Luther Did NOT Nail 95 Theses To The Church Door!

It was like a slap in the face when the catholic Luther researcher, Erwin Iserloh, asserted in 1961 that the nailing of the theses to the door of the Castle Church belonged to the realm of legends.

The facts are convincing, the first written account of the event comes from Philipp Melanchthon who could not have been an eye-witness to the event since he was not called to Wittenberg University as a professor until 1518.

Also, this account appeared for the first time after Luther's death and he never commented on 'nailing anything up' in 1517.

Announcements of upcoming disputes were supposedly regularly hung on the door of the Castle Church. But, openly hanging the theses without waiting for a reaction from the Bishops could have been seen as a clear provocation of his superiors. Luther would not have done that because he only wanted to clear up some misunderstandings.

It is also worth noting, that there was no open discussion of the theses in Wittenberg and that no original printing of the theses could be found.

One thing is sure: Luther wrote a letter to his superiors on October 31, 1517 in which he denounced the sale of indulgence and asked for repayment and removal of the misunderstandings. With the letter he included 95 theses which were to be the basis for a discussion on the topic.

Today, the majority of Luther researchers see it as fact, that Luther did not nail his theses to the door of the Castle Church on that day. But the picture of Luther nailing the theses to the door of the church is still today the most common in regards to Luther, the reformation and Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

Source: www.luther.de - KDG Wittenberg, http://www.luther.de/en/legenden/tanschl.html

Among the Osage

So one of the things that you realize when you spend time in Osage county is that the descendants of both the victims and the descendants of the murderers still live there. They often live down the street from each other. And one Osage woman told me, "We try not to hold them accountable for what their ancestors did." Part of that is the story of America, this intertwining and this kind of reckoning with this original sin that is part of our formation as a country.

Source: David Grann - David Grann, author of "Killers of the Flower Moon", quoted in "In The 1920s, A Community Conspired To Kill Native Americans For Their Oil Money", Morning Edition, NPR, 17 April 2017, http://www.npr.org/2017/04/17/523964584/in-the-1920s-a-community-conspired-to-kill-native-americans-for-their-oil-money

The Renewal Was Born Ecumenical

One area which Rome for a long time did not recognize was the charismatic work for Christian unity, according to Fr. Peter Hocken, an English priest long involved in the CCR [Catholic Charismatic Renewal].

The Renewal was born ecumenical - the fruit of Catholics being prayed over by Pentecostals - and from the start went beyond the conventional theological dialogue model that came out of the Second Vatican Council.
Hocken calls this extra element “charismatic ecumenism,” because it involves discerning the action of the Holy Spirit in - and recognizing the gifts poured out by the Spirit on - other denominations. One of its “striking hallmarks,” he says, is “the radical equality of all those baptized in the Holy Spirit,” one that “requires a new formulation of our convictions.”

Source: Austen Ivereigh - "Jubilee in Rome highlights charismatic fruits in Francis’s Pentecost papacy", Crux, 3 June 2017, https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/06/03/jubilee-rome-highlights-charismatic-fruits-franciss-pentecost-papacy/

Inviting Non-Catholics To Pray for Unity

In 1935, Abbé Paul Couturier, a priest of the Archdiocese of Lyons, sought a solution to the problem of non-Roman Catholics not being able to observe the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity. He found the solution in the Roman Missal as the Association for Promotion of the Unity of Christians had done seventy-eight years earlier in England. Couturier promoted prayer for Christian unity on the inclusive basis that “our Lord would grant to his Church on earth that peace and unity which were in his mind and purpose, when, on the eve of His Passion, He prayed that all might be one.” This prayer would unite Christians in prayer for that perfect unity that God wills and by the means that he wills. Like Fr. Paul Wattson, Abbé Couturier exhibited a powerful passion for unity and had sent out “calls to prayer” annually until his death in 1953.

Source: Rev. Thomas Orians, S.A. - "BACKGROUND: Brief History of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2017", by Rev. Thomas Orians, S.A., Associate Director of Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute, http://geii.org/week_of_prayer_for_christian_unity/background/brief_history.html

The March of Life

It would be very easy to change the organization’s name from March of Life to Walk of Shame. But Anna Reiner and her young friends are willing to swear that it’s not the shame which makes them learn the words of “Hatikva” and perform in front of 100 elderly people in Netanya.

