500 Years of a Protestant Reformation

The evolution of the Christendom since the crucifixion of Jesus Christ has been marked with contention and disputes among different factions of believers. From the offset, the banning of the agnostic gospels from accepted church tenets to the East–West Schism of 1054 and the wars of religion that overwhelmed Europe following the Protestant Reformation, illustrates that a heated conflict has always existed among Christians. No doubt disputes over doctrine motivated many to break with their brothers and sisters in Christ. However, the underlying catalyst for a clash in congregations stems from an objection to the authority structure that surrounds the Vatican and the Holy Sea. Church jurisdiction and the demand that the dominion of the Church of Rome, which rests upon Pontiff Supremacy, has been at the core of many differences throughout history.

When Martin Luther challenged the Papacy and began a transformation that set in motion an overhaul in the influence of bishops, the face of Europe would never be the same. As the divergence crossed the seas into the New World, the culture of fidelity to the gospels developed into a much more individual and personal relationship with the Lord.   

From a perspective stated by Reverend Canon James Atkinson, The Significance of Martin Luther submits that Justification by Faith is his essential message.

"The totality of this evangelical doctrine, this foolishness of the Gospel, this message of reconciliation and forgiveness as the work of Christ alone, Luther saw summed up in the great Pauline phrase, Justification by Faith. Nothing we are, nothing we have, nothing we can do can restore us to God. He came down to us. When man is confronted by the work of God in history, and it is preached and explained to him what his condition is and how God in Christ met and meets this, there is created a faith and trust in God that was not there before and which he does nothing to make. It is like a man who had believed another man was an enemy and one day was made to realize is enemy, unbeknown to any, had been working on his side. A new relationship is sparked off. This is what justification by faith means."

Complementing this position John L. Allen Jr. draws this distinction in 500 years ago, it wasn’t Protestants but Catholics embracing Luther.

"Essentially, based on the writings of Paul the Apostle, Luther argued that the Bible teaches something different than what had developed in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church about penance . . .

The first thesis says that when our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘repent,’ he meant that the whole Christian life should be one of repentance.

Luther was after, and it’s what people were looking for. They didn’t want to pay for being right with God, they wanted it free, and Luther calls it ‘grace.’

When you talk about paying, you’re referring to the system of indulgences that had grown up in the Catholic Church."

According to Bill Pitts, the Protestant Reformation Reshaped Christian Church. "Catholics and Protestants both worshipped in word and sacrament. But for Protestants preaching the Word in the vernacular became more important than observance of the Lord's Supper. In worship, focus shifted from altar to pulpit."

Over time the gulf between preaching the Word and obeying the precepts of the temporal god who has replaced the Supreme Being creator has taken a sharp turn away from religious commitment. Yet the remnant between orientations still persists. Conformity to secular 501c3 regulations tempers the zeal for preaching the gospels, while blind obedience to a heretical false pope dooms the Catholic Church.    

So it should not surprise any observer of religion in the 21st century that the research of Sarah Arah Eekhoff Zylstra presenting a statistical analysis that over time, while differences certainly still exist, the feud between Protestants and Catholics are narrowing as stated in 500 Years After Reformation, Many Protestants Closer to Catholics than Martin Luther, is correct.

Additional evidence provides that 500 years after the Reformation, 5 facts about Protestants around the world demonstrate a blending of what were once profound differences.

•        Globally, Protestants made up 37% of Christians in 2010.
•       The share of Protestants among U.S. adults is in decline,                 falling from 51% in 2007 to 47% in 2014.
•        In Latin America, where nearly 40% of the world’s Catholics live, Protestant populations have risen sharply
•        One relatively recent and distinctive Protestant movement that has gained ground globally is Pentecostalism.
•        In Western Europe, the home of the Protestant Reformation,           Protestants and Catholics are now religiously more similar than they are different, at least on some theological questions.

