Posted on 10/18/2008 8:20:43 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
The peasants had misunderstood Luther's reforms. They thought it was a secular reform. He was setting the record straight, telling them that his reform was of a more everlasting one. A spiritual one. One that would draw them closer to Christ.
Yes. The only sin that can tear me away from Jesus Christ, once I belong to him, is the sin of denying Christ. In Christ, ALL MY SINS ARE FORGIVEN.
I was not aware that the Catholics had changed their position on this. Which Council made this change official? Have they also tossed out Macabees I and II from their version of the Bible? Is it possible that Luther had some impact on the Catholic church?
Thank God we Catholics are spared these problems.
“As to the common people, ... one has to be hard with them and see that they do their work and that under the threat of the sword and the law they comply with the observance of piety, just as you chain up wild beasts.”
Luther thought highly of the peasants. He was deeply concerned about their spiritual well being that had atrophied under years of domination of the Papacy. He translated the Bible into the vernacular so the peasants could understand it. Luther wrote a Large and Small catechism so that peasants could learn the Christian faith. (In fact, the faith of the peasant was so bad that he named his first catechism, "A catechism to the Pagan Germans.") He destroyed the Canonical Law -- enabling people to focus on Christ, not on the church's edicts which were not tied to the Bible. He also went around to each church and ensured that there were pastors who were trained to preach christ -- not just collect money for the church. He set up a method to train pastors so that the peasants could be spiritually cared for.
Take your time with an answer.
Way to go, Guys...purge us while the Islamofascists sit back and lick their chops...
and laugh at your silly a$$es!
That's a good starter list.
“Luther thought highly of the peasants.”
You clearly have not read Luther in his own words. Sad.
Thanks for the response. I think we are getting to the heart of the debate, instead of debating temporal issues
Luther was very clear to the sacrament of baptism and communion, and there are Bible passages to support these.
What sacraments do the Catholics believe in (I could list them, but it carries more weight when it comes from a Catholoic) and what are the Bible passages to support these being a sacrament?
Thanks.
This presumes a false prerequisite: sola scriptura.
Luther was very clear to the support of Bigamy as well. And he used Scripture to support this odd view. Ditto the death and destruction of Jews.
I did not notice that anyone else pointed this out, but Robinson is not Lutheran.
By golly you are right. Protestant and therefore the clear ‘fruit’ of the Lutherian rebellion but not actually Lutheran. The Lutheran sect has women Bishops and clergy and has a large and vocal faction arguing for ‘non-celibate’ gay clergy but hasn’t quite yet gone as far as their brothers in heresy.
You paint with a rather large brush.
Look at the damage wrought by heresy. The swath of promoters of sin is wide. The Path of Truth is narrow.
And that is one of the chief differences between most Catholics and most protestants. St. Paul warned against the gnostics. Yet there are many religions that believe in gnosticism. I did not realize that Catholocism was one of them. What else besides scripture do Catholics believe is the word of God?
Where did I say any such thing?
You are correct in that Luther supported bigamy -- once. You no doubt are aware that Luther once told a Margrave to marry a mistress whom the Margrave had impregnated. The Margrave was severely distraught, and nothing Luther could say would ease his conscience and ensure that he was still loved by Jesus Christ. It seems that the Margrave thought that because of what the Catholic Church had taught him, he had to do something to make his sin of adultery go away. The Margrave believed that faith alone was sufficient for Christ grace, but he was still troubled. Luther realized that the false doctrine he had fell prey to was the cause, so he said it was best to marry the mistress to clear his conscience.
Luther was a master at working with people regardless of where they were in their spiritual walk with Christ. He took people as they were and brought them closer to Christ.
Until Ambrose derived from scripture that a family consisted of one man and one women plus their offspring in the fourth century, there were many bigamists in the church. Once the church squelched bigamy, they became very intolerant of it. This intolerance was one reason that kept them from effectively evangelizing people in other cultures. (To be fair, there have been some succes, both by protestants and Catholics.) Japan was lost to Christianity because the Catholic church would not accept a leading war lord who was a bigamist. This war lord was not going to divorce all but one of his wives, for he believed that he had a moral obligation to take care of them. So he helped to remove Christianity from Japan. Imagine how history might have turned out if Japan had been a Christian nation.
Luther clearly was against all religions that did not believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ and did not believe that faith alone would get a person to heaven. This includes the Jewish religion as well as many others. Luther never lifted a finger against a Jew, although his words against false religions were very biting.
What do Catholics today believe regarding salvation? Is it by faith alone, or some other way?
So it appears you do believe that the scripture alone is the word of God. Correct?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.