“It’s the responsibility,” she explains. “I am the descendant of Nazi criminals, and I am responsible for this matter and for making sure that it doesn’t happen again. Before I knew all this information about my family, I had no interest in the Holocaust. Today, I am breaking the silence. It’s important to talk about it and not to forget.”

Source: Anna Reiner - Quoted by Itay Ilnai in "Nazis’ descendants sing ‘Hatikva’ to Holocaust survivors", Ynet News, 6 Jan 2017, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4902914,00.html

All In One Accord - What Does This Mean?

One of the old brothers in that small, hardy band of Christians was constantly worried about the diversity of our backgrounds [Anglican, Methodist, Dutch Reformed]. He was convinced that a critical part of the Scripture describing the early church was "these all continued with one accord." He had the idea that the "one-accordness" was the crucial factor about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost rather than the day itself. He constantly disturbed the congregation with his complaint that "we are not one, we are not one."
The, the Lord in HIs mercy gave him a vision [of Pentecost] that provided a great lesson for the old man and for all of us. ...
One stood and declared, "Brethren, we were five hundred when Jesus ascended, and I just counted: now we're one hundred and twenty. The others are gone. We're losing, and I feel it is because we've lost our leadership. Jesus is gone. ... We must find someone to take the place of Jesus."
After a moment's pause, he added, "And so, I would nominate Brother Peter."
Another man got up and said, "I couldn't second that because I haven't forgotten what Peter did. The Lord knows I love Brother Peter, and I admire him, but how can he be the leader when he failed so badly?"
So, down goes Peter.
Another one gets up and says, "Well, we need a man of great love, and I would suggest John as that man."
Someone else protested, "How can you want John? He wanted to sit on Jesus' right hand and lord it over us. I wouldn't vote for John."
"Well, said another, "we must have a man of faith, and James is a man with great insight into faith. I nominate James."
"But," came the argument, "he is the brother of John and he wanted to sit on the left hand of the Lord."
Then someone else said, "What we need is a very cautious man who will not accept just anything. I nominate Thomas."
Another declared, "Thomas is not cautious; he's just a doubter. He'll get us all doubting."
Then Peter got up and said, "How far are we going with this? If we begin to expose everybody's failures and weaknesses, who of us is any good at all? I do not feel qualified to stand in the shoes of the Master, but I want to suggest this: Anybody in this meeting who feels so qualified, stand up and I will follow you, and I'll call everybody else to follow you."
No one stood up. At last, they were in one accord.
The old brother's vision helped me in later life to understand that the accord necessary for God's blessing does not center on how good we or anyone else may be, but rather on our willingness to acknowledge and accept the weaknesses and failures of each one, including ourselves. This stopped the disturbance in our little congregation and we were humbled. We knew that we were not good at all and that even Jesus had said, "I can do nothing of myself" (John 5:30). So we trusted the Lord to help us.

Source: David du Plessis - From "A Man Called Mr. Pentecost", as told to Bob Slosser, Ch. 2, pp 12-14

To Be Catholic Was To Be Anti-Protestant

Following the Protestant Reformation, the "Catholic church had to defend itself against Protestant attacks and criticisms, particularly through the development of a Catholic apologetics that refuted the Protestant objections, and provided proof-arguments for distinctive Catholic doctrines. In consequence, Catholic identity between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries was significantly shaped by those elements in Catholic teaching and practice that were rejected by the Protestants. To be Catholic was to be anti-Protestant, especially countries with a significant Protestant population, or regions with a history of antipathy to Catholic power structures....

Source: Fr. Peter Hocken - Pentecost and Parousia, Peter Hocken - p. 74-5

Pope Francis in 2017

On this path, we Catholics and Lutherans, from several countries, together with various communities sharing our ecumenical journey, reached a significant step when, on 31 October last, we gathered together in Lund, Sweden, to commemorate through common prayer the beginning of the Reformation. This joint commemoration of the Reformation was important on both the human and theological-spiritual levels. After fifty years of official ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans, we have succeeded in clearly articulating points of view which today we agree on. For this we are grateful. At the same time we keep alive in our hearts sincere contrition for our faults. In this spirit, we recalled in Lund that the intention of Martin Luther five hundred years ago was to renew the Church, not divide her. The gathering there gave us the courage and strength, in our Lord Jesus Christ, to look ahead to the ecumenical journey that we are called to walk together.