In a world which is often overshadowed by government force and a culture of satanic perdition, the contemplation of How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? - sometimes persists. Note this journey into preconception when Rick Reinckens on a site called God on the Net provides a comparison and contrast in Protestants or Catholics — Who Are Right? Which religion is right, may well confuse the issue, since belief in any particular domination reflects a judgment of conviction.

Nevertheless, David J. Engelsma in The Reformation and Twentieth Century Protestantism captures the real kernel of the significance of the Protestant Reformation.

"What conclusions, practical, urgent conclusions for a living church and for living believers, can we come to, from this understanding of the Reformation? 

The first is that the Roman Catholic Church has not changed, not one whit, for the better from the time in the 16th century when Luther and the Reformation, in grief, had to renounce her in God's Name. In our day, many Protestants would give the impression that she has changed, so much so that now it is conceivable to have friendly relations with her and even to contemplate re-union. The reason why they say this is that they no longer know what the Reformation was really about, or care for the gospel. The Reformation was not about nice Popes and bad Popes, not about meat or fish on certain days, not about any of those superficial things that Rome lately has bestirred herself with. It was about salvation by God's grace in Jesus Christ alone! It was about Scripture, the only authority in the church and over the church! On these issues, Rome is unchanged. This is not a charge, but a statement of fact. It is Rome's own confession in "The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent" that justification and salvation depend also upon man's works and merits, and that they are anathema who preach justification by faith only. The Second Vatican Council of 1963-1965 reiterated Rome's doctrine that, in addition to Scripture, tradition is authoritative in the church ("Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation"). In the same "Constitution," this Council stated that "The task of authenticity interpreting the word of God. . . has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church," that is, to the Pope. So little is it true that Rome has changed on any important matter, that the Council of Trent's blessing of indulgences as "most salutary, and approved of" stands to this day."

How Catholics view this viewpoint is dealt with in Why the 500th Jubilee of the Reformation is significant for Catholics. The mindset of Joyce Ann Zimmerman, C.PP.S., Ph.D., S.T.D., sums up accordingly.

"We need to embrace the ecumenical dynamism that has been ongoing for a half century and do so with a genuine will to overcome our differences and heal divisions. We need to embrace the principle that divisions are healed when all understand that everyone must give a little to come to unity. We need to internalize a vision of unity as a valued goal that is achievable. We need to embrace that the other is good and holy as we are."

This impulse to champion "ecumenical dynamism" which is a euphemism for adopting an absurd fantasy that the evil nature of humankind is able to establish some kind of worldwide paradise here on earth; is false. Strangely, is it not true that the meaning of Catholic purports to be a synonym for universal?  

Martin Luther initiated a Christian rebirth and the Protestant Reformation was the catalyst that emancipated Western European civilization from many of the aristocratic impositions that were the basis of class authority. Setting the disputes over religious beliefs aside, the landscape of political realignments became the legacy of the last five centuries.

Expand this record of conflicts to the remainder of the world, who do not profess a Christian faith and the end result is that a rebellion against coercive rule has grown. With or without an acceptance in Jesus Christ as the ONLY righteous and divine authority, the unlocking of the European mind through the Protestant Reformation changed the world. Only with the Second Coming will the hopes of Dr. Zimmerman come to a realization.

SARTRE - October 31, 2017

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Headline Potpourri #100

If in the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth, why can't a congregation occasionally hold an outdoor service seated in lawn chairs? Apparently some pastors know more than Acts 7:48 conveying that the Most High does not dwell in temples made by hands.

Even if one believes it is an impropriety for there to be female preachers, that does not mean that the message they are attempting to convey should not be considered preaching without an analysis of the content.

So if it is wrong for a congregation to hold an outdoor service with lawn chairs, does that mean we should also condemn the likes of Great Awakening revivalists such as George Whitefield or John Wesley who preached outside?

Khan Noonien Singh might be featured in a Star Trek miniseries set between the time he was kicked off the Enterprise and what is considered by many the greatest of the Star Trek movies. Frankly, I think one about the rise of Khan during the Eugenics Wars would be more enlightening. However, that would probably step on too many Transhumanist and New World Order toes.

