This year marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses, or arguments, to the door of a church in Wittenburg and inadvertently igniting a revolution we now call the Protestant Reformation. While he wasn't the only church reformer, his boldness and tenacity put him at the forefront of the movement for the rest of his life. For the rest of 2017, I am going to be doing a series of posts, both on this blog and my book blog, about topics relating to the Reformation. Everything from posts about the history of the movement to book reviews, maybe some hymn analysis, maybe even a movie review at some point.
And it all kicks off today with my latest article for Femnista, called "He Didn't Expect to Change the World." You can read it right here.
I know not all my blog readers are Protestants. In fact, not all my blogging friends are even Christians. So let me assure you that I'm not going to be going all Militant Lutheran on you (though I have to say that, now that I've coined the phrase "Militant Lutheran," it's kinda cracking me up -- would I be armed with cans of sauerkraut? Bowls of Jell-o? Tubs of hot coffee? Old hymnals?). My intention is simply to celebrate the ways that God blessed his church on earth through the work of Martin Luther and his fellow reformers.
I grew up Lutheran, and have spent a lot of time learning about Martin Luther, his wife Katherina von Bora, and the struggles they and others went through. Their courage inspires me. Their devotion to God humbles me. God used sinful human beings to do amazing things five hundred years ago, like he has so many times throughout the history of the world, and I want to spend some time talking about them. In a loving way!
Well, I am Catholic, of course--everyone knows that--but I am definitely interested in reading your thoughts! It's always good to understand and respect other religions, isn't it? *shakes hands cordially*
ReplyDeleteJessica, I promise this will not be about bashing Catholics. Especially since, from what I have read and what I learned in college, modern Catholicism is somewhat different from what it was in Luther's day.
DeleteIndeed, it is! That's what the Counter-Reformation (inspired by the Protestant Refomation) was all about--trying to fix the problems, because as Luther correctly pointed out, there WERE real problems.
DeletePrecisely.
DeleteI have a question, Jessica--and I promise I'm not trying to start an argument or anything! Just this: when you say other "religions" don't you mean other denominations? After all, isn't everyone who is trusting in Christ alone for their salvation--whether Catholics or Lutherans or Baptists or Presbyterians or Methodists etc.--all, first and foremost, of one religion, Christianity? I'm just curious about what you meant by that. :)
DeleteWell I will certainly be enjoying these! :) Hehe, sauerkraut and jell-o indeed! :P
ReplyDeleteAbby, I look forward to your comments on them! I suspect we might be doing a big Reformation service with area churches come October, so perhaps we'll get to celebrate that together!
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