The Birthday of the Protestant Reformtion
Mar 22, 2017 15:30:45 GMT -6
Post by Todd on Mar 22, 2017 15:30:45 GMT -6
If you go to our Web Site (https://form2lines.com), and click on the menu item “For those who like to explore,” you will find under “Christian Sites," Item number 12, a site called “Celebrate the Birthday of the Reformation.” This is not only a great site, it is a great idea. It has been 500 years this coming October since the Reformation started. It would probably be a good idea for all Christians to look at this site. Protestants, especially should reconsider the issues that produced a milieu in which they could even exist.
Because I have been somewhat negative about what I view to be problems in the Post-Modern Church, I would like to take this opportunity to look back, in a positive and grateful frame of mind, to what the Reformation has provided for us. If all human institutions have a somewhat parabolic trajectory, rising, peaking, and then declining, it might do us good to recapture what Protestantism is, and what Biblical Christianity seeks to be. There are many forces alive and active in the world today that would take our church from us, and if we are not prepared, it will not be hard for them to do so.
I would like to invite members to contribute positive notes on how their favorite reformers contributed to our ecclesiastical freedom. I would take the opportunity to mention Martin Luther, who addressed at least four Catholic dogmas with trenchant Biblical criticism, and fostered a new, more Biblical answer to those concerns.
Luther discovered that 1. Salvation is "by faith alone," not by works. How many of us take such a statement for granted, or even think about it at all during the course of the day? May God Grant that we never take it for granted, but recognize clearly that this is the Biblical position. 2. Luther also discovered in the New Testament the teaching that the Word of God alone is the authority and standard for Christian faith and life. Yet how many of us even read our Bibles to discover that Word of God?” [It is not dissimilar to how little attention we Americans pay to our Constitution!] Let us set aside a little time each day or week for reading the Word. Joining a Bible study might also be a good idea. 3. To the question of what constitutes the Church, Luther replied that the Church is the body of believers, not an earthly institution, or hierarchy. For those concerned with “community,” this is surely of great importance. If we can entertain the idea that while the Church is a community, but that not all community is Church, maybe we can go back to using the word Church, and be grateful for what it means. 4. Luther gave us the basic Protestant notion of the essence of Christian living. It is serving God by our honest application to any useful vocation. It does not have to be closely related to Church activity or overt Christian ministry.
Because Luther was accustomed to intense and constant Bible study, virtually all his positions were rooted in Scripture – so much so that we get the notion of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) from his example (and the examples of other Reformers), and because it is not a doctrine that is not constantly under attack, we should familiarize ourselves with it and embrace it. If you have not visited the Web Site, you may go to the same area as mentioned above, and under “Christian Topics for Discussion,” read the Catholic attack on the doctrine, and a Protestant response.
Would someone contribute something on any of the other Reformers? - Todd
Because I have been somewhat negative about what I view to be problems in the Post-Modern Church, I would like to take this opportunity to look back, in a positive and grateful frame of mind, to what the Reformation has provided for us. If all human institutions have a somewhat parabolic trajectory, rising, peaking, and then declining, it might do us good to recapture what Protestantism is, and what Biblical Christianity seeks to be. There are many forces alive and active in the world today that would take our church from us, and if we are not prepared, it will not be hard for them to do so.
I would like to invite members to contribute positive notes on how their favorite reformers contributed to our ecclesiastical freedom. I would take the opportunity to mention Martin Luther, who addressed at least four Catholic dogmas with trenchant Biblical criticism, and fostered a new, more Biblical answer to those concerns.
Luther discovered that 1. Salvation is "by faith alone," not by works. How many of us take such a statement for granted, or even think about it at all during the course of the day? May God Grant that we never take it for granted, but recognize clearly that this is the Biblical position. 2. Luther also discovered in the New Testament the teaching that the Word of God alone is the authority and standard for Christian faith and life. Yet how many of us even read our Bibles to discover that Word of God?” [It is not dissimilar to how little attention we Americans pay to our Constitution!] Let us set aside a little time each day or week for reading the Word. Joining a Bible study might also be a good idea. 3. To the question of what constitutes the Church, Luther replied that the Church is the body of believers, not an earthly institution, or hierarchy. For those concerned with “community,” this is surely of great importance. If we can entertain the idea that while the Church is a community, but that not all community is Church, maybe we can go back to using the word Church, and be grateful for what it means. 4. Luther gave us the basic Protestant notion of the essence of Christian living. It is serving God by our honest application to any useful vocation. It does not have to be closely related to Church activity or overt Christian ministry.
Because Luther was accustomed to intense and constant Bible study, virtually all his positions were rooted in Scripture – so much so that we get the notion of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) from his example (and the examples of other Reformers), and because it is not a doctrine that is not constantly under attack, we should familiarize ourselves with it and embrace it. If you have not visited the Web Site, you may go to the same area as mentioned above, and under “Christian Topics for Discussion,” read the Catholic attack on the doctrine, and a Protestant response.
Would someone contribute something on any of the other Reformers? - Todd
