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I begin with two scenes, one from the Reformation era, the other from the early 18 th century, the first depicting a young woman of sixteen, the second an elderly man in his late seventies--but both are scenes shortly before the deaths of the central figures. In the first scene it is the morning of February 12, the year 1554. We are in a room in the Tower of London , where the Lady Jane Grey, who had been Queen of England for nine days, is imprisoned. It is only a few hours before her execution at the behest of...

“Following in the Train of the Confessors” (Psalm 119:46)Confessors, princes, duty bound, To Augsburg bold they came. Before the king they stood their ground And were not put to shame. Their good confession made that day Proved not to be in vain. Gird Augsburg’s sons, Lord, that we may Still follow in their train!On June 25, 1530, in Augsburg, Germany, a small group of Lutheran princes appeared before the most powerful man in the world, Emperor Charles V, head of the Holy Roman Empire, and, at great risk to themselves and their territories, these men boldly confessed their faith. The...

  Does Islam need a Reformation? Not unless you think it would benefit from additional dollops of Puritanism; further encouragement to smash altars, stained glass, and other forms of "idolatry"; prodding to ban riotous celebrations like Christmas and Easter; and support for fundamentalist Islamic schools that insist on sola Korana and sola Sunnah. Indeed, it would seem that Islam has already had its reformers. Railing against the corruption of the West (let's call it "Rome" for short) have been such modern Islamic Luthers as the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the cave-dwelling Osama bin Laden, the voice of young Islam --...

<p>Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, left, from the Anglican church listens as Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols from the Roman Catholic Church speaks during a news conference in London, held in reaction to the announcement of a new church structure for Anglicans who want to join the Catholic Church, Tuesday.</p>

As we prepare for the Holloween season (which seems to become a bigger and bigger deal in the United States each year, and that probably isn't a healthy sign), let's see what our Protestant brothers and sisters are planning. PCANews at the Christian Broadcasting Network website has come up with a way to overcome the satanic/occult aspects of Halloween - a Reformation Day party! They explain it: October 31 celebrates the day that the Reformation in Europe began with Martin Luther posting his 95 theses on the Wittenburg church door, leading to a firestorm response in Germany. Why not...

One of the great battle cries of the Protestant Reformation was “sola scriptura!” Many thought that the Catholic Church had cluttered up the simple Christian faith by adding all sorts of practices, customs and doctrines over the centuries. They thought the Church in their day was guilty of exactly the same Pharisaical obsession with traditions condemned by Jesus in this Sunday’s gospel (Mark 7:1-23). The solution, it seemed, was simple. Let’s purify the Church by ditching all these traditions and keeping the Bible alone.But if we read this portion of the Bible closely, the Lord is not telling us that...

"...Mr. Hall argues, both the man [Calvin] and his doctrines are the bedrock of our democratic society." -- New York Sun, July 19, 2006 From the editorial review at Amazon... Few people today realize the extent to which John Calvin, the great Genevan Reformer, and his work have shaped modern culture. Few know it was Calvin who pioneered the effort to decentralize government by calling for checks and balances againt the rule of the few or the king. Equally unknown are his efforts to establish a productive social safety net for immigrants, create education models that were far ahead of...

WITTENBERG, Germany -- Martin Luther, a renegade monk, triggered the Reformation here five centuries ago . . . Today, fewer than one in five people identify themselves as Christian . . . " . . . east Germany is perhaps the most atheistic region in the world" . . . The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States, has bought a building next to the old Town Church, where Luther used to preach . . . plans to start a congregation . . . "In east Germany, you actually have to go up to people and...

In just a few days I’m going to be walking in the footsteps of Martin Luther. I’ll explore the halls of the church in Zurich. I’ll be in Geneva when the Protestant world celebrates the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s death. And, I’m afraid the Reformers would hardly recognize the Protestant church they struggled to birth. In fact, I think Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin might think most Protestant churches are really just inconsistent Catholic churches. Five hundred years after these men and others risked their life to bring reform to the church and the Bible to the people, we’ve not only...

Romans 1:16-17 The Righteous Shall Live by Faith 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Martin Luther's Devotion to Mary by Dave Armstrong .. Despite the radicalism of early Protestantism toward many ancient Catholic "distinctives," such as the Communion of the Saints, Penance, Purgatory, Infused Justification, the Papacy, the priesthood, sacramental marriage, etc., it may surprise many to discover that Martin Luther was rather conservative in some of his doctrinal views, such as on baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and particularly the Blessed Virgin Mary. Luther indeed was quite devoted to Our Lady, and retained most of the traditional Marian doctrines which were held then and now by the Catholic Church. This is often not well-documented...

