June 2017
The Pastor’s Ponderings Pastor David’s cell phone—348-330-4170 and email address—fleeneda@gmail.com As you know, this is the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, when Martin Luther circulated his 95 Theses for debate on the means of grace and the practice of indulgences. Though Luther tried to remain a loyal son of the Church, what he found in Scripture convinced him that many of the practices of the Church were contrary to the Gospel. Indulgences had become a means for fundraising. The relics trade, closely tied to indulgences, was often fraudulent. (Another Reformer, John Calvin, is said to have remarked that the number of splinters of the True Cross circulating in Europe were enough to build a ship.) The language of the Mass seemed to turn the Mass into a good work done by humans, rather than the supreme gift of God given to human beings. And most of all, Luther objected to the notion that human beings could cooperate with God’s grace in making
the sinner righteous before God. For these and many other reasons, the split between Lutheran reformers and the Roman Catholic Church became insurmountable. However, the Reformation was not one-sided. The Roman Catholic Church underwent its own slow process of reformation, beginning with the Council of Trent in 1555, which addressed and eliminated many of the abuses related to indulgences and the relics trade. It also provided for the formation of seminaries and a catechism for the education of both clergy and laity. Throughout the 20th century, Catholic scholars found a new appreciation for Luther’s catholicity in their study of his writings and the Lutheran confessions. After the Second Vