No. I attend a church, where I am in submission to the leadership, as commanded by God, which is under the authority of God and His inspired Word.
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.
If Augustine meant the Roman Catholic Church, he was both unbiblical and consequently wrong.
If Augustine meant the universal church - the Body of Christ - right on, right on!
I do notice you do not have any Scriptural support that substantiates your claim.
Wouldn't it be better to just believe the Word of God that salvation is in Christ alone? Wouldn't it be better to leave aside your rituals and beads and come to faith in Him for eternal life?
Oh? So just like Luther and his personalized “bible”, y’all like to cherry-pick the very saints you make reference to?
For your reference, in case you missed this very issue upthread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3459067/posts?page=28#28
I didn’t miss it.
It appears to me that you have your very own “church” of me.
No. I attend a church, where I am in submission to the leadership, as commanded by God, which is under the authority of God and His inspired Word.
Well, ebb tide. I wish you a good night.
After helping our daughter and her husband move into their new home today, I’m beat.
I wish you the blessing of the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
??
Trump is not an apostate.
We do have catholic writings noting the apparition at Fatima said, "Whosoever dies clothed in this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” - words of Our Lady to Saint Simon Stock
Roman catholicism contradicts itself and the New Testament. Is it membership in the rcc or wearing the scapular that "saves" you?
We also have the words of Pope Urban II declaring, "All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested."
Again, roman catholicism contradicting not only itself, but the New Testament.
The other two infallible declarations are as follows: There is one universal Church of the faithful, outside of which no one at all can be saved. Pope Innocent III, ex cathedra, (Fourth Lateran Council, 1215).
If the pope were referring to the ekklesia he would be correct. However, if he is referring to the roman catholic church, then he is mistaken.
To be clear....membership in a denomination does not save you. Belief in Christ is what saves as noted in John 3:16.
We declare, say , define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff. Pope Boniface VIII, (Unam Sanctam, 1302).
To which none of this is supported by the New Testament.
Jesus said in John 14:6...."I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me."
No requirement to be a member of the roman catholic church nor be subject to the pope.
If the requirement to follow the pope,as noted by Boniface, is true, then a lot of catholics on this board are in trouble. I'll add they're in trouble if they believe they have to be subject to the pope for their salvation as that would again contradict John 14:6.
From Acts 2:38 we also have this....."Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
The statement of Boniface is in contradiction of this statement by Peter. Peter never said anyone had to be subject to him. This means only Peter or Boniface is right.
The Truth has been shared from the New Testament in hopes of correcting the false teachings of roman catholicism.
Just another inevitable consequence of the evil ecumenism promulgated by Paul VI at Vatican II.
I wear a brown scapular. And the rest of your post is a broken, protestant record.
Your counter was without substance.
Yeah, right.....sigh.
So when was the last time you have repented of your sins and been given absolution?
[23] Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. John Chapter 20.
Or are you another cherry-picker?
Are you aware that Martin Luther was an Augustinian Monk, whose core dispute revolved around the Romanization of the Catholic Church promoted by the Vatican, to the exclusion of the other European Cultures; and had very little to do w/Fundamental Catholic Doctrine???
Bulletins for you:
* The Anglicans (High Episcopalians) are on their way back to Catholicism.
* The Lutherans aren’t far behind.
Where does the “Word” state, “Sin, and sin boldly”?
Unlike Catholics, the personal opinion of man does not doctrine make. No doubt Luther revered Mary, but the Lutheran Confessions are drawn from God's Word, therefore it isn't doctrinal.
From your first: And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it, we can make of it no article of faith . . . It is enough to know that she lives in Christ.
I doubt any Christian doesn't accept Mary as a faithful believer in Christ, that makes her place in heaven secure, based on the merit and work of God's Son her Savior
The rest of your statements from Luther are what I think you guys call pious statements, but they have no Scriptural warrant so they aren't Lutheran doctrine. Luther's beliefs could be doctrine, when they are measured against God's Word.
Shall I go on?
Protestants like to cherry-pick the Bible, cherry-pick St Augustine and even cherry-pick one of their heroes, Martin Luther.
It’s free for all for them.
No cherry pick, it is interesting you establish the RCC legitimacy based upon its own statements, just like the Muslims who according to the RCC Catechism worship the ‘One True God’. Lotta housecleaning at the RCC starting at the top with the ‘Vicar’.
It doesn't...but counting on that scapular to keep you out of Hell would fall under that heading.
I notice you cannot provide a scriptural reference to justify the scapular.
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