Day 6
Apologetics: Mankind knows God, but processes that knowledge wrong, because we reject God's authority over us. There is, however, a general mysticism that many people are attracted to, but they reject the True God who is truly greater and above all creation, the One who transcends our experience of life. Others affirm a rationalistic or naturalistic approach to life, rejecting this tran...scendent God who is also immanent - as close to us as our next breath. It is only because we reject this God that we seek something vaguely similar to him to satisfy our inner being. But we suppress the truth because we want to live life according to our desires: "My kingdom come, my will be done ..."
Romans 1:19-21 "...what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."
Church History: Martin Luther was a sort of medieval "rock star," but the reformation went in some directions he never intended. He certainly was not a perfect man, and some of his sins are stains on his reputation to this day. His writings against the Peasants and against the Jews perhaps sully his reputation the most. At the end of his life, the only works Luther himself considers worthy of reprinting are his 2 catechisms and "The Bondage of the Will." Luther genuinely believed the reformation movement was the ushering in of the end times. Some identified Luther as one of the angels in Revelation 14, and while he does not say that himself, neither does he refute it. During this time, large crowds follow Luther wherever he goes, and the trade in Luther posters boom. But Luther is scared and he has reason to be. Most Diets (Trials) in those times did not end well for the accused - and burning at the stake was a real probability. At the Diet of Worms where he is told to recant his works, his response is to divide them into 3 groups: writings on morals that even his enemies affirm are good and true, others written against the papacy over which if he is tried, the Diet should be as well, and writings against individuals where he admits that he may have been over the top. But when he is asked for a straightforward answer, he gives his famous answer that includes "unless I am convinced by Holy Scriptures and sound reason, I cannot and will not recant, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me." At the conclusion of the Diet, Luther is kidnapped (to save him from being kidnapped by his enemies), by his benefactor Frederick the Wise, who sends him to Wartburg. He disappears for 11 months, during which time he translates the Scriptures into German, the language of the people. Later, there develops a division on the issue of the Lord's supper - are the elements merely symbolic, or is the body and blood of Christ really present? Karlstadt, who leads a very radical wing of the reformation, views them as symbolic and for the rest of his life Luther will not be able to separate a symbolic view from radicalism, which will color his meeting with Zwingli in 1529.
Apologetics: Mankind knows God, but processes that knowledge wrong, because we reject God's authority over us. There is, however, a general mysticism that many people are attracted to, but they reject the True God who is truly greater and above all creation, the One who transcends our experience of life. Others affirm a rationalistic or naturalistic approach to life, rejecting this tran...scendent God who is also immanent - as close to us as our next breath. It is only because we reject this God that we seek something vaguely similar to him to satisfy our inner being. But we suppress the truth because we want to live life according to our desires: "My kingdom come, my will be done ..."
Romans 1:19-21 "...what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."
Church History: Martin Luther was a sort of medieval "rock star," but the reformation went in some directions he never intended. He certainly was not a perfect man, and some of his sins are stains on his reputation to this day. His writings against the Peasants and against the Jews perhaps sully his reputation the most. At the end of his life, the only works Luther himself considers worthy of reprinting are his 2 catechisms and "The Bondage of the Will." Luther genuinely believed the reformation movement was the ushering in of the end times. Some identified Luther as one of the angels in Revelation 14, and while he does not say that himself, neither does he refute it. During this time, large crowds follow Luther wherever he goes, and the trade in Luther posters boom. But Luther is scared and he has reason to be. Most Diets (Trials) in those times did not end well for the accused - and burning at the stake was a real probability. At the Diet of Worms where he is told to recant his works, his response is to divide them into 3 groups: writings on morals that even his enemies affirm are good and true, others written against the papacy over which if he is tried, the Diet should be as well, and writings against individuals where he admits that he may have been over the top. But when he is asked for a straightforward answer, he gives his famous answer that includes "unless I am convinced by Holy Scriptures and sound reason, I cannot and will not recant, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other. God help me." At the conclusion of the Diet, Luther is kidnapped (to save him from being kidnapped by his enemies), by his benefactor Frederick the Wise, who sends him to Wartburg. He disappears for 11 months, during which time he translates the Scriptures into German, the language of the people. Later, there develops a division on the issue of the Lord's supper - are the elements merely symbolic, or is the body and blood of Christ really present? Karlstadt, who leads a very radical wing of the reformation, views them as symbolic and for the rest of his life Luther will not be able to separate a symbolic view from radicalism, which will color his meeting with Zwingli in 1529.
No comments:
Post a Comment