John 15:13 comes to mind when I contemplate the courage that Martin Luther exhibited the day he nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg door. It reads, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Martin’s personal freedom of conscience was directly tied to helping others understand and obtain Biblical freedom of thought,…
Month: October 2017
C. Norman Farley: Luther and the Grassroots of Freedom
History enlightens us that freedom is a difficult state to achieve and equally difficult to retain. Our current Political/social and Religious struggles remind us of this fact. While there are many in varying religious organizations who shudder at the name Martin Luther, there are also millions who celebrate. The reason I celebrate is because Luther is one of the extreme…
Barry Bussey: Martin Luther – Christianity’s most dangerous man
Historians and theologians will debate Luther until the end of time. He remains controversial – think only of his views on the Jewish people or his justification of the brutal treatment of the peasants’ uprising. But make no mistake his posting of the Theses set off a chain of events that continue to affect us. …
Steve Wohlberg: The Work of the Reformation Continues
Approximately 500 years ago, Martin Luther sparked a “Reformation” within the Roman Catholic Church that shook Europe. Slumbering minds awoke. Controversy erupted. An unstoppable movement was born. The Pope trembled. When the dust settled, countless Catholics-Turned-Protestant had abandoned their church. Fast-forward to today. Interdenominational cooperation has become the norm. Differences are being minimized. Many Protestant Churches seek unity…
Bruce Cameron: Luther, Life, and Law
“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is…
Scott Fales: Luther’s Transformation of the West
When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the doors of the Wittenberg church, it began a radical transformation of western thought and culture. But it wasn’t until the Bible was printed in the common languages that mainstream cultures began to embrace the radical truths presented in the Scriptures and the West was truly transformed. The historical effect…
Edwin Reynolds: Luther’s Impact on the World
Martin Luther’s Reformation has had a profound impact on the modern world, not just the religious world but also in the secular world. It was not intended to be more than a call to reform the Church, but it has turned out to be a ringing bell of freedom for everyone. Today we are not…
Robert Moon: The Martin Luther Experience
“The Martin Luther Experience” implications exist throughout recorded history. Control of humans is incomplete unless it controls beliefs related to an afterlife. In recent history Evolutionary Theory for many includes “You only go around once in life so get all the gusto you can.” Historically, dictatorship-links between government and one or more religious systems were…
CA governor vetoes religious employee reproductive privacy bill
California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation that would have prohibited religiously affiliated institutions from taking employment action against non-ministerial employees for their reproductive health decisions including “the use of any drug, device, or medical service.”
Senate confirms Gingrich as ambassador to Vatican
In a vote of 70-23, the United States Senate approved the nomination of Callista L. Gingrich as the United States Ambassador to the Vatican. Gingrich, the wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (m. 2000), is an author, documentary producer, and former congressional aide. Her husband, Newt Gingrich, was raised as a Lutheran who became…