Why do Protestants celebrate Reformation Day?

[Peter_J]

Reading this thread reminds me of why I tend to avoid the “Why do Protestants…” threads

OK that’s fair I suppose. If I were on a Protestant forum (PAF or what have you) I would probably avoid “Why do Catholics …” threads.

 

[Edmundus1581]

Maybe because it’s a good reason to sing Ein Feste Burg?

youtube.com/watch?v=rOm1_ta4rGI

I’d love to sing it in the Catholic Church on 31 October, both as an excuse to sing a great hymn and also in service of Christian unity. I suspect some of the more musical churches do. I’d settle for the English A Mighty Fortress, but swoon for the German original.

A German congregation singing it. Note their heartfelt rendering of the hymn, and also the age of the congregation .

 

[Edmundus1581]

Or any Why Do Group “A” do “B”? threads. Sometimes it can be educational as we discover how little we really know about each other. Such threads can be a meet and greet.

Hmmm. Thread ideas:

Why do Hollywood Movie Directors Iron their Underwear with Anvils?
Why do corporate lawyers stick their chewing gum between their toes?
Why do people who hum are the same people who simply cannot carry a tune?
Why do people who yodel eat fast food in the roof?

Threads on the topic of “Why do Liberals…?”.

eg. Why do liberals act like they can’t live without contraception?

(That’s a google site search, embedded as link. Don’t try it at home. :tsktsk.

 

[Michael68]

Some people focus on the negative, but even if you don’t agree with the Reformation, there are still positive results. The Reformation caused people to change their focus back to God’s word, where it should be, not on our own traditions. His word is the “Mirror” through which we can then see the truth about ourselves. This is the only way to true unity with true liberty.

God’s Word is part of the tradition. Without the Catholic Church you wouldn’t have a bible

 

[Starwarsfan2]

God’s Word is part of the tradition. Without the Catholic Church you wouldn’t have a bible

Doesn’t give you an excuse to overrule Holy Scripture by tradition .

 

[Michael68]

Doesn’t give you an excuse to overrule Holy Scripture by tradition .

Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, Magesterium.

 

[Starwarsfan2]

Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, Magesterium.

Difference between " sacred " tradition, and man made tradition . The reformation was a reaction against the latter .

 

[Michael68]

Difference between " sacred " tradition, and man made tradition . The reformation was a reaction against the latter .

And it was a man made reaction. Not God

 

[Starwarsfan2]

And it was a man made reaction. Not God

Agree to disagree

 

[cmodrmac]

Our denomination does not celebrate “reformation day”- I asked our Priest about this and the answer was the Anglican communion vis a vie the Catholic Church would consider to have been schismatic -Queen Elizabeth attempted to bring about the “via media” between the Catholic Church and the Protestant movement

I likewise feel that there is nothing really to “celebrate” - A group of Christians took a different turn on issues of authority and scripture and have been making turns and sometimes circles for near 500 years

our Church has no delusions regarding any reunion with Rome-our female Priests really put an end to that possibility-we had at one time good relations with the Orthodox and likewise the issues of female ordination put a de facto end to any union

So most of us are reasonably content with our beautiful old Churches and lovely liturgy -most are comfortable with estrogen in high places and many ignore the other issues of human sexuality which tend to obfuscate our relationship with the Divine

we also had a schism with the formation of ANCA -the world would be less interesting if there was only 1 way for Christians to worship

 

[benjohnson]

Today we celebrated All-Saint’s Day - any ‘celebrating’ of the Reformation for us is an appreciation for the God-centered reforms that the church undertook and.

 

[Michael68]

Today we celebrated All-Saint’s Day - any ‘celebrating’ of the Reformation for us is an appreciation for the God-centered reforms that the church undertook and.

Could you name these “God centered” reforms please?

 

[ComplineSanFran]

God’s Word is part of the tradition. Without the Catholic Church you wouldn’t have a bible

Well, in all fairness, that is a bit presumptuous, isn’t it? A major portion of what Christians know as ‘The Bible’ belonged to, was written and used by the Jews for a very long time before we ever came along. What Christians then added were four Gospels, 21 short letters, a history book and the apocalyptic book of Revelations. A mere trifle if you look at the scope of the complete Scriptures.

So perhaps I would personally revise your statement to say that Christians - east and west - codified the New Testament.

 

[Michael68]

Well, in all fairness, that is a bit presumptuous, isn’t it? A major portion of what Christians know as ‘The Bible’ belonged to, was written and used by the Jews for a very long time before we ever came along. What Christians then added were four Gospels, 21 short letters, a history book and the apocalyptic book of Revelations. A mere trifle if you look at the scope of the complete Scriptures.

So perhaps I would personally revise your statement to say that Christians - east and west - codified the New Testament.

We’re off topic, but are you saying East and West chuches were at the council of Hippo then again at the council of Carthage?Btw I don’t think its a mere trifle

 

[7_Sorrows]

Some reformed Baptist friends have someone dress up as Luther who comes to explain why he did what he did. We used to have sausage and mash when we celebrated and get the kids to write their own ‘theses’ about the church. I kind of cringe inwardly now when I think about how anti Catholic we were, but there we go, all part of life’s rich tapestry.

you were an anglican when you celebrated Reformation Day?
I don’t ever remember celebrating Reformation Day in the Episcopal Church and I wouldn’t think Anglicans would either.