Source: Pope Francis - Address to the members of the Ecumenical Delegation from Finland, as quoted in "Pope: Luther’s intention was to renew the Church, not divide her", Vatican Radio, 19 Jan 2017, http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/01/19/pope_luther%E2%80%99s_intention_was_to_renew_the_church,_not_divide/1286728

Jeremiah

In Jer. 14:20 Jeremiah shows that he, as an individual, is responsible to confess ancestral and national sin, since he is a member of his people, for whom he is praying: Jeremiah 14:20, "We acknowledge our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers.” No, he didn't commit the sins his people did. He didn't rebel against the Lord, worship false gods, and oppress the poor. But he did take part in confessing those sins on behalf of Jerusalem and Judah.

Source: Dr. Gary S. Greig - The Biblical Foundations of Identificational Repentance as One Prayer Pattern Useful to Advance God's Kingdom and Evangelism, April 2001

From Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

Paul's message of comfort comes to a community whose relationship with their leader has been strained, nearly to the breaking point (2 Cor 2:1-4; 7:8) His announcement of God's comfort is purposed with provoking renewed fidelity on the part of the Corinthians to the gospel (1:1-7; 7:11-12). Central to his announcement is acknowledgement of God's forgiveness of the Corinthians' sins and the ongoing participation in God's present redemptive work (7:10-12).

Source: Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan - "Comfort, O Comfort, Corinth: Grief and Comfort in 2 Corinthians 7:5-13a", Harvard Theological Review, 104:4 (2011), p. 442-443

The Pope as the First Servant of Unity

Pope John Paul II has already described the pope as the first servant of unity. Much more will need to change in the way that the Vatican and the Catholic Church operate for this conviction to become an evident reality for other Christians. But John Paul II saw this responsibility as a necessary consequence of the bishop of Rome. If the pope has an authority over the worldwide church directly concerned with its unity, and it this authority is understood first as a service, then the pope has the responsibility to be the first servant of unity.

Source: Fr. Peter Hocken - Pentecost and Parousia, Peter Hocken - p. 99

Justin Welby - Archbishop of Canterbury

Catholics and Protestants will gather at Lambeth Palace - Welby’s London home - to express remorse and pray for Christian unity.

Although the physical atrocities against Catholics took place during the reigns of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Edward VI, Catholics (and Jews) were not allowed to vote, sit in Parliament or attend universities until the middle of the 19th century.

Source: Crux - "Archbishop of Canterbury to express remorse over Reformation violence", Crux Religion News Service, 17 January 2017, https://cruxnow.com/rns/2017/01/17/archbishop-canterbury-express-remorse-reformation-violence/

Facing the Culture of Death as a Common Enemy

The divisions that exist now are very different than the divisions that existed when I became a Catholic about fifty years ago. The divisions between Catholics and Protestants are far less important to both sides now, even though they still exist, than they were fifty years ago, because we are facing a common enemy, a culture of death, a society that is becoming increasingly anti-Christian. When a common enemy threatens, then warring brothers put their civil wars on hold for a while, important as they are. Like the Irish and the English, who've had a lot of troubles, but fought together and died for each other in the trenches in World War I and again in World War II.

Source: Peter Kreeft - Conversion to Catholicism, Catholic Education Resource Center, http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/apologetics/dr-peter-kreeft-s-conversion-to-catholicism-part-2.html

The Judensau

Debate has carried on for some time over whether the Judensau should remain. Some Christians and Jews feel it needs to stay there as a potent reminder and warning about anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism. Other Christians and Jews argue that it has no place in a house of worship and, further, that the memorial’s extreme language about the death of God’s name does little to improve matters. A renewed petition for the Judensau’s removal has grown in anticipation of the 2017 celebrations, stating that “it is time to remove this statue and replace it with something more honoring to the God of Israel, respectful of the Jewish people, and bringing dignity to a Christian place of worship instead of retaining a sculpture that is unseemly, obscene, insulting, offensive, defamatory, libelous, blasphemous, anti-Semitic and inflammatory.”

Source: Sarah Hinlicky Wilson - "Is the Reformation over? Yes and no.", The Christian Century, 1 March 2017, https://www.christiancentury.org/article/reformation-over-yes-and-no

Fr. Peter - “Kairos moment of great opportunity”

Francis’s outreach to Pentecostals and evangelicals has been marked his insistence that the “current of Grace” represented by the Renewal is fruit of the one Holy Spirit calling the Christian Churches into unity, not through proselytism or purely intellectual dialogue but in revealing their oneness in diversity.
Under Francis, the conciliar and the charismatic renewals are being brought together, Hocken says, in a “Kairos moment of great opportunity.”

Source: Austen Ivereigh - "Jubilee in Rome highlights charismatic fruits in Francis’s Pentecost papacy", Crux, 3 June 2017, https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2017/06/03/jubilee-rome-highlights-charismatic-fruits-franciss-pentecost-papacy/

Austrian Tour of Repentance

What was the point of this tour? It was not just an informative trip for history buffs; the idea was for today’s Christians to identify with those who have gone before us; for us as Austrians to identify with the guilt and sin of our forefathers in the manner they treated these believers whose only crime was that they believed in God in a manner not authorized by the state and the church. Like Daniel and others in the Bible we wanted to bring these sins before God and say, „We and our people have sinned.“ While we realize that no-one can repent of sins for another, the effects of sinful acts excert an influence for many generations, especially if the original sin and the attitudes that led to it have not been dealt with, and our burden was to bring these effects to God and, so to speak, lift the curse that still lies over parts of our country because of this history.

In the process we truly became brothers and sisters in Christ: Lutherans seeing Catholics expressing sorrow over their Church’s past misdeeds; Catholics and Lutherans being accepted by Free Church Christians who normally feel that they are the only real game in town; both Lutherans and Catholics expressing regret for the treatment of the Anabaptists whom Free Church Christians consider their spiritual ancestors: it was a beautiful work of reconciliation wrought by the Holy Spirit.

Source: Austrian Round Table - Report on the Reformation Commemoration Tour of Austria, August 16-26, 2016, http://versoehnung.net/Story/Gedenkfahrtblog/

St. John Maximovich of Shanghai and San Francisco

Adam and Eve, before their Fall, were in full accord and of common spirit with one another at all times. Having sinned, alienation was immediately sensed. Justifying himself before God, Adam blamed Eve. Their sin divided them and continues to divide all of mankind. Emancipated from sin, we approach God, and, filled with His grace, we sense our unity with the rest of mankind. Such unity is very imperfect and lacking, since in each person some portion of sin remains. The closer we approach God, the closer we approach each other, just as the closer rays of light are to each other, the closer they are to the Sun. In the coming Kingdom of God there will be unity, mutual love and concord. The Holy Trinity remains eternally unchanging, all-perfect, united in essence and indivisible.

Source: St. John Maximovich of Shanghai and San Francisco - "On the Holy Pentecost", quoted in Orthodox Church Quotes, http://www.orthodoxchurchquotes.com/tag/unity/

JI Packer - Why I Signed It

In an essay published in 1994, titled “Why I Signed It,” he defended the statement and his continuing involvement in the project. “I am a Protestant who thanks God for the wisdom, backbone, maturity of mind and conscience, and above all, love for my Lord Jesus Christ that I often see among Catholics, and who sometimes has the joy of hearing Catholics say they see comparable fruits in Protestants.”

Source: J.I. Packer - As quoted by Timothy George in "Packer at Ninety", First Things, October 2016, https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2016/10/packer-at-ninety

The Churches Should Face The Challenge Together

Many people in Germany today have no real knowledge of the Christian faith, and they do not seem interested in understanding, let alone embracing it. If the churches take their mission seriously to “go to all nations and make them my disciples” (Mt 28:19), it should be a priority for them to engage these people in dialogue. Instead of dealing with this challenge by themselves, churches should face it together, learning from each other’s experience and encouraging each other. Focusing on their common faith can only strengthen the bond among the churches. Also, trying together to communicate the Christian faith in an understandable way can lead the churches themselves to a deeper understanding of their own faith. The 500th anniversary of the Reformation can be seen as an opportunity to remind the public—Christians and non-believers alike—of what the Christian faith is all about: God’s love in Christ for us humans and for all creation. That is why the churches in Germany have decided to make the anniversary a celebration of Jesus Christ (“Christusfest”).

Source: Council of Churches in Germany (ACK) - "The Ecumenical Situation in Germany", republished by Gramoor, http://geii.org/week_of_prayer_for_christian_unity/prayer_worship/ecumenical_situation_in_Germany.html