cms@dragon.uucp (06/05/90)
A few remarks from a great (in some circles) theologian:
Mary sang, "My soul doth magnify the Lord" -- not herself, but the Lord. She
was Queen of Queens, Virgin of Virgins, Mother of Mothers, but she despised no
man. "True it is," she said, "I am blessed, but I don't magnify myself, my
soul doth magnify the Lord. What I am, I am through his grace, which he has
bestowed upon me, unworthy as I am." Here we have the highest joy and still
humility; honor and subjection not only toward God but also toward men.
.......
Mary praised God because he had done for her great things. Today there are
many who do not praise God's goodness because they do not have as much by way
of good things as Saint Peter or a saint or somebody else on earth. They think
that if they had as much, then they also would praise God and love him. They
despise and do not recognize the gifts with which they have been showered, such
as body, life, reason, goods, honor, friends, and the services of the sun and
all creatures. If they had all the gifts of Mary, they would not see therein
the hand of God, nor praise him.
Martin Luther
Luther's Meditations on the Gospels
The Coming of the Redeemer; Magnificat
Elsewhere:
The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this,
that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you
are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray
to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your meditation upon the
suffering of Christ, for we of ourselves are incapable of proper reflection
unless God instill it.
But if one does meditate rightly on the suffering of Christ for a day, an
hour, or even a quarter of an hour, this we may confidently say is better than
a whole year of fasting, days of psalm singing, yes, than even one hundred
Masses, because this reflection changes the whole man and makes him new, as
once he was in baptism.
Martin Luther
Luther's Meditations on the Gospels
The Crucifixion
A brief comment on the above: Luther was *very* devoted to the Blessed Virgin
Mary and preached one of his most eloquent sermons on her near the end of his
life. Praying the Rosary is an extremely effective method of meditating on the
suffering and glorification of Christ. In this sense, it might be said that
praying the Rosary is "better than a whole year of fasting, days of psalm
singing, yes, than even one hundred Masses, because this reflection changes the
whole man and makes him new, as once he was in baptism."
Last one:
We have heard how the resurrection happened, and now we come to the way in
which it is to be received. The resurrection should be impressed upon the
whole Christian life. This is the power of faith in works. Those who faint
need indeed to be told that Christ has done it all, and there is no need for us
to do anything. At the same time no one is under grace who continues in sin.
If you are free from sin and subject to sin, you should not sin. Otherwise, you
give proof that you are not free from sin. Justification by faith corresponds
to the divine nature of Christ and good works to the human nature. They must
become one person, just as in Christ divinity and humanity are conjoined.
Martin Luther
Luther's Meditations on the Gospels
The Resurrection
In Luther's belief, there were only three sacraments: Baptism, Confession,
and Communion. Net.Lutherans (general) may correct me here.
Luther held many beliefs that many Protestants reject today. If Protestants
become aware of Luther's beliefs, do you think that this will help Protestants
to rediscover their Christian heritage and engage in such Lutheran practices as
veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary and receiving the Sacrament of
Penance (Confession)?
--
Sincerely,
_///_ // SPAWN OF A JEWISH _///_ //
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GO AGAINST THE FLOW! \\\ \\ A Real Live Catholic in Georgia
Cindy Smith
emory!dragon!cms
cms@dragoncms@dragon.uucp (06/07/90)
Another quotation from a famous theologian:
It is precisely the same devil who now assails us through the fanatics by
blaspheming the holy and venerable sacrament of our Lord Jesus Christ, out of
which they would like to make mere bread and wine as a symbol or memorial sign
of Christians, in whatever way their dream or fancy dictates. They will not
grant that the Lord's body and blood are present, even though the plain, clear
words stand right there: "Eat, this is my body." Yet those words still stand
firm and invulnerable against them....
Let us take up the saying of Christ, which Matthew and Mark record: "He took
bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said,
"Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you."....Now here stands the
text, stating clearly and lucidly that Christ gives his body to eat when he
distributes the bread. On this we take our stand, and we also believe and teach
that in the Supper we eat and take to ourselves Christ's body truly and
physically. But how this takes place or how he is in the bread, we do not know
and are not meant to know. God's Word we should believe without setting bounds
or measure to it. The bread we see with our eyes, but we hear with our ears
that Christ's body is present....