The governor of West Virginia announced at a Trump Nuremberg-style rally that he was becoming a Republican because there was nothing more he could do for the state as a Democrat. That means that, since Senator Byrd croaked, the government handouts must have really dried up.

If the Google engineer had composed a memo perceived as denigrating men rather than WOMMMMENNN, would he have still been fired?

If Airbnb can deny services to those believed to be attending a White nationalist rally, why are Christian bakers obligated to prepare cakes for gay weddings?

In a homily posted on SermonAudio, it was admonished that spiritual gifts and ecclesiastical offices are not to be sought but are instead to be bestowed by the Lord. As such, shouldn't that pastors that believe similar hold their critical tongues if no one volunteers? After all, those not stepping forward might simply not feel so led by the Holy Spirit.

In a homily posted at SermonAudio, a pastor insisted that Christians in America have nothing to complain about in comparison to what transpires in other countries. Perhaps someone should shout that back to the pastor when he gripes about diminishing attendance numbers and offering contributions.

Technically, as wretched as many of the rampaging AltRight activists are and it is a tragic loss of life, unless the police helicopter was brought down by a rocket launcher, the White nationalist rally is not responsible for the crash. Would someone growing marijuana deep in the woods be at fault had the aircraft crashed during interdiction efforts employing an ultraviolet scanner?

In coverage of the Charlottesville disturbances, Fox News correspondent Julie Banderas, who markets herself as an objective journalist rather than one of the network's opinion analysts, categorized David Duke a “crazy”. Does she have an official diagnosis from an actual mental health functionary? Just as important, over the course of her broadcast career, has she been as explicitly blunt in similarly labeling Al Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright, or Louis Farrakhan? She went on to add that the perpetrators ought to be arrested and the other protesters should go home. She is quite correct. Was she as explicit in her call for the dispersal of Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street upheavals?

If the upheaval in Charlottesville is actually the direct result of AltRight militants rather than instigated by counter protesters in the name of acceptance and inclusion unable to control their propensity towards violent outbursts, does Russell Moore and milksops in the Southern Baptist Convention intend to urge Americans to withhold their judgment and instead call upon us to understand the frustrations of out alienated “White brothers and sisters”? If not, why not? After all, that has often been the response of the mentioned to the property destruction of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In contemplation of the violent disturbances in Charlottesville, it is fascinating how this “hate” we are ordered to reflexively condemn is seldom defined. For in certain leftist circles, “hate” is construed to consist of little more that questioning the philosophical propriety of preferences for minorities, for insisting that there is only one valid religion that will actually deliver a soul into a beatific afterlife, and that the God of such has determined which sorts of human relationships are wholesome and which are an abomination.

If Fox News is going to insist that David Duke should be held directly responsible for the Charlottesville disturbances, couldn't Fox News be held responsible for stirring people up?

Apparently David Duke is supposed to be discredited simply because he has “been under investigation by the FBI for decades” with those making such a claim not proceeding to go into an elaboration of exactly what. If that alone is to be enough to social anathematize an individual, wouldn't the message of Martin Luther King also without additional reflection?

In his condemnation of the disturbances in Charlottesville, President Trump rightfully insisted that no child in American should be afraid to play outside. However, this is not the late 1800's. Deadbeats in white robes riding horses are not the ones wreaking havoc in Black neighborhoods.

Apparently Senator Rubio wants to point out President Trump's failure to condemn White supremacists for the disturbances in Charlottesville. As such, should as much be made about Rubio's failure to condemn the violent Antifa there on the ground also throwing punches and probably projectiles?

