THE OTHER REFORMATION An essay on other facets of the period not often commented on Having spent decades deeply involved in the visible church, and continually wondering why so many things I was taught have not matured into any kind of fruit that was edible by persons who I was attempting to “share” with, I have these past 5 years been re-evaluating some of the core basics. Where did we come from and why? That answer is almost universally accepted, as is where we are going. However, on that one, there are many variables on the “how” we get there. I do not claim to be any expert on eschatology as relates to all the answers to questions on that subject. However, I have spent many years trying to figure out how to better interpret the scriptures, and some of the basics would be taught in seminaries of any denomination. Interpreting the simple english words “turn the other cheek” might be seem easy, and a literal interpretation would certainly be a good starting point in any disagreement, but later in scripture comes an admonishment to not cast your pearls upon swine, and that discernment is perfected by using it. There are certainly situations where turning the other cheek becomes enabling, which is not part of the definition of “love”. So there is an extension to the literal word that adds to it the dimension of “discernment” (its not all black and white). Along that vein, as I was researching this morning, I was studying some of the issues that Luther was speaking against. One of these issues was that of “particular judgement”, whether a person goes to heaven immediately at death, or into a sort of “soul sleep” till the resurrection and white throne judgement. The key proof text is the statement on the cross to the adjacent thief “ truely I say to you, today you will be in paradise with me” Let me remind the younger reader that punctuation was not part of the original manuscripts, yet one of the key issues between Catholics and Protestants rests on the placement of a comma before the word “today”. King James Protestants would assume that the scripture indicates that within a few hours of the statement both persons would be in Paradise. Without the comma, anyone, including generations of Catholics could easily assume that Jesus was saying “Im telling you right here and now that you will be with me in Paradise” (at some uncertain / undefined point in time beyond the present). So, here we find ourselves with a major building block of the Protestant reformation resting on one little man placed comma. I do not have a firm stance on the subject. However, I had evaluated both sides earlier in my life and come to favor the “absent from the body, present with the Lord” interpretation. Then, I had a major loss of a very precious loved one, and my confidence was not enough for me myself, nor for me as a leader of 2 younger daughters. Upon re-visiting the subject, I came across 2 new thoughts to add to the equation, neither of which are clear from scripture, yet both worthy of consideration. The first one came as a result of listening to a fairly reputable Christian speaker. He is well versed in the scientific field as well as the having spent most of his career in the security area of our federal government. He was making the point that there are many more dimensions to the Kingdom of God than the 3 we now experience and can define with our idea of science. Many over the years have postulated on the subject, but now with supercomputers to do modelling, some of these “theories” are approaching “science”. The one that is closest is the dimension of time. I am not going to even attempt to solidify any of this. When I consider adding the dimension of time to the above it doesnt make me proud to understand more, rather it humbles me in awe of the extra possibilities that can and will exist for all believers sooner or later. Neither side of the above arguement are right, and the division of the Body that comes from the argument is a very sad statement. The other thought that surfaced came from an elder riddled with insecurity who believed that all Christians were going to face the white throne judgement. My own reading and the teaching of many others over the years indicated that this was wrong. However, I could not justify in my own mind the other extreme that all Christians were going to rule and reign with Christ in the millenia. Most Christians have been led so far astray with false teaching and feel good Christianity that they dont even understand the concepts of baptism, or how to determine the difference between works and faith. Yes they are saved, dont dare misquote me, and many of their actions are a blessing of God to others. Its just that they, for whatever reason, have remained on the milk of the word. They are the explanation of the scripture that many are called, but few are chosen. So, lets take a minute and try to wrap this up a little. Ive heard many speak of a coming revival, with others using the word restoration. Ive heard that this upcoming work is the next move of God, building on the Lutheran reformation, Asuza St., the Toronto Blessing, and others. So far, it looks like a lot of “rebellion, social manipulation, and bad exegesis (meticulous translation utilizing many factors beyond black and white words)” are being displayed rather than new revelation. And as you read on, you will see that there is not much of the Jesus model being displayed by those on either side of the debate. So, was it really a reformation grounded on new revelation from God, or just the same old power struggle that has been going on since the garden. Lets see what Wikipedia has to say of the times: European wars of religion From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Battle of White Mountain in Bohemia (1620)—one of the decisive battles of the Thirty years war The European wars of religion were a series of religious wars waged in Europe from ca. 1524 to 1648, following the onset of the Protestant reformation in Western and Northern Europe. Although sometimes unconnected, all of these wars were strongly influenced by the religious change of the period, and the conflict and rivalry that it produced. This is not to say that the combatants were neatly or only divided by religion, as they were often not. Individual conflicts that can be distinguished within this topic include: Conflicts immediately connected with the Reformation of the 1520s to 1540s: The German Peasants War(1524–1525) The battle of Kapple in Switzerland (1531) The Schmalkaldic war (1546–1547) in the Holy Roman Empire The Eighty years war (1568–1648) in the Low Countries The French wars of religion (1562–1598) The Thirty Years War (1618–1648), affecting the Holy Roman Empire including Habsburg Austria and Bohemia, France, Denmark and Sweden The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1651), affecting England, Scotland and Ireland Scottish Reformation and Civil Wars English Reformation and Civil War Irish Confederate War and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland After reviewing the above, was the “reformation” as it is taught in many, many evangelical churches really a move of God? As a Protestant Christian, I am fairly sure that I do not have to pray to or through Mary. However one of the real Apostles, (Paul) said that if eating meat offends his brother, he would not eat meat till the return of the Lord. So I am pretty sure that the definition of “Love” would exclude warring against other doctrines to the point of death, especially if some of those doctrines rest on the placing of a comma. Am I saying that nothing of Luthers new revelation was from God? Absolutely not!! Im just pointing out another historic example of how the simple wisdom of the Word of God can so easily get stretched to a place of alienating the people it was meant to heal. I do not know it all, in fact it sometimes seems that the more I study, the less I know. But one closing thought on the Lutheran Reformation. Apparently, it all started with Luther posting his new revelation on the church door,,, on Halloween.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 00:35:10 +0000
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