But listen, I ask you, how they remove our interpretation from this saying of
Christ and bring in their own. They say, "The word 'is' must mean the same as
the word 'represents', as Zwingli writes; and the expression 'my body' must
mean the same as the expression 'sign of my body'", as OEcolampadius writes.
So Christ's Word and meaning according to Zwingli's text would read, "Take,
eat; this represents my body', or according to OEcolampadius' text, 'Take and
eat; this is a sign of my body.'....Then at once they boast that we have no
passage from scripture which says that Christ's body is in the Supper....
--- Martin Luther
Martin Luther wrote these words in response to the Eucharistic controversy and
the Marburg Colloquy. Luther held to his belief that "This is my body" implied
a real presence where Zwingli and OEcolampadius championed a true, spiritual
presence. After expressing agreement in other areas, they ultimately departed
unable to forge an agreement on this issue. In a brief note, Luther says this
about the conference:
"Grace and peace in Christ. You will know, my dear Gerbel, how far we
attained harmony at Marburg, partly by the verbal report of your
representatives, partly by the Articles they are taking with them. We defended
ourselves strongly and they conceded much, but as they were firm in this one
Article of the sacrament of the altar we dismissed them in peace, fearing that
further argument would draw blood. We ought to have charity and peace even
with our foes, and so we plainly told them, that unless they grow wiser on this
point they may indeed have our charity, but cannot by us be considered as
brothers and members of Christ. You will judge how much fruit has come of this
conference; it seems to me that no small scandal has been removed, since there
will be no further occasion for disputation, which is more than we had hoped
for. Would that the little difference still remaining might be taken away by
Christ.
Yours,
Martin Luther"
Smith, Life and Letters, 245 et seq.
The following is a quote from the Augsburg Confession as found in Documents of
Modern History: Martin Luther (E. G. Rupp and Benjamin Drewery).
9 BAPTISM. Baptism is necessary to salvation; through it is offered the grace
of God; children should be baptized, so that, offered through baptism to God,
they may be received into his grace. Our Churches condemn the Anabaptists, who
reject the baptism of children and affirm that they can be saved without
baptism.
10 THE LORD'S SUPPER. The body and blood of Christ are really present
[vere adsint] and are distributed in the Lord's Supper to those who eat; our
Churches reject those who teach otherwise.
11 CONFESSION. [The practice of private absolution should be retained.]
12 PENITENCE. [Absolution for post-baptismal sin must be always available in
the church for the penitent. Penitence embraces contrition and faith; and good
works, the fruit of penitence, must follow.] Our Churches condemn the
Anabaptists, who deny that the once-justified can ever lose the Holy Spirit,
and insist that to some there comes so great perfection in this life that they
cannot sin again. [Likewise the Novatians who refused to absolve the penitent,
and others who bid us earn grace through satisfaction achieved by ourselves.]
13 THE USE OF SACRAMENTS. [Sacraments are 'signs and testimonies of the Will
of God towards us'. The (Roman) ex opere operato is condemned, as ignoring
faith.]
14 THE CHURCH'S ORDERS. None may publicly teach in church or administer the
Sacraments who is not duly called [rite vocatus].
21 THE CULT OF THE SAINTS. [The saints are our examples, but not to be
invoked or to be thought to help us in the way only Christ can -- as mediator,
reconciler, priest, intercessor.]
END OF QUOTE
I am posting the above in direct response to several mail messages asserting
that Martin Luther never said such things as I have just quoted. Martin Luther
was quite devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and objected only to the
invocation of the saints, as I understand the above. Actually, Catholics would
agree with Luther that Christ is our only mediator, etc.; the saints are
invoked only as those Christians who live inside Christ and are capable of
helping us only through the power of Christ. Thus, we invoke Christ whenever
we coincidentally use the name of one His disciples/saints. It sounds like a
nitpicking detail, but, then, wars have been fought over less.
Sincerely,
Cindy Smith
SPAWN OF A JEWISH CARPENTER
cms@dragon
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