There are a lot of historical things that really fascinate me… The Civil War, the life and works of C.S. Lewis, the life and times of many notable philosophers and just about anything to do with European history.
At the top of the list, however, is the period of church and European history known as The Reformation.
Historians mark the beginning of the reformation on October 31, 1517 — the day that Martin Luther nailed a document called “The 95 Theses” to the castle church door in Wittenburg, Germany.
So in honor of Reformation Day next week, here are some Reformation Thoughts:
- Like Martin Luther, maybe we need to actually care about biblical literacy and begin thinking of creative ways to help people read the bible for themselves.
- Like Martin Bucer, maybe we need to try and reconcile some denominational splits and find some kind of a workable unity – in respect if not in organization.
- Like William Tyndale, maybe we need to use newly available technology and communication methods to help spread the message of God. Tyndale used Gutenberg’s press to print bibles – maybe we need to more effectively use the internet, blogs, podcasts, video and other means at our disposal to communicate God’s truths.
- Like John Calvin, maybe we need to take serious God’s sovereignty (God is in control) and that, like our sun and solar system, life only works when God is at the center.
Some random thoughts on Reformation… what are yours?
Well, Wytsma,
I suppose I find it interesting that the passive conception of matter that was foundational for the mechanistic worldview has Protestant tinges, while Aristotleian (SP?) “active” principles in matter lend themselves to more Catholic ways of thought: The Reformation’s emphasis on solo deo gloria led some scientists to minimize the role that matter could play in the universe, whereas Catholic theology’s synergism lent itself quite well to a more robust role for matter. It’s somewhat analogous to faith and works in Catholic vs. Protestant Theology. The Protestants tend to say we can do NOTHING for our salvation (and so, matter ends up having NO active principles – it’s just inert, passive billiard balls), whereas the Catholics tend to say that we contribute to our salvation through God working in us (and so, before the 17th century, matter had principles/tendencies that were part of its nature.)
There’s my Reformation tid-bit for you, Pastor Ken! I’m glad to see that you’re as big a fan of Lewis and the Civil War as ever (and the Teaching Company??). Because of the whopping salary I make, I’ve become a much bigger fan of the public library, rather than Amazon.com! Perhaps we’ve diverged in that respect! =)
Take care – I enjoyed checking out your site!
Jeff Culver
Aristotelian, or Aristotelean.
:)
Yeah I just don’t know, what if the Catholics were more or less right about everything?
Bill Pope