A top Vatican official has joined other global Christian leaders in the eastern German town where Martin Luther broke with the papacy, at a tree-planting ceremony that looks to closer ties on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
The ceremony took place in Wittenberg, the German town known as “Lutherstadt”, 492 years after Luther nailed his epoch-changing 95 theses to a church door there, leading to the breach with the 16th-century papacy
“It is possible for us today to together learn from Martin Luther,” said Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity as he planted the first of 500 trees on 1 November in a landscaped Luther Garden, forming part of the celebrations for 2017.
IS it just me or does anyone else find it odd that we (Christians) celebrate a day of schism, a day in which the body of Christ divided? For me, reformation day is a day of mourning and loss; it marks a day in which the bride of Christ was broken in half.
Kaspar confirms just how irrelevant he has become.
A day of mourning indeed. I wore black.
Reformation Day for me represents a day of freedom and joy. It marks a day when the deep divisions already within Christianity became real and more public.
It also marks a day when consequences for wrong theology became apparent. I think God often delays the time of consequences . . . but they do arrive, eventually.
We’re seeing the same things within TEC. Horrible corrupt theology and practice — and the consequences will arrive as sure as the tide coming in.
That doesn’t mean I celebrate the wrong doctrine that got us to the point of the Reformation. Not at all. I would have far rather had an undivided and orthodox and faithful church. But . . . that did not happen.
And truth to tell the bride of Christ was broken back in the Great Schism — the Reformation was only the further chunking off.
I am sad to see the Anglican Communion divide — but that divide is inevitable when discipline and orthodoxy are not maintained. And though sad to see the faithful leave TEC, I am happy for ACNA and its founding for those people who find it a haven.
Ecumenical tree-planting – Excellent!
Maybe what is important to see here is not a “celebration of division” but a witness to an ecumenical commitment, a rapprochment of the divided church – Luther has become part of the heritage of both.
And thus it is demonstrated why Cardinal Kasper was kept completely out of the loop regarding the Apostolic Constitution…
If Luther had not vociferously condemned the abuses in the Church, then she would have been a slowly sinking ship. God used Martin Luther to save Her.
[blockquote]It also marks a day when consequences for wrong theology became apparent. [/blockquote]
I agree completely, though in a rather different manner than Sarah.
Teatime: God does not use heresy to “save” the Church, He calls up Saints from within Her.
Poor Cardinal Kasper: he was owned by Ratzinger before the latter became Pope. We can only await the springtime when he (and Re) is gone from office.
[blockquote]If Luther had not vociferously condemned the abuses in the Church, then she would have been a slowly sinking ship. God used Martin Luther to save Her.[/blockquote]
Hardly. The whole history of the Church is one of ongoing reform and renewal. We might begin with the letters of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles. And then we have (off the top of my head) the early Councils, the Desert Fathers, Benedictines, Gregory VII, Cluny, Franciscans, etc. And, yes, Trent and Vatican II. Sure, there was need for reform. There always is. But the Reformers were quite wrong in their methods, as well as in much of their theology.
Thank God for Martin Luther and the Schism. It brought us closer to freedom and Truth, and therefore true unity with Christ. Somehow people suppose that a monolith denomination is the true marker of unity. It’s not.
I can’t imagine the hellish world we would be living in now if not for those protestants and catholics who gave their lives so that I can even choose which church to attend.
Given Luther’s scatological preoccupation, the Luther Garden ought to be well fertilized.
Thank God for Martin Luther’s moral courage!
Schism came less from Luther than from Pope Leo X, who:
–Condemned Luther’s theses wholesale, including theses like “the Holy Spirit does not insist that we burn heretics.” Luther would have perjured himself by repudiating those theses. Should he have done so?
–Excommunicated Luther and look forward to burning him alive.
Then, and for decades thereafter, Luther and his followers offered to submit to the decision of an ecumenical council. The German emperors and many reform-oriented Roman Catholics favored holding such a council. But Pope Leo and his successors played for time, fearing (some would say, knowing) that they could not control a council. The council finally occurred only after a quarter-century of polarization and war–and then under circumstances that helped assure that Lutherans would not participate.
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The whole history of the Church is one of ongoing reform and renewal. … Sure, there was need for reform. There always is. But the Reformers were quite wrong in their methods, as well as in much of their theology. –#9
This comment is full of Makebelievium. By Luther’s time, Rome had a world-class record of resisting reform, with Popes Alexander VI and Leo X among the more notable examples of worldliness and corruption. Little reforms here and there don’t change the basic pattern of recalcitrance.
Leo forced Luther to the break. Leo and his successors foreclosed avenues to a godly and peaceful resolution. They also condemned Protestant principles that Vatican II and the last five popes have now largely accepted.
To “justinmartyr” #10 and “Irenaeus” #12—I’d bet my life your namesakes would not have agreed with you.
[blockquote]Thank God for Martin Luther and the Schism.[/blockquote]
I’m at a loss for words. [i]Kyrie eleison![/i]
[blockquote]. . . Popes Alexander VI and Leo X among the more notable examples of worldliness and corruption.[/blockquote]
No one ever said the the Popes would be perfect. But Jesus did say, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). The True Faith persists in its fullness in the Church Christ founded. Bits and pieces perhaps elsewhere.
[blockquote]Leo forced Luther to the break.[/blockquote]
No one forced Luther to do anything. He preferred his own private judgement to the judgement of the Church. And so began the tragedy of Protestantism. As USCAE (#8) rightly said, “God does not use heresy to ‘save’ the Church, He calls up Saints from within Her.”
Yep, Irenaeus, as a former Catholic, I was well-acquainted with the Makebelievium mindset. Many will deny that the RCC had much to do with the Inquisitions, as well.
Crypto, not to be rude but if you consider Protestantism a “tragedy” then why are you wasting your time here with us tragic Protestants? You’re not peddling “relics” or “indulgences,” I hope? ;>)
Jesus did say, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.†–#13
Yes, Jesus said exactly that, and Peter became the leader of the early church. But Jesus never said that one (and only one) bishop would inherit Peter’s special position as if it were a sort of local church property.
Nor does scripture contain any evidence of Peter having autocratic power over the other apostles–power of the sort popes ultimately claimed.
Equating Matthew 16:18-19 with an autocratic papacy is an act of Makebelievium.
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No one forced Luther to do anything. –#13
Consider the facts:
— Luther asserted that burning heretics is against God’s will. The RCC now also teaches that burning heretics is against God’s will.
— Pope Leo X ordered Luther to take an oath repudiating this view. Luther would have committed perjury by taking the oath.
— When Luther did not comply, Leo’s bull excommunicated him.
Leo sought to force Luther to repudiate the truth. When Luther did not do so, Leo forced Luther out.
So Leo and Luther had the same problem. They both placed themselves above the authority of the Pope. 😉
RE: ““God does not use heresy to ‘save’ the Church, He calls up Saints from within Her.â€
Absolutely. In one instance, the saint was Martin Luther.
It’s a great week for Christians!!!
#3, I assume for a true protestant, Reformation Day simultaneously represents a day of freedom and joy and a day of bondage and guilt.
For the record, I don’t recall ever celebrating Reformation Day. The congregations I’ve belonged to did not observe it as such, other than by singing “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” But I do give thanks for the courage and faithfulness of Reformers like Luther.
I give thanks as well for godly Roman Catholic reformers. They helped put the RC house in order. They also preserved spiritual treasures such as the mystical tradition represented by Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross–treasures insufficiently appreciated by moderate Protestants and even scorned by Calvinist vandals of liturgy, art, and traditional piety.