In response to the Charlottesville disturbances, Governor Terry McAuliffe admonished that Americans should rally around true patriots such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. So which is it going to be? Any other times we are obligated to renounce that particular duo of Virginians because they did not embrace twenty-first century leftwing perspectives regarding race. Furthermore, the underlying political and social philosophies of Washington and Jefferson would not have been appreciably different than those of Robert E. Lee whose statue and the proposed removal of such led to these outbursts in the first place. So if McAuliffe supports the removal of Confederate memorials throughout the Charlottesville area, why doesn't he articulate true political courage and call for the demolition of nearby Monticello as well. For graduates of the contemporary public schools, that was Jefferson's home.

During Terry McAuliffe's press conference regarding the Charlottesville, it was articulated that heated political rhetoric and division must come to an end. But doesn't he owe much of his public notoriety to being a Clinton propagandist and lackey known for his aptitude to badmouth Republicans and Conservatives?

Self-professed Communist Van Jones is jacked out of shape that a number of Charlottesville marauders carried their own makeshift shields. But isn't that implement more defensive in nature than the Molotov cocktails, fecal bombs, and outright stones preferred to be hurled by the sorts of rampagers favored by this CNN propagandist?

What likely brings together both White nationalist and Antifa scumbags that clashed in Charlottesville: probably the government handouts they receive each month.

The vehicular incident in Charlottesville was likely a deliberate attack. However, of protesters black traffic, they should not be dumbfounded if they are run over. After all, one of the first lessons you are taught as a child upon learning that there is a world beyond one's own home is not to play in the street.

One is morally obligated to respect others in terms of leaving them be. However, contrary to the sentiment articulated by Donald Trump, you cannot be compelled to feel or demonstrate affection for others. This used to be assumed in the classic parental advice told to every child that did not have any friends or to teens rejected by the members of the opposite sex that they pined for. It is also pretty much a summation of the legal reasoning behind an assortment of laws regarding stalking. That is of course the truism you can't make someone like you.

There were still probably fewer lives lost this past weekend in Charlottesville as a result of violence than in Chicago.

Fascinating how all these elected officials get on their high horses about how much they despise Nazism say nary a word about protesters in Seattle proudly waving Soviet flags.

So regarding the AltRight activist assaulted during a press conference. Does Ted Cruz intend to call for a Justice Department to investigate that abridgment of civil rights? For as the ACLU reminds us any other time, liberties are not dependent upon whether or not we approve of the individual invoking Constitutional protections.

Fascinating how those insisting that there is no place in America for “White nationalism” are the same ones insisting that there is room in the United States for Islamic extremism when they come out in opposition to President Trump's proposals to curtail and scrutinize the flow of migrants from regimes where jihadist ideology is pervasive.

In a homily posted at SermonAudio, a pastor said that failure to condemn the White supremacy disturbances in Charlottesville is the moral equivalent of inciting violence. Given that the pastor did not also reference Antifa, Black Lives Matter, or the Occupy Movement in his analysis of how generalized societal unbelief leads to violence, by the standard he advocates, isn't he suggesting that he supports destructive leftwing revolutionary protests?

It was remarked in a sermon attempting to link President Trump with the Charlottesville disturbances that the torches carried by protesters were characteristic of the proud look that God despises. So are we supposed to conclude that the Molotov cocktails and fecal bombs hurled by Occupy Movement types and offshoots were laved in a spirit of shamefacedness and reverence?

A number of CEO's have resigned from the White House council of manufacturing because Trump wasn't swift enough to differentiate the violence committed in the name of White nationalism (which is bad) from that which advances internationalist statism so long as it is the property of everybody else but the planetary elites being redistributed (which is good). Apparently what Trump did is so much worse than the deeds perpetrated by the Red Chinese that these tycoons seem to prefer to do business with such as organ harvesting, the persecution of religious dissidents, and compulsory child labor.

In a homily posted at SermonAudio, it was said that, because Heaven is multicultural, there should be a longing for Heaven on the part of every sincere believer for that very reason. So apparently now you are out of line if you initially primarily want to go there to evade hellfire and to see departed family members again. Heaven might indeed be multicultural in terms of those that dwell there. However, I doubt the drunks next door will be blasting mariachi music well past midnight.

By Frederick Meekins

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