Full Title: THE PASSION OF REFORMATION: OUR GREAT SALVATION...chosen by God; sanctified by the Spirit; redeemed by the Son 1 Peter 1:2, (...who are chosen) "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you." The hope, surety, and promise of our salvation. To the scattered, suffering, and persecuted Christians living in Asia Minor, Peter writes those above encouraging words. Though the world treated them with such disdain, dishonor and disrepute, he is quick to encourage them...

Reformation Day is a religious holiday celebrated on October 31st or the last weekend in October in remembrance of the Reformation. Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors. This was not an act of defiance or provocation as is sometimes thought. Since the Castle Church faced Wittenberg's main thoroughfare, the church door functioned as a public bulletin board and was therefore the logical place for posting important notices....

The strike of a nail to the "95 Theses" on the doors of Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany, on Oct. 31, 1517 sparked the start of the Protestant Reformation. Today, many Protestants remember Martin Luther's grievances with the Catholic Church during Reformation Day, on Monday this year. Luther's main qualms were with the church's practice at that time of accepting money for pardon of sins and his view that people should be able to have their own relationship with God, read the Bible and worship in their own languages. Nine years ago, Trinity Reformed Orthodox Presbyterian Church began holding a...

“In Step with the Truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 2:11-21)Was the Reformation about doctrine or about practice? Think about that for a moment. The Reformation of the church started by Martin Luther 491 years ago this week--was the Reformation about doctrine or was it about practice? The short answer: Yes. Both. Both doctrine and practice, that’s what the Reformation was about. That’s what the ongoing Reformation of the church is always about--doctrine and practice as they are intertwined and interrelated. You cannot separate the two. And that’s the way it always has been, going back to the earliest days of...

On Sunday, Oct. 26, the 2008 Reformation Celebration, sponsored by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregations of the Sheboygan area and the American Luther Association, will be held at 3:30 p.m. at the Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Sheboygan. The Rev. John Wille, president of the South Wisconsin District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, will be the speaker. Wille has been president of the SWD since August 2006. He oversees 212 congregations, multiple schools and high schools. He sits on the Concordia University Wisconsin Board of Regents. He also represents the SWD on the Council of...

Lutherans will celebrate Reformation Sunday this week to recognize Martin Luther, the 16th century monk who launched the Protestant Reformation and helped change the Western world. Macon’s Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on Pierce Avenue will take communion and hold a gospel processional, in which the Bible in carried into the congregation for special reading. In other words, said pastor Jim Braswell, “It’s not really that different from any other Sunday. “We’re a very formal church.” Not that Lutherans don’t recognize the historical significance of Oct. 31, 1517, when Luther posted his “95 Theses” on the door of the Castle...

This week (Oct. 31) in 1517, Martin Luther crossed the religious Rubicon when he posted his 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany. His action led to a schism in the Catholic Church and the subsequent formation of the Protestant sect, and — no small thing — it paved the way for the Reformation. In a nutshell, Luther’s 95 theses proclaimed that the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt, that the pope was abusing his powers and that the church’s practice of selling indulgences (for a price the church would lower a sinner’s punishment in the afterlife)...

Today, Lutherans and many other Protestants will celebrate Reformation Sunday with special readings, hymns and festivities. The Reformation, triggered nearly 500 years ago by Dr. Martin Luther’s posting of his “Ninety-five Theses” on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, was a religious movement. It allowed humankind to rediscover the message of salvation by grace, through faith instead of works.

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them…" Matthew 7:15-16 CORRUPTION STEPHEN VII (896-897AD) "He dug up a Corsican predecessor, Pope Formosus (891-896), when he had been dead for over nine months…. He dressed the stinking corpse in full pontificals, placed him on the throne in the Lateran and proceeded to interrogate him personally….After being found guilty, the corpse was condemned as an anti-pope, stripped and minus the two fingers with which he had given his fake apostolic blessing, was thrown into the...

The Huguenots were French Protestants who, if one counts their forerunners the Waldensians, were persecuted with varying intensity for five or 6 centuries right up to the coming of Napoleon. Their forerunners, the Waldensians, arose in the 12th century and were led by Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons who, at a time when the Holy Scriptures were a closed book, declared the Bible to be the only rule of faith and life, and used lay preachers to proclaim the Gospel. The Waldensians did not believe in the doctrine of purgatory, and they rejected prayers and masses for the...

