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Until the Anglican Lambeth Conference of 1930 no Christian denomination had ever said that contraception could ever be objectively right. The Washington Post, in an editorial on March 22, 1931, said of the Federal Council of Churches' endorsement of Lambeth: “It is impossible to reconcile the doctrine of the divine institution of marriage with any modernistic plan for the mechanical regulation of or suppression of human life. The Church must either reject the plain teachings of the Bible or reject schemes for the ‘ scientific’ production of human souls. Carried to its logical conclusion, the committee’s report, if carried into...

Pope Benedict XVI has urged Catholics to read the Bible while on vacation, particularly the lesser known books of sacred scripture."This seems to be a good thing to do on the holidays: take a book of the Bible, so you have some relaxation and, at the same time, enter into the great expanse of ​​the Word of God and deepen our contact with the Eternal," said the Pope in his Wednesday General Audience address at his holiday residence of Castle Gandolfo, 15 miles south of Rome, Aug. 3. Pope Benedict noted how "each of us needs time and space...

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. Cardinal Walter Kasper, the head of the pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the move would help...

Did Martin Luther Act Infallibly in Defining What Books Belong in the Bible? If Luther did not act infallibly: - How can Protestants be certain that they have an infallible collection of Books in Holy Scripture? - How can the Bible be the sole rule of faith, if no one knows with certainty which books belong in the Bible? If Luther acted infallibly: - How do you know?

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Jan. 3, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty is joining forces with Refo500, a project that aims to bring international attention to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Leading up to the anniversary in 2017 of Martin Luther's posting of his "Ninety-Five Theses," Refo500 is engaging with a variety of partner organizations to promote the importance of the Reformation period and its relevance for today's world. "Refo500 has the potential to help Acton bring its message about the relationship between faith and freedom to a broad and diverse audience...

The motive to reform Islam from within is weaker than the motive of those like Martin Luther, as Islamists can point to the decline of Christian belief and assume the same would happen to Islam. It had not occurred to Protestant theologians who had been trying to “liberalize” and “modernize” Christianity … that they were thus undermining the very religion they were seeking to buttress “scientifically” … When the “protective covering” [of faith] is removed, no one should any longer be surprised to see [Christianity] quickly dry up. — Curtis Cate, from Friedrich Nietzsche. When the 21-year-old Friedrich Nietzsche, who...

Almost everyone knows Martin Luther's famous defense before the Diet of Worms: "Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me. Amen." Not as many people can quote what he said just before that. "Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I cannot and will not retract." That quotation sums up the way the Lutheran movement began: as a demand for the church to operate under Scriptural authority. When the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America passed its social statement on sexuality last summer, approving of gay unions and gay...

Some early church fathers co-opted pagan holidays and turned them into Christian celebrations. Labor Day is ripe for a Christian takeover. A day that had its origins in the early struggles of the labor union movement is now little more than the last long weekend of summer vacation, a final time to fire up the grill before the fall grind starts up again. But celebrating the human capacity to work is an occasion to recover one of Christianity's most important, yet nearly forgotten teachings; namely, the doctrine of vocation. Vocation is nothing less than the theology of the Christian life....

(my disclaimer)I do not wish to diminish the contributions of any of the many individuals or events that will be left out of my articles, but in order to be as concise as possible I will inevitably fail to give proper credit to the accomplishments some. I have settled upon the following six areas to cover which I put in five parts. Follow any link to read other parts. Part I -------- An Introduction and Overview of the Renaissance (Just part I is posted, follow the links to read the other four parts) Part II ------- Political and Social...

One of the quirkiest, and enjoyable edgy Mormon fiction out there remains “Brother Brigham,” (2007, Zarahemla Books) It’s a pity that probably only a few hundred people have read the novel. Utah Author D. Michael Martindale’s bizarre, at times sexy tale prompts the attentive LDS reader to really wonder if they’re faith is as strong as they might like to think it is. “Brother Brigham,” set in Salt Lake County, involves Cory Horace “C.H.” Young, descendent of Brigham Young, married in the temple to Danielle. A BYU “marriage” dropout with dreams of being a violinist, he works in a bookstore...

1. We must value the spiritual contributions of different men and different periods of time within church history, but never idolize them. 2. We must be willing to look at both the good as well as the faults of our spiritual and theological heroes. 3. We must seek to guard ourselves from the error of a party-spirit as well as from making a virtual pope out of Calvin or Luther – something which, by the way, the apostle Paul explicitly told us not to do (1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 3:1-6; 4:1). 4. When we fail to realize the faults of our...

Martin Luther King Jr's Niece: Dream Includes Protecting Unborn From Abortion Washington, DC -- On a day when Americans across the country are celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his desire to regard all people as Americans worthy of equal treatment, his niece says King's dream, if announced today, would also include protecting unborn children from abortion. http://www.lifenews.com/nat5888.html

Martin Luther's Freedom of a Christian (1520) was one of the defining documents of the Protestant Reformation, and it remains one of the classic tracts of the Protestant tradition still today.9 Written on the eve of his excommunication from the Church, this was Luther's last ecumenical gesture toward Rome before making his incendiary exit. Much of the tract was written with a quiet gentility and piety that belied the heated polemics of the day and Luther's own ample perils of body and soul. Luther dedicated the tract to Pope Leo X, adorning it with a robust preface addressed to the...

When a teacher or preacher speaks of the Supremacy of Scripture he is almost always referring to a doctrine that understands Scripture as the supreme source for truth, and in fact the exclusive source for spiritual truth. In the language of the Reformation it is known as Sola Scriptura, which means that the basis for our beliefs is not tradition or experience or ecclesiastical dictate, it is the written Scriptures alone. And it is true that this doctrine has been eroding and that many religious organizations either completely deny it or dilute its essence. Luther desired nothing but proof from...

When I look at the world of today, I am appalled. Luckily enough, I'm also a Lutheran and know what cure there is. I'll tell you about it. My grandfather was rather "well off". Rich enough to hire people to take care of his summer houses in different parts of the country (Sweden), but instead he chose to work on those estates whenever having a little of time off, not out of a miser's love for money, but because the love of how it feels to be truly independent. Church attendence in my part of the world isn't something you'd...

The surviving children of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King are back in court, wrangling over their parents' estates. The Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III sued their brother, Dexter King, last year ... A hearing in the case was set Monday morning. Dexter King also sued his sister, who administers their mother's estate. .. including love letters central to a now-defunct $1.4 million book deal.

Leaders of the nation's biggest Lutheran denomination voted Friday to allow gays in committed relationships to serve as clergy in the church -- making it one of the largest Christian denominations in the country to significantly open the pulpit to gays. Previously, only celibate gays were permitted to serve as clergy in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a denomination of 4.8 million members. But delegates to a church assembly voted 559-451 to allow gays in "life-long, monogamous" relationships to serve as clergy and professional lay leaders in the church. The vote is the culmination of a years-long process in...

Praise God, that we are saved by grace alone. Works without faith are utterly without merit. This is not merely a Protestant notion. Such has been the persistent teaching of the saints throughout the ages. Yet a whitewashing of Martin Luther has led to many people, even Catholics, fundamentally misunderstanding the Catholic Church's criticism of him. Please understand that what I write here is no ad-hominem attack on Luther for any purpose, including the slander of Protestantism. Attacking the moral character of Martin Luther is gainless, for no-one supposes Luther to be imbued with the gift of infallibility. But when...

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...

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.”