Hi, DustinsDad,
Thanks for your reply.
quote:
DustinsDad
If you’ll be patient, I’d like to offer what
truly happened
to Luther, both from my reading of his work * plus
a number of additional sources on him.
Luther was tormented by scrupulosity, which is
considered a form of obsessive-compulsive
disorder in 2005.
While he could be amazingly coarse in speech, he was
also in some ways a sensitive human being.
Between his spiritual torment [which was actually
a psychological disorder expressing itself in
a religious context] and his outrage over the sale
of indulgences…he blew a gasket!
The only way that he could “solve” his troubles
was to come to an understanding that the
emphasis* was on what Jesus “did”, not what
he, Martin, “did” [works].
Once he got rolling, there was no stopping him.
Having read enough about scrupulosity, and
read what others experience in this realm, I
know that deep anger can be generated toward
what is seen as the “source” of this torment -
the thought of eternal loss based on our “works.”
You see, a scrupulous person can feel that
much of what they
do or think is a sin.
Luther’s relief came when he understood that
it is faith in Jesus that both justifies *and *saves,
not “works.” [You’d might be surprised to see
what Luther actually wrote on “works.”]
From this brief overview, perhaps those caricatures
of Luther that abound, can be seen as a misreading
of what was the experience of a troubled soul.
I’m not
defending what he did. I try to understand
why he did what he did.
You know why I took the trouble to read what
Luther *actually *wrote and thought?
Because I have “been there, done that.”
The man saved my sanity.
Blessed Assurance.
Be well, DustinsDad,
reen12
I think this type of reasoning goes both ways. As an ex-protestant over time as I myself studied and mediatated on scripture became tormented by certain things in scripture that did not make sense. I was taught that I was at Luther so eloquently put it “a* dunghill covered with snow”* and to quote Luther again,
“so sin boldly!”
Without scripture slinging here and leaving this more general, I could not reconcile the Protestant idea of once saved always saved with scripture and the historical church and *this caused me deep grief and sent me on a five year journey to discover the truth of early Christianity. *What I found in studying scripture and light of the Church Fathers and Sacred Tradition was peace in knowing that what my heart and mind were telling me were true, mainly that there is no such thing as cheap grace in the historical church of the first, second, third century and so on…
We are called to presevere daily, examine our hearts and conscience often, confess our wrongs ( not secretly) and as Paul aludes to “beat our bodies daily” not literally, but to gain mastery over the flesh in prayer, fasting, being immersed in the Sacraments, and being chritable to name a few. We in essence partner with God, we must take hold of the works he has prepared for us. Yes, living for God is hard, it takes
response and daily repentance. But we must always be anchored in hope, in Gods mercy and forgiveness, in His Redemption.
Cheap grace is a lie and dupes into believeing we have arrived and that Christ owes us something in this life. Did he not assure us that we would suffer?
Did not Paul state that he
"fills up in his flesh" what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His body the Church? This Does not sound like someone who had arrived correct? As a Protestant I was tormented by ‘secret sin’ that had mastery over me. Yet I’d wake up and trick my mind that it wasn’t important because Jesus nailed it to the cross. And year aftre year I would hide in secret sin and play mental gymnastics to get around it. Confession is not easy. It is hard and humbling. Yet it has sacramental grace and power to heal.
Exposing sin to the light iin confession s one of the greatest gifts God has given me. If you want the true power of God deal with sin radically and not half heartedly or in secret.
So ya see,
torment works both ways. Luther was a nut and went over board. He created his own bible, his own church, threw out books that didn’t appeal to him, was a hypocrite who could not practice what he preached (Sola-Scriptura and Faith Alone) persecuted other bible alone advocates who disssented from him, what a mess!
So you don’t need to sell us Luther, been there and done that!
Code:
Blessings in Christ Michael
.