500 years ago today,

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A new era for Christianity began. One Augustinian monk changed the course of Christianity forever. His actions would cause deep seated rifts, new heresies and schisms to arise, and hundreds of new Christian groups to come into existence. Though not his intentions, Martin Luther split the Church, pitting brother against brother. But with the power of the Holy Spirit, we have come closer, focusing on our similarities rather than differences, and coming together as brothers and sisters in Christ so that, as Christ said, “they may be one” (John 17:22).

Let us pray for unity, after all, whether Protestant or Catholic, we have all been baptized into the body of Christ, and we both have the responsibility to look out for each other and defend each other as brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are his Christians. If we can come together in unity (which is still hard, no doubt), we can further the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations.

Catholics, pray for our separated Christian brothers and sisters, that they might see the glory and truth of the Catholic Church.

Protestants, pray that together we can live in Christian harmony despite our differences, and that we can work together to spread the Gospel to all nations.

Amen.
 
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As an Anglican I agree that there is much that divides us but still more that unites us as followers of Christ, and so I will join you in praying
Almighty and everliving God, who in thy holy Word hast
taught us to make prayers, and supplications, and to give
thanks for all men: Receive these our prayers which we
offer
unto thy divine Majesty, beseeching thee to inspire
continually the Universal Church with the spirit of truth,
unity, and concord; and grant that all those who do
confess
thy holy Name may agree in the truth of thy holy Word, and
live in unity and godly love.
 
May I join your prayer that we will obey the movement of the Holy Spirit and someday be one.
That we will forgive each other as God has forgiven us our trespasses.
That we will remember what we hold in common.
In Jesus’ Name amen
 
I have just been at a gathering of brothers and sisters in Christ coming together in prayer, asking forgiveness of each other for sins against each other in the name of God, and rejoicing that over 500 years we have created a more faithful body of Christ. And we all sang ‘A Mighty Fortress’ - Catholic and Protestant (and Anglican) together.

Let us BLESS the Lord!
 
Sadly, many Protestants don’t see us as their brothers and sisters in Christ. They don’t believe we’re Christians. I would extend the olive branch to one particularly hostile Protestant and receive the most vile of responses in return. I still pray for her as I do for all Protestants.
 
lilypadrees said:
Sadly, many Protestants don’t see us as their brothers and sisters in Christ. They don’t believe we’re Christians. I would extend the olive branch to one particularly hostile Protestant and receive the most vile of responses in return. I still pray for her as I do for all Protestants.
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Even more sad is there is not a Protestsnt mechanism set up to correct these wrong conclusions and therefore the vileness continues under the guise of “Christian” to the outside world.

Peace!!!
 
There seems to be an “it’s not that bad” undercurrent regarding the protestant…event.

That we’re all Christians so let’s focus on unity and get along.

But isn’t salvation of souls the paramount issue this side of eternity?

Those outside of the Apostolic Church have access to less grace and Sacraments…less available resources to help themselves and others around them.

How can we be content with that, knowing of such deficits (not sinfully and willfully, obviously) outside of the Church?
  • Once saved, always saved
  • It’s between me and God, I don’t need anyone else
  • gay/transgender ideology
  • rejection of Sacraments, deprival of the Eucharist and assured forgiveness of mortal sins in Sacrament of Penance
  • spiritual riches of Tradition and tradition
What is the end goal of ecumenism? To recite “We’re all united so everything will be OK” or eventual ridding of false teachings to bring the separated brethren back?
 

Absolutely first rate article on the current state of Lutheranism. Did I say first rate?

For those ardent Luther fans/detractors among us, you may please wish to take 10, 20 minutes or so to read through this piece once or twice. Know your stuff, guys, know your stuff. I don’t expect any views to change but hopefully they can broaden a little - good information is always welcome on Luther, the Lutherans.

Also recommend reading Luther. Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings - Timothy Lull is a good intro for research. Knowledge is power. (Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) I know for a fact Thomas Aquinas would agree with me on that.
 
What I would like to know is, Do Lutherans believe that for 15 centuries, Catholics and Orthodox had been living in heresy and that the Church Christ promised would not fall actually practiced and preached fundamental doctrine falsely for that long? And God did nothing about it until a former priest with…questionable ethics…“fixed” Christendom?
 
As a historian in germany, I am highly annoyed at this Luther-overdose in the last year. Really, beside all the theological comflicts, schismatic acts etc., there were people in history who had their “reformation” discussed on a much higher level regarding logic and scholastic. Like one doctor told at a conference last year, “the main benefit of Marthin Luther was his work for the german language and its unity”.
The religios thoughts were there before, spoken out by people who were less racist, antifeminist and on a higher educational level than him. So, if we discuss reformation, why don´t we discuss more Calvin, Hus, etc?
 
