees 12
Or did Luther excise that quote also from your personalized bible also?
You display a pathetic knowledge of the bible.
Is making the sign of the cross idol worship?
Look who’s talking. Another scripture cherry-picker.
But again you don't.
You suggest I display a lack of Bible knowledge. My Bible has plenty of admonitions against idol worship. That scapular you claim you wear falls into that category.
I don't know what you hang up with Luther is. I don't follow him.
I follow Christ. And He never said anyone needs to wear a piece of cloth to avoid the hell fire. So no. The catholic who relies upon the piece of cloth to keep them out of hell is displaying a disdain for the words of Christ.
But it's not too late. There is forgiveness for all sins.
Ditch the scapular and read John 5. John 5:24 is what you're looking for.
I'll ask again....do you believe His promise He made in John 5:24?
I know!
As I've stated numerous times upthread, protestants, starting with the heretic Luther, have excised and edited the bible to their own personal whims.
Meanwhile, you continue to avoid the question regarding John 5:24. It should be a simple yes or no answer. But if you're relying upon the scapular that's probably your answer.
You've yet to offer any verse to substantiate your reliance upon an idol to keep you out of the hell-fire.
You've already stated that. You don't seem to follow anybody in your "Church of Me".
It appears, nobody, e.g., Luther, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost or real Catholic saints, exactly knows what scripture says except for you. Aren't you special!
Sorry ebb! You're wrong again. I accept all the inspired verses - every single one.
I just work hard to understand what is said and then believe it.
I don't need to make Scripture support an idea that came from paganism. There isn't any Scriptural support for that stuff. So of course, I have to reject it.
If you want to believe that stuff, that's on you bro.
Still won't affirm or deny John 5:24 I see.
One who has to work hard to understand the bible is one who desires to twist it to his own whims, as Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and Knox all did .
I recommend you exercise a little bit of humility.
[2] And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, [3] And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. [4] Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew Chapter 18.
Your posts sound like they come from someone completely unfamiliar with the Scriptures bro. I hope some hacker has your account password and it's not you posting like that:
"Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. - Timothy 2:15 - The Apostle Paul
I recommend you exercise a little bit of humility.
Humility is finding out what God says in His word and submitting to Him in belief and obedience. That requires diligence, as He commands.
What about it? I don’t cherry-pick the Bible. I don’t reject John 5:24. If you took time to read further you would see:
[25] Amen, amen I say unto you, that the hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.
[26] For as the Father hath life in himself, so he hath given the Son also to have life in himself: [27] And he hath given him power to do judgment, because he is the Son of man. [28] Wonder not at this; for the hour cometh, wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God. [29] And they that have done good things, shall come forth unto the resurrection of life; but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. [30] I cannot of myself do any thing. As I hear, so I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
If you’re counting on the scapular to keep you out of hell you’re rejecting the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to forgive you of all of your sins.
The problem is that you and your protestant “bros” are quoting a deformed “scripture”, excised and edited by a heretic named Martin Luther.
I just quoted Maccabbes 2 earlier, only to be told that that book was not in that poster’s personalized bible.
Why should I engage with prots who reject the original bible?
Don’t you worry about my soul.
Rather, worry about your own.
You don’t know what I’m counting on.
I don’t even dare speculate what you’re counting on. All I can do is pray for you.
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