Yet, to my Roman Catholic friends, the Reformation isn't something to celebrate.

In their eyes, our admiration for Martin Luther is as misguided as holding a big party in honour of one's divorce.

They argue the Reformation ushered in a world where each individual's personal taste in interpretation became supreme, leading to the moral chaos and postmodernism that riddles the cultural landscape today.

At best, they see Protestants as limping along without the spiritual blessings God bestows through their church, yet, like anorexics, rejoicing in this near-starvation.

I readily concede that the Reformation brought costs as well as benefits.

Yet as a Lutheran, I am profoundly grateful for the sixteenth-century return to Scripture that reminded us of Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, and Solus Christus.

I deeply appreciate the Lutheran determination, demonstrated in the Book of Concord, to find and cling to biblical truth. That is why I want my Catholic friends to know three things about the event I will be celebrating on October 31.

It's Not about Individualism
Secular historians, like secular journalists writing about Pope Francis, often misunderstand religion.

Mainstream history textbooks portray Luther as someone who struck a blow for the individual by rejecting the authority of people who wanted to tell others what to believe.

As long as these historians don't peruse his actual writing, they see Luther as a pretty progressive guy by the standards of 1517.

My Catholic friends read this stuff and, quite naturally, pick up the idea that Luther's teachings led to hyper-individualism.

Yet Luther's actual theological legacy is not conducive to extreme individualism.

He intended to participate in a conversation about reforming errors that were harming the Catholic Church.

That is because he wanted to point out where individuals were going wrong by failing to submit themselves to the authority of scripture. Continue reading

• Anna Mussmann is a stay-at-home mom who writes during nap time.

"Five hundred years ago, Europe was a tinder box, it was ready to go aflame," said Martin Marty of the University of Chicago, himself a Lutheran and one of America's preeminent scholars of religion, in a recent Crux interview.

"Luther, an Augustinian friar, left his monastery and either posted by mail to the Archbishop of Mainz, or posted to the door of the church in Wittenberg in Saxony in southern Germany, 95 theses that he wanted to debate," Marty said.

"He hit exactly the points that were at issue in the hearts of so many people.

"They were all Catholics," Marty said, "and it struck their hearts, because they were struggling with the same things he was."

What that means, Marty suggested, is that despite centuries of bitter ecclesiastic rivalries, Protestants and Catholics have a common heritage, which he said has flowered in the modern ecumenical movement.

"I remember going once to a meeting of the World Council of Churches, where the topic was the nature of the unity we seek," Marty said.

"The bureaucratic typist from Geneva who sent the draft to us in the press room had said that the goal of Christian unity is that all in each place come to a ‘full committee fellowship!'"

Marty said of course, the word was supposed to be, come to a ‘fully committed fellowship' - "Today's Catholic and Lutheran leadership are both committed to finding new ways to move toward that fully committed fellowship." Continue reading

Sources

• Crux article by John L. Allen Jr., editor of Crux.
• Image: MysteryOfFaith blog

Luther may also have posted his manifesto, following academic tradition, on the door of All Saints Church near the University of Wittenberg where he taught (that he "nailed" it seems to be a myth), but in any case he did publish his ideas on the subject of indulgences in a stand against Catholic teaching on salvation, and started the second great schism in Christendom.

Five centuries later, what is the legacy of Martin Luther - to Christianity? To the world?

Luther opened up the Bible to the ordinary Christian, reminded them of the gratuitous, forgiving love of God and championed the individual conscience.

These developments would have happened anyway, and are affirmed in a general way by all denominations, but differences over the details are so critical that churches continue to divide and multiply, giving a negative witness to the Gospel in which Christ prays that "they all might be one".

The rapprochement of the last half century leaves seemingly unbridgeable gaps between Protestantism and Catholicism.

As for society in general - Western society anyway - it is marked by trends that would surely shock Luther himself. Certainly he was very sex positive, but what would he think of no-fault divorce, cohabitation and pre-marital sex, contraception, abortion, euthanasia, the normalisation of homosexuality, same-sex marriage and transgenderism? And of churches which accept all or most of these things?

Would Luther recognise his doctrine of the individual conscience in a contemporary individualism (acting collectively where necessary) that constantly claims new rights on the basis of "what I feel is right for me" - and wants to force other consciences to affirm its claims, no matter how irrational?