No, they don´t, in short. The fundamental doctrine of the church were defined step by step. They discussed far more basic beliefs in the beginning in the greek texts for example (confronting arianism, the state of the soul, martyrdom etc). Liturgical things were still not defined during the reign of Carolus magnus. Then, in the 12th and 13th century, priesthood was discussed much in public (especially the question if they should be allowed to marry). Eucharistic questions came up late in the monastic area, and many people feared they would suffer because of wrong sacramental service (there is a case in the middle ages where people feared for their children because there were baptized “wrong” because the priest spoke bad latin. So, as a result, no one would think the past history of the church was a history of mistakes, even the lutherans don´t.
 
NuclearReceptor said:
What is the end goal of ecumenism? To recite “We’re all united so everything will be OK” or eventual ridding of false teachings to bring the separated brethren back?
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Depends on who you are, and what you personally believe. I hope with all my heart we’ll resolve to the second one, though.

God bless you, friend. 🙂
 
No, that is not what they believe. You can rest easy, NuclearReceptor.

I also don’t think Thomas Aquinas would necessary agree that knowledge is power. It would depend on how we defined power. And that would take a long time, a very long time.
 
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I remember, as a Catholic priest, when I was first sent – so very long ago – as the Catholic envoy to an ecumenical gathering organised in a Cathedral of the Anglican Communion and heard these beautiful words you quoted from the BCP’s bidding prayers, eloquently spoken. They are lovely.

The sentiments you express in your first sentence remind me of words from Pope Saint John Paul II’s encyclical, Ut Unum Sint
  1. What has been said above about ecumenical dialogue since the end of the Council inspires us to give thanks to the Spirit of Truth promised by Christ the Lord to the Apostles and the Church (cf. Jn 14:26). It is the first time in history that efforts on behalf of Christian unity have taken on such great proportions and have become so extensive. This is truly an immense gift of God, one which deserves all our gratitude. From the fullness of Christ we receive “grace upon grace” (Jn 1:16). An appreciation of how much God has already given is the condition which disposes us to receive those gifts still indispensable for bringing to completion the ecumenical work of unity.
    An overall view of the last thirty years enables us better to appreciate many of the fruits of this common conversion to the Gospel which the Spirit of God has brought about by means of the ecumenical movement.
  2. It happens for example that, in the spirit of the Sermon on the Mount, Christians of one confession no longer consider other Christians as enemies or strangers but see them as brothers and sisters. Again, the very expression separated brethren tends to be replaced today by expressions which more readily evoke the deep communion — linked to the baptismal character — which the Spirit fosters in spite of historical and canonical divisions. Today we speak of “other Christians”, “others who have received Baptism”, and “Christians of other Communities”. The Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms on Ecumenism refers to the Communities to which these Christians belong as “Churches and Ecclesial Communities that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church”. This broadening of vocabulary is indicative of a significant change in attitudes. There is an increased awareness that we all belong to Christ. I have personally been able many times to observe this during the ecumenical celebrations which are an important part of my Apostolic Visits to various parts of the world, and also in the meetings and ecumenical celebrations which have taken place in Rome. The “universal brotherhood” of Christians has become a firm ecumenical conviction. Consigning to oblivion the excommunications of the past
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NuclearReceptor said:
There seems to be an “it’s not that bad” undercurrent regarding the protestant…event.

That we’re all Christians so let’s focus on unity and get along.

But isn’t salvation of souls the paramount issue this side of eternity?
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There is an undercurrent of it is not that bad regarding many things, including sin and salvation, even for many Catholics. Maybe this is a presumptuous generation.

Salvation of souls may be better achieved in our day by making overtures to non Catholics. I’m not saying it is, but it may be.
 
Indeed. The Catholic Church at its best here. The vision of people like St. John Paul II was so remarkable - how it played out on the ground so to speak was something else unfortunately; I refer to Vatican II. You get this tension between ecumenism and being ecumenical. People just assume that this dialogue involves a surrender of belief, compromise, exchange of ideas, tenets. It doesn’t. That is not the point at all. And where it does - I agree ecumenism is wrong and very dangerous. But for the real thing, the recognition of separated brethren as fellow Christians before God - I am surprised at the hostility to it, how people resist it.
 
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FollowChrist34 said:
I am surprised at the hostility to it, how people resist it.
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How long will it take Protestants to recognize Catholics as fellow Christians before God?

It took how many years for Catholics to accept Vatican II? And there are still pockets of resentment out there. Do you really think that this whole new way of looking at Protestants is going to be accepted over night?

For most Catholics, this idea that Luther is a hero and that the Reformation (which we’ve always regarded as a revolution) should be celebrated, came out of nowhere.
 
NuclearReceptor said:
What I would like to know is, Do Lutherans believe that for 15 centuries, Catholics and Orthodox had been living in heresy and that the Church Christ promised would not fall actually practiced and preached fundamental doctrine falsely for that long? And God did nothing about it until a former priest with…questionable ethics…“fixed” Christendom?
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No. They don’t. The very first documents in the Lutheran Book of Concord are the three ecumenical creeds. Not the Small Catechism. Not the Augsburg Confession. This is not by accident.
Additionally, Lutherans accept as authoritative at least the first four Ecumenical Councils, and some all seven.
Regardless of what many Catholics might think of it, confessional Lutherans consider themselves a continuation of the Church Catholic.
 
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