 

[Michael68]

Well…not quite true.

Marcion, the son of Sinope and an early leader in Christianity-- was perhaps the first to put together the list for a Christian canon in 144 AD.
His list was the basis of what we have today. He did not agree with the doctrines of the Catholic church today so perhaps we could consider him a Protestant.
He would have continued, but he himself was then condemned as a heretic, even though he got the whole canon thing rolling.
So the roots of the bible originated with someone the church rejected and was well on its way.

Also…I don’t think the church back then was called “Catholic”?
They were just Christians. There were several groups of christians at that time, with different beliefs and different names…the Marcionites, the Ebonites, the Gnostics…but all were “Christian”.

.

At the council of Hippo the current 73 books of the bible were declared and then affirmed at the council of Carthage in the late 300s ad.

 

[Seekerjn316]

Well…not quite true.

Marcion, the son of Sinope and an early leader in Christianity-- was perhaps the first to put together the list for a Christian canon in 144 AD.
His list was the basis of what we have today. He did not agree with the doctrines of the Catholic church today so perhaps we could consider him a Protestant.
He would have continued, but he himself was then condemned as a heretic, even though he got the whole canon thing rolling.
So the roots of the bible originated with someone the church rejected and was well on its way.

Also…I don’t think the church back then was called “Catholic”?
They were just Christians. There were several groups of christians at that time, with different beliefs and different names…the Marcionites, the Ebonites, the Gnostics…but all were “Christian”.

.

that correct, Marion was the first to propose a set of Christian scriptures since the Jews had one…of course the Jewish God" was not the same God Marion worshiped…yet for many in Asia Minor, his brand of Christianity was the only brand some congregation k we about.

 

[JoyToTheWhirled]

you were an anglican when you celebrated Reformation Day?
I don’t ever remember celebrating Reformation Day in the Episcopal Church and I wouldn’t think Anglicans would either.

No, we were Reformed Baptist when we celebrated Reformation Day. Although I do know of some Calvinist Anglicans who mark the day, but I don’t know them well.

 

[badnewsbarrett]

Well…not quite true.

Marcion, the son of Sinope and an early leader in Christianity-- was perhaps the first to put together the list for a Christian canon in 144 AD.
His list was the basis of what we have today. He did not agree with the doctrines of the Catholic church today so perhaps we could consider him a Protestant.
He would have continued, but he himself was then condemned as a heretic, even though he got the whole canon thing rolling.
So the roots of the bible originated with someone the church rejected and was well on its way.

Also…I don’t think the church back then was called “Catholic”?
They were just Christians. There were several groups of christians at that time, with different beliefs and different names…the Marcionites, the Ebonites, the Gnostics…but all were “Christian”…

It’s not exactly true that Marcion got the Whole canon thing rolling- he was the first Christian (using the term somewhat broadly) to hazard an attempt at a canon, but the concept of a canon is something that we all owe to the Jews, who applied the concept more strictly to the Tanakh, which we of course would call the Old Testament. Some of us might also want to call it the Septuagint, but in this specific situation that wouldn’t be the best word given that the Hebrew Tanakh was the more specific thing to which canonization was applied and not the Greek Septuagint.

With that being said, “canon” was a word that already existed and had been applied outside of a strictly Christian context, and then Marcion made the first attempt at a Christian canon. He did so with a different bias in favor of the Septuagint (if I’m not mistaken) and the addition of an attempt at New Testament inclusion. Then, of course, the Church proper undertook a much more formal canonization process. Marcion was excommunicated and branded a heretic, which may seem a little odd given that the Catholic Church would not make a dogma of its canon until Trent. But that course of action had to do with teachings on the nature of God in a di-theistic system, specifically of different gods for the Old and New Testament, the former which he called “Demiurge,” a jealous tribal deity, and the latter being the Heavenly Father of whom Jesus spoke. It’s actually kind of amazing how much of his teaching corresponds to the conclusions reached by certain strains of source criticism 15+ centuries later, if you pick and choose certain items of course. He also taught on the nature of Jesus in a manner consistent with docetism- meaning he didn’t believe in Jesus’ physical birth, death, and resurrection, presenting the incarnation as an illusion.

 

[badnewsbarrett]

Ok… if you are referring to abuses in the Catholic Church, I agree. If you are talking about officially Teaching (Magisterially) opposition to Christ, then we disagree.

Abuse happens, we are not immune to it. The fullness of the faith is found in the Church, we are provided it.

Suffer with Christ against all unrighteousness, and uphold what He Confirms through the Church.

When you talk about “abuse,” this strongly implies that the overall rules and regulations of Catholic conduct were breached and violated by individuals who acted out of line.

If that is what you mean to imply, that is not what I am talking about at all. Not one bit.

What I’m talking about is that time when the Catholic Church tried to eliminate Protestantism from the face of the earth. Remember that? That was wrong, and it shouldn’t have ever happened. And I wouldn’t call that abuse either, if the above definition is anywhere close to what you mean by the word. It’s more like the formally stated mission of the Church proper, supported and carried out vigorously by many papacies over the course of multiple centuries, and it also happened to be completely evil.