"If the Head had to suffer such torture, anguish, misery, and pain, how shall his servants, children, and members expect peace and freedom as to their flesh?" "The error of the cursed sect of the Anabaptists … would doubtless be and remain extirpated, were it not that a former priest Menno Symons … has misled many simple and innocent people," complained a letter to the regent of the Netherlands in 1541. "To seize and apprehend this man we have offered a large sum of money, but until now with no success. Therefore we have entertained the thought of offering and...

As a ramp up to reformation Day 2008, I present some thoughts from reformation Days past. ______________________________________________________________ It seems fitting to mark this Reformation Day by quoting the first and third of the ninety-five-shot volley that Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Wittenberg church. Note how timely it is: 1. When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent," He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. 3. Yet its meaning is not restricted to repentance in one's heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of...

In the 14th Century, Oxford was the most outstanding university in the world, and John Wycliffe was its leading theologian and philosopher. The Black Death ( Bubonic Plague), which killed a third of the population of Europe, lead Wycliffe to search the Scriptures and find salvation in Christ. THE KING’S CHAMPION As a professor at Oxford University, Wycliffe represented England in a controversy with the Pope. Wycliffe championed the independence of England from Papal control. He supported King Edward III’s refusal to pay taxes to the Pope. (It was only one step away from denying the political supremacy of the...

LUTHERSTADT WITTENBERG, Germany (ELCA) -- The Sept. 20-21 kickoff of the "Luther Decade" here was significant for all Lutherans because it offered opportunities for evangelism and "deep theological conversation" among Lutherans and ecumenical partners, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), made the comments Sept. 21 during a news conference here. Hanson participated in a series of events marking the arrival here 500 years ago of Martin Luther, a German monk, whose writings were instrumental in the Lutheran Reformation. The Luther Decade is...

LUTHERSTADT WITTENBERG, Germany (ELCA) -- Repentance is God's gift to the world through Jesus Christ, and it is one central theme of the ongoing Lutheran Reformation, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the 68.3 million-member Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Geneva, and presiding bishop of the 4.7 million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Chicago. Hanson made the comment in remarks here Sept. 20 at a groundbreaking ceremony for a Luther Garden, a project of the German National Committee of the LWF. Lutherstadt Wittenberg marked the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's arrival here Sept. 20-21 with a series of...

The Catholic historian, A. Dufourcq, called the papacy of 1447 to 1527, la papauté princière, “the papacy of princes.�[1] This trenchant appellation conveys Fr. Maurice Sheehan’s meaning when he says “these popes were more men of culture or rulers than popes.�[2] Regardless of the scandalous particulars of their military extravagances, personal profligacy, or political intrigues, what is common to these popes is that “they had other interests, other things on their minds besides being pope.�[3] Therein lies the problem. In explaining how the Renaissance Papacy was a cause of the Reformation, we should not fall into a monism, as if...

by Philip Schaff The corruption and abuses of the Latin church had long been the complaint of the best men, and even of general councils. A reformation of the head and the members was the watchword at Pisa, Constance, and Basel, but remained a pium desiderium for a whole century. Let us briefly review the dark side in the condition of the church at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The papacy was secularized, and changed into a selfish tyranny whose yoke became more and more unbearable. The scandal of the papal schism had indeed been removed, but papal morals,...

Accounts from Turkey suggest that the government is attempting a bold re-interpretation of Islam. Its unusually named ministry of religion, the "Presidency of Religious Affairs and the Religious Charitable Foundation," has undertaken a three-year "Hadith Project" systematically to review 162,000 hadith reports and winnow them down to some 10,000, with the goal of separating original Islam from the accretions of fourteen centuries. The hadith reports contain information about the sayings and actions of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. They augment the Koran and have had a major role in shaping the Shari‘a (Islamic law), thereby deeply influencing Muslim life. Despite...

Charity announces plans for Marian statue in London LONDON (CNS) -- A charity has announced plans to erect a statue of Mary in London in memory of the medieval Catholic shrines destroyed in the Reformation. The work will be called "Mary Most Holy" and will stand on land once owned by St. Thomas More, alongside the Thames River at Chelsea. St. Thomas was the lord chancellor of England and was beheaded in 1535. It has been commissioned by the Art and Reconciliation Trust, a charity set up to promote awareness of the negative effects iconoclasm has on culture; the work...

