Reformation 500: Does It Matter Today?

Transcription

1 Reformation 500: Does It Matter Today? Which is it? 1. The Reformation s influence on today s society is pervasive. Our thinking on family, economy, working, theology, sex and sexuality, and more are all reflections of the influence of Reformation thought. In many ways, these aspects of our lives are just further reforms on the thoughts of the Reformers. The aspects in which we have changed dramatically since the Reformation, it could be argued, are areas in which the Reformation laid the groundwork for exploration. Our thoughts are Reformation thoughts. Our debates are Reformation debates. Our God is the Reformation s God. Regardless of your own feelings on the Reformation, these comments are undeniable. The way you think is largely formed by the debates that happened during the Reformation. Your freedom of expression was opened by Reformation developments on the value of every human being. Investigating the Reformation is a worthy endeavor because it opens up new avenues for exploration of our own era (J.W. Watrick). 2. For many Christians, the issues of the Protestant Reformation are now five centuries old and are thereby irrelevant to modern concerns (Keith Howell). OR

2 A Review of Luther s Theology: Romans 1: I am not ashamed of the Gospel: It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith, as it is written [Habakkuk 2:4], The righteous shall live by faith.

3 A Review of Luther s Theology 1. Justification by faith alone (Sola Fide) 2. The need for continual repentance 3. The primacy of scripture (Sola Scriptura) 4. The centrality of Christ (Solus Christus) 5. The sufficiency of grace (Sola Gratia) 6. The priesthood of all believers 7. Christian Freedom: In On the Freedom of a Christian, Luther states, Christians are the most free of all, and subject to none; Christians are the most dutiful servants of all, and subject to everyone. They are both the statements of Paul himself, who says, Though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all (1 Cor. ix. 19). 8. The omnipotent, sovereignty of God 9. The urgent call to evangelization

4 A Review of Luther s Theology: In His Own Words Our theology is certain because, it snatches us away from ourselves and places us outside ourselves, so that we do not depend on our own strength, conscience, experience, person, or works but depend on that which is outside ourselves, that is, on the promise and truth of God, which cannot deceive.

5 A Review of Luther s Theology: In His Own Words From a Letter to Melancthon (1521) Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God's glory we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.

6 A Review of Luther s Theology: In His Own Words From the Schmalkald Articles (1537) The first and chief article is this: Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died for our sins and was raised again for our justification (Romans 3:24-25). He alone is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29), and God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and are justified freely, without their own works and merits, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood (Romans 3:23-25). This is necessary to believe. This cannot be otherwise acquired or grasped by any work, law, or merit. Therefore, it is clear and certain that this faith alone justifies us...nothing of this article can be yielded or surrendered, even though heaven and earth and everything else falls (Mark 13:31).

7 Relevance of Reformation 500: Context For Discussion In 16 th Century Europe, the state and therefore whatever religious position the ruler of a territory or country espoused dictated the religious requirements of its subjects. In contemporary North America, political will, the law and social developments have established a de facto separation of church and state. In 16 th Century Europe, religious differences were often a violation of the law, punishable by excommunication or even death. In contemporary North America, individual religious rights are legally protected (within the parameters of civil obedience). No North American citizen is coerced to espouse a particular belief system. In 16 th Century Europe, many were still uneducated, poor and denied fundamental rights. In contemporary North America, more citizens than ever are literate, mobile, economically comfortable, and relatively free due to legally enshrined rights. In 16 th Century Europe, despite the evolution of the printing press, communication was slow. In contemporary North America, global communication is instant.

8 Relevance of Reformation 500: Some Questions For the Modern Church Have the history-shaping outcomes of the Reformation given rise to an increasingly divided church (as posed in Bishop Barron s article in Christianity Today)? If so, is that division destructive (in that the church is fragmented and factionalized) or constructive (the church is resilient enough in its essential teachings to have survived despite great diversity)? Does Christianity need unification, or do the differences keep us vigilant? Again, as queried by Bishop Barron, does Luther s theology pit grace and works or moral achievement in competitive opposition, so that giving God all of the glory necessarily entails giving no glory to humanity? Does humanity warrant any glory? Should the modern church live by grace alone or by grace first or by some other theology? Does the modern church (like the Roman Catholic Church of 16 th Century Europe, according to Luther) serve society more than God? In what ways, if any, is the Reformation a historical warning to the modern church? Is the modern church engaged in some or many of the corruptions that the 16 th Century Roman Catholic church was?

9 Relevance of Reformation 500: Questions For the Modern Church Luther emphasized the need for continual repentance. To what degree are 21 st Century Christian citizens living in a multicultural, liberal democracy with unprecedented freedoms and comforts, capable of acknowledging the gravity of our sin and the need for God s grace? What might Luther and other reformers say about the Prosperity Gospel? In the modern church, is Christ first or is something else first? Do we trust and teach the finished work of Christ?

10 Relevance of Reformation 500: Questions For the Modern Church At the heart of Luther s call for church reform was the claim that God s Word (as found in scripture) should be the ultimate authority in all theological matters. This gives rise to many questions for the modern Church: o Does the church, as scholar Keith Howell states, truly emphasize that The teachings of Christ Himself must penetrate more deeply into every Christian heart, for Apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5)? o Does God s Word shape our worldview or vice versa? o Luther challenged Christians to read and trust the Word of God. All of it. Do we? o With what hermeneutical lens should we read and interpret scripture: Literal? Metaphorical? Something else? With whose help? What did Luther say? o Do today s Christians give more credence to modern scientific and political truths than to the Word of God? o What are the challenges if any of Luther s insistence on the individual s right to interpret scriptures for him- or herself?

11 Relevance of Reformation 500: A Provocative Claim to Consider for Next Week How has modern western society come to be the way it is namely, hyperpluralized? How are we to account historically for the fact that contemporary western society is host to a dizzying array of incompatible truth claims on nearly all matters of ultimate importance? How are we, furthermore, to understand the increasingly fractious and polarized nature of politics, especially in the United States, and the incessant culture wars that afflict this country? Why do we seem to be powerless to curb consumerism and the way it contributes to global climate change? Finally, why is it that the public square of most western democracies is so secular and our public universities have no place for God? Answer: The Protestant Reformation. This is the argument of Brad Gregory s The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (From a book review by Ron Rittgers).

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