Well, perhaps he would, or should.

Nearly a century ago the French Catholic philosopher Jacques Maritain identified Luther as the man who "discovered the self", thus preparing the way for modern individualism and the trends it has spawned. Continue reading

Sources

• MercatorNet article by Carolyn Moynihan, deputy editor of MercatorNet
• Image: The Out-of-Body Travel Foundation

It has been a cause of some concern and consternation for many Catholics to have learned that there will be Catholic (even papal) participation in various events connected to this anniversary. What could be celebrated? The break-up of Catholic unity? The demise of Christendom? The impetus for rationalism and secularism?

To commemorate, perhaps, but surely not to celebrate. Even many serious Protestant clergy and theologians have insisted that one must not celebrate something that brought on such dire (and probably undesired, unforeseen) consequences. To commemorate would necessarily mean studying the causes and the unfolding of events - learning from the errors and repenting of the sins of any and all that rent the seamless garment of Christ.

This is no more and no less than what the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council urged and what St. John Paul II often referred to as "the healing of memories." Which means genuine honesty. That honesty was carried on in spades at the Council of Trent and in the Counter-Reformation, both of which admitted that true problems had crept into the Church and needed correction.

Since Luther is such a pivotal character in the drama of the sixteenth century, it behooves all to put him under the microscope for closer observation. To be sure, Luther was a brilliant theologian. He was also deeply imbued with the understanding of the absolute holiness of God, the centrality of Christ in the work of our salvation, and the concomitant need for the Church to be the spotless Bride of the Redeemer which St. Paul calls her. Continue reading

Sources

• The Catholic World Report, article by Reverend Peter M.J. Stravinskas, the editor of the The Catholic Response.
• Image: bio.

"Especially in a very secular world, we should always stress what is common in the Christian religion," said Merkel, who is the daughter of a Protestant pastor.

She was speaking during a rare appearance at the annual synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany, where Protestant leaders were working to make the "Luther Jubilee" more ecumenical by involving Catholics as well.

The German Chancellor said she had learned that "even the word 'jubilee' used in connection with the Reformation can give rise to discussions", because Catholics attach a special meaning to "jubilee years" and would prefer the anniversary to be called a commemoration.

In preparation for the celebration, the Evangelical Church — Germany's largest association of Protestant churches — and the Catholic Church have plans to write a book on Christianity together in 2013 and to hold a joint Bible conference in 2015.

The Evangelical Church president, Nikolaus Schneider, told the synod that there may also be a reconciliation service scheduled for 2017 "that recognises before God all the injuries both churches inflicted on each other".

Evangelical Church vice president Thies Gundlach has expressed the hope that, despite their differences, a "wonderful friendship" will develop between Catholics and evangelicals as a result of the anniversary events.

He said the "many ecumenical achievements that render visible the truth and beauty of Christian faith 500 years after the Reformation and 50 years after Vatican II" are grounds for joint celebration. He referred to agreement on the importance of Scripture, baptism and a general acceptance of ecumenism.

Catholic Archbishop Werner Thissen of Hamburg told the synod he hoped for an agreement on how to mark the anniversary.

"Times have changed dramatically since Luther," he said, noting that the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65 had "learned a lot from Martin Luther".

Sources:

Christian Post

Reuters

Image: MSN

Benedict will use the visit to stress ecumenical cooperation, meet Protestant leaders and tour a monastery in Erfurt where Luther once worked and prayed, and while the visit could foster closer ties with Protestant leaders, but fundamental differences remain.

"Hopes about this visit have gone wild," Rev. Hans Langendoerfer, secretary of the German Bishops Conference, said in Monday's edition of the weekly magazine Focus.

"There's talk Pope Benedict could grant the Protestants a new status or could just say 'OK, let's completely change those rules about communion services. It doesn't work that way," he said.

The visit has prompted calls from Protestants and Catholics for him to allow joint communion services and grant their churches full recognition.

Others have suggested Christians of other churches who have "Catholic faith" in the Eucharist be invited to receive communion as a foretaste of our hope in full communion. They cite the precedence when the Pope gave communion to former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, prior to his becoming a Catholic.

Sources

• Reuters
• US Catholic