"For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law." Romans 3:28 "Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness." Romans 4:4-5 I was going through some of my old study notes today and came across this short article by Dr. R. C. Sproul. In reading it through again, I was reminded about the magnitude of the issue as it relates...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Rumors that the Vatican is set to rehabilitate Martin Luther, the 16th-century leader of the Protestant Reformation, are groundless, said the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi. News reports in early March alleged that Pope Benedict XVI was dedicating a planned September symposium with former doctoral students to re-evaluating Luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy. The story "does not have any foundation, insofar as no rehabilitation of Luther is foreseen," Father Lombardi told the Italian news agency ANSA March 8. Vatican officials said the topic of the pope's annual summer gathering of former students...

The Times March 6, 2008 That Martin Luther? He Wasn’t So Bad, Says Pope Richard Owen in Rome Pope Benedict XVI is to rehabilitate Martin Luther, arguing that he did not intend to split Christianity but only to purge the Church of corrupt practices. Pope Benedict will issue his findings on Luther (1483-1546) in September after discussing him at his annual seminar of 40 fellow theologians — known as the Ratzinger Schülerkreis — at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer residence. According to Vatican insiders the Pope will argue that Luther, who was excommunicated and condemned for heresy, was not a heretic....

Turkey in radical revision of Islamic texts By Robert Piggott Religious affairs correspondent, BBC News Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam - and a controversial and radical modernisation of the religion. The country's powerful Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University to carry out a fundamental revision of the Hadith, the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran. It says that a significant number of the sayings were never uttered by Muhammad, and even some that were need now to be reinterpreted. Some messages...

It is evident, from even the most casual observation, that the evangelical church of our day has shifted dramatically away from the theological moorings of our Protestant forefathers. The influence of modernity, neo-Gnosticism and Pentecostalism extend from the most conservative confessionally Reformational churches to the nonconfessional and more distant heirs of the sixteenth century Reformation. In other words, all sectors of the evangelical church are affected to a greater or lesser degree by the same problems. Therefore, all segments of Evangelicalism could benefit from a recovery of the fundamental truths gained from the light of the sixteenth century Reformation. I...

Without the clergy guiding them, and with religion still a very important factor in the average person's life, their fate rested in their own hands, Simpson said. The rise of fundamentalist interpretations during the English Reformation can be used to understand the global political situation today and the growth of Islamic extremism, Simpson said as an example. "Very definitely, we see the same phenomenon: newly literate people claiming that the sacred text speaks for itself, and legitimates violence and repression," Simpson said, "and the same is also true of Christian fundamentalists."

  The Reformation was a political and religious movement in Europe that began in the 1500’s and lasted for roughly 150 years. It is difficult to pinpoint exact starting and ending dates for the Reformation, but we can point to two events that seem to begin and to culminate the Reformation era: 1517 (Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and his protest against the indulgence system of the Roman Catholic Church) and 1648 (The Peace of Westphalia, treaties that ended both the Thirty Years’ War and the Eighty Years’ War and thus put an end to most of the civil disruption caused...

It seems fitting to mark this Reformation Day by quoting the first and third of the ninety-five-shot volley that Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Wittenberg church. Note how timely it is: 1. When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said "Repent," He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. 3. Yet its meaning is not restricted to repentance in one's heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh.Read all ninety-five debate points here. Does this give us a clue as to where Luther...

Costumes and candy, Oct. 31 st is most often celebrated as Halloween. In the church, however, this day is remembered as Reformation Day. On Oct. 31, 1517, an Augustinian Monk named Martin Luther nailed Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. The hammer-strokes, it has been said, were heard throughout the world. The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences is the full name of the writing, an academic name for an academic document. The Theses were posted for discussion and debate among theologians, but they were quickly translated from Latin into German,...

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT REFORMATION DAYClick here to return to the liturgical calendar page What is Reformation Day?What was the Reformation?Why was the church in need of reform?Who was Martin Luther and what was his role in the Reformation?What is the liturgical color for Reformation Day?Why is Reformation Day such an important Christian festival? WHAT IS REFORMATION DAY?Reformation Day is an important liturgical festival that is celebrated by Lutherans and Christians of many Protestant denominations.  It commemorates Dr. Martin Luther's posting of his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31st, 1517.  This...

An interesting look into the mind of Luther during the Reformation: Above all things I beseech the Christian reader and beg him for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to read my earliest books very circumspectly and with much pity, knowing that before now I too was a monk, and one of the right frantic and raving papists. When I took up this matter against Indulgences, I was so full and drunken, yea, so besotted in papal doctrine that, out of my great zeal, I would have been ready to do murder -- at least, I would have been...

