Was the Protestant Reformation, in a sense, good?

[Tomyris]

A couple of my favorite passages from From Conflict to Communion

*Prayer for unity

1. Because Jesus Christ before his death prayed to the Father “that they may be one,” it is clear that a division of the body of Christ is opposed to the will of the Lord. It contradicts also the express apostolic admonition that we hear in Ephesians 4:3-6: be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” The division of the body of Christ is opposed to the will of God.

Evaluating the past

1. When Catholics and Lutherans remember together the theological controversies and the events of the sixteenth century from this perspective, they must consider the circumstances of the sixteenth century. Lutherans and Catholics cannot be blamed for everything that transpired since some events in the sixteenth century were beyond their control. In the sixteenth century, theological convictions and power politics were frequently interwoven with one another. Many politicians often used genuine theological ideas to attain their ends, while many theologians promoted their theological judgments by political means. In this complex arena of numerous factors, it is difficult to ascribe responsibility for the effects of specific actions to individual persons and to name them as the guilty parties.
2. Sixteenth-century divisions were rooted in different understandings of the truth of the Christian faith and were particularly contentious since salvation was seen to be at stake. On both sides, persons held theological convictions that they could not abandon. One must not blame someone for following his or her conscience when it is formed by the Word of God and has reached its judgments after serious deliberation with others.
3. How theologians presented their theological convictions in the battle for public opinion is quite another matter. In the sixteenth century, Catholics and Lutherans frequently not only misunderstood but also exaggerated and caricatured their opponents in order to make them look ridiculous. They repeatedly violated the eighth commandment, which prohibits bearing false witness against one’s neighbor. Even if the opponents were sometimes intellectually fair to one another, their willingness to hear the other and to take his concerns seriously was insufficient. The controversialists wanted to refute and overcome their opponents, often deliberately exacerbating conflicts rather than seeking solutions by looking for what they held in common. Prejudices and misunderstandings played a great role in the characterization of the other side. Oppositions were constructed and handed down to the next generation. Here both sides have every reason to regret and lament the way in which they conducted their debates. Both Lutherans and Catholics bear the guilt that needs to be openly confessed in the remembrance of the events of 500 years ago*.
   And perhaps one of my favorite paragraphs:
   238. Catholics and Lutherans realize that they and the communities in which they live out their faith belong to the one body of Christ. The awareness is dawning on Lutherans and Catholics that the struggle of the sixteenth century is over. The reasons for mutually condemning each other’s faith have fallen by the wayside. Thus, Lutherans and Catholics identify five imperatives as they commemorate 2017 together.

Thank you SO MUCH for these posts!

 

[rcwitness]

• Well, it will take you on a remarkable journey.
• You’ll learn a lot about yourself and your own Church and you will learn a lot about other people and their institutions.
• Things you thought you were so sure about you will see through different lenses and they can look a lot different.
• And things you thought did not matter all that much you will see are more central than you ever realized.
• You will have to develop a critical eye as you try to look back through lenses to see history.
• Years pass very quickly.
• And you come to know remarkable people and speak languages you didn’t decades before.
• You’ll talk about fine points of subjects and concepts that you don’t know or understand right now.
• I hope it brings you even a fraction of the blessings that this work has brought to me in a lifetime.

Good points.

You know, I come from an Evangelical Free childhood… no one in my family is Catholic… one sister is Lutheran (I am God Parent to her daughter, which I didn’t realize at the time is not permitted in the Catholic law)… I have discussed faith with many non-Cat Christians.

I am nowhere near being an expert on these relations, but I’m not inexperienced.

I believed the Gospel at a very early age while listening to our non-denominational pastor read the Scripture and talk about Jesus!

I didn’t even know about the Catholic Church until probably my late teens. When I learned, I was excited! I had some resentment for the church I was raised into for not sharing all of Christianity. Still, it provided the basic Gospel. Some important things, like St Peter’s role, encouraging my Baptism, encouraging a devotion to His Eucharist, etc were all new to me when I discovered Catholicism.

 

[rcwitness]

… when I told my parents I wanted to be Baptized in the Catholic Church, my mother said, “… but we raised you Christian!”

 

[rcwitness]

After becoming Catholic, I was asked by the Evangelical Church I grew up in to help with their youth group. I did that for about 3 yrs. I went to youth group conferences and saw good speakers, such as Francis Chan. I helped lead some children in prayer to accept Jesus as their savior.

I saw some things which didn’t seem orthodox in the pastors preaching, like Once Saved Always Saved, and we would never encourage or lead them to be Baptized.

I never brought in teachings from the outside their traditions. I respected not to teach Catholicism there.

I realized I could, and should, commit to my own Parish.

 

[Tomyris]

After becoming Catholic, I was asked by the Evangelical Church I grew up in to help with their youth group. I did that for about 3 yrs. I went to youth group conferences and saw good speakers, such as Francis Chan. I helped lead some children in prayer to accept Jesus as their savior.

I saw some things which didn’t seem orthodox in the pastors preaching, like Once Saved Always Saved, and we would never encourage or lead them to be Baptized.

I never brought in teachings from the outside their traditions. I respected not to teach Catholicism there.

I realized I could, and should, commit to my own Parish.

That is a good realization and leads to integration as a person, rather than having two contradictory theologies pinging around your mind and soul.