Re-visioning Reformation Today! (original) (raw)

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH LEARNING THE LESSONS OF THE HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

According to Chadwick (1972:11), ‘at the beginning of the sixteenth century everyone that mattered in the Western Church was crying out for reformation.’ This cry later resulted in the Protestant Reformation which led to the creation of breakaway churches from the Catholic Church. The Protestant Revolt challenged the Church in many ways and the Church’s response to the Reformers and Counter-Reformation came in the Council of Trent. Later Councils especially Vatican Council I and II, not so much as a response to the Reformers, could be said to be aimed at responding to such issues in their time that threatened the stability of the Church as the Reformation did. This essay takes an in-depth look at the above themes in the History of the Church from the 1400-1600s.

Special Editor's Introduction, The Reformation in Context

Journal of Religious History, Virtual Issue, 2017

2017 is the five hundredth anniversary of the promulgation of the “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences,” better known as the “Ninety-Five Theses,” a Latin text that invited academic debate on the Catholic practice of selling indulgences written by Martin Luther (1483-1546), an Augustinian friar and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg. On 31 October 1517, Luther allegedly affixed his text to the door of All Saints’ Church Wittenberg; in 1521 Luther appeared before Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor to answer charges of heresy, after Pope Leo X had excommunicated him on 3 January 1521. The Reformation spread like wildfire and by Luther’s death in 1546 Europe and Christianity had been irrevocably changed.

What Kind of Reformation?: The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation and Today

Ecumenical Review, 2017

While Luther did not intend to start a Reformation with his 95 Theses, the increasingly sharp conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities led to a separation between Luther and his followers and the Catholic Church of the time. Nevertheless, while the focal point for the 500th anniversary commemorations is Germany, even in the 16th century the Reformation had more centres than Wittenberg, such as Z€ urich, where Zwingli was active, and particularly Geneva. From here the impulse of Calvin's Reformation together with Free Church traditions prepared the way for the development of the culture of modernity in its various social and political manifestations. In view of the contemporary cultural conflicts in the globalized world, the churches of historic Protestantism should use the anniversary celebrations as an occasion to reappropriate the Protestant principle as a dynamic force, to search for a transformed embodiment of grace in the contemporary situation of cultural conflict, and to contribute to the shaping of a new culture of life.

Let the Reformation Continue

Let the Reformation Continue, 2016

We respectfully believe that the statement “Is the Reformation Over? A Statement of Evangelical Convictions” is not a sufficient description of our present theological situation. As the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses draws near, we heartily endorse the renewed study of the Reformation and what it means for Christians today. Among the recent developments in this context, the Reformanda Initiative has released “Is the Reformation Over? A Statement of Evangelical Convictions.”2 After studying this statement, we find ourselves somewhat dissatisfied, not by its positive affirmations of justification by faith alone and the full authority of the Bible, but because we question its description of the major theological problems of our time.

“Re-formatio”: The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century and Church Reform Today

2016

This article begins by noting that historians are still unclear as to whether Luther pinned 95 Theses on indulgences to the door of the church of Wittenberg Castle. Many believe that what actually happened is that on October 31, 1517 Luther sent his reflections to Archbishop Albrecht of Brandenburg and then to his colleague theologians for an academic discussion. There was no intention to provoke a division within the church as it later came about in the context of complex historical and ecclesial circumstances and other factors. In the central part of the article the author investigates the basic principles of the theology of the Reformer, intimately related to spiritual and pastoral concerns: from the merciful image of God as revealed in Christ crucified to

Protestants, Si! Reformation, No!

Preface to Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 21:1 (Winter 2018): 5-18. In this essay I discuss a Catholic approach to the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, indicating why I think the Protestant Reformation was a fracturing agent that did not allow those who followed it to keep the fullness of Christian faith. At the same time, using Peter Kreeft's recent book Catholics and Protestants: What We Can Learn From Each Other, I explore the providential fact that Protestants have not only historically preserved some parts of the Christian faith better than Catholics in various times and places. I also close with the reality that Evangelical Protestants have much to teach Catholics about communicating the central reality of the Gospel. As usual, I also give brief introductions to the articles in the issue: Medieval Pastoral writers on the idea of women deacons, interpreting Pope Francis's difficult remarks about business, Pope Benedict XVI as prophet of social thought, the masculine genius in the thought of Walter Ong, SJ, and the formation of the heart.