For many Protestant Churches across the world, Sunday was a tribute to Martin Luther and the Reformation. October 31st marks the anniversary date when Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. K. Konnie Kang of the Los Angeles Times, wrote a piece titled, “Protestants celebrate their heritage, the Reformation�. Kang also featured a quote that simply explains Protestant theology from the Rev. Nathan P. Feldmeth, who is a professor of medieval and Reformation history at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Feldmeth declared: “The Reformation was about the centrality of Christ in the...

On October 31, churches throughout the world celebrate the nailing of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses to the Wittenberg Chapel door. The event represents the outpouring of Christianity unshackled and blossoming. Like Hilkiah finding the Book of the Law, the thirty-four year old Luther proclaimed the doctrinal “solas” to the world: scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and the recognition that all of life is lived to the glory of God alone. For over five hundred years, these biblical truths reclaimed by the Reformation have transformed individual lives and entire societies. Truly, churches do well to celebrate the victory...

Hello and welcome to another broadcast of the White Horse Inn, and this isn't just any broadcast this is Reformation Sunday, the 490th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. In previous programs of this series we've walked through the history of the heresy known as Pelagianism, so we won't belabor the point a lot. Named after the fifth century British monk, Pelagius who locked horns with Church Father Augustine over salvation, Pelagianism denied original sin, that is that we're born into this world dead in trespasses and sins, and so Adam affects us only as a bad example and Christ affects...

BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- A 700-year-old church began its slow journey to a new home Thursday, moving at just over one mph atop a huge flatbed truck as it was transported from an eastern German village being turned over to open-pit coal mining. The Emmaus Church, first mentioned in historical documents in 1297, reached the edge of its home village of Heuersdorf outside Leipzig on its way to the town of Borna, some seven miles away. It was expected to arrive by next Wednesday, after crossing railroad tracks and the Pleisse and Wyhra rivers. The medieval church is built in...

Make a "Diet of Worms Cake" and bring it to your office or school - recipe found here. Have a "Baptismal Apple Dunk" Run a "Law and Gospel Shuffle Relay" Create a "Fishers of Men" Fishing Pond Do a "Defeat the Devil Ball Toss" Play "Pin the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Door" Run a "Throw Indulgences in the Trash" relay Find a storyteller to tell of the events of Luther’s life! Have a costume party – everyone dress up as their favorite reformation personality. Have a special showing of the Movie "Luther" at church or in your home! •...

On Sunday, about 70 million Lutherans around the world, joined by Christians of many Protestant denominations, will commemorate the Reformation. This liturgical festival, marking Martin Luther's 16th century challenge to papal authority by nailing 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, inspired the Protestant Reformation that changed the course of Western civilization. Luther's theses, challenging certain practices and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, ultimately led to the division of Europe into two camps and triggered religious wars that lasted decades. "The Reformation was about the centrality of Christ in the life of the individual...

I was quite surprised to see the story Terry sent me from yesterday’s Los Angeles Times. Written by religion reporter K. Connie Kang, the story is about the holy day being celebrated today by millions of Lutherans, as well as Christians of various Protestant denominations: [1] Reformation Sunday. The last time I wrote about a Kang story was her excellent piece on [2] Epiphany. It’s so nice to see a reporter delve into the liturgical calendar for story ideas: This liturgical festival, marking Martin Luther’s 16th century challenge to papal authority by nailing 95 theses on the door of the...

“An Eternal Gospel to Proclaim” (Rev. 14:6-7)“Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim. . . .” This reading from Revelation has long been appointed for the observance of Reformation Day, because in a certain sense Martin Luther was like that angel: a “messenger” used by God to sound forth the eternal gospel, loud and clear, at a time when the sound had grown muffled and unclear. Luther restored the proclamation of the gospel of Christ to its rightful prominence. And for that Reformation of the church we give thanks to God on this...

The Reformation Show - 10/27/07 500 hundred years ago a major shift occurred in the worldview of Western Civilization. The Reformation elicited change in theology, philosophy, politics, civics, economics, the sciences, literature, and so much more. Today the Evangelical Churches continue that great tradition expressed in the five 'Solas'. But the question needs to asked, has the Reform movement outstayed its welcome? Is Evangelicalism and the conservative theological interpretations that it holds still a vital position in the Modernist/Post-Modern era? Have the fissures caused by the political and ethnic pressures within Roman Catholic Church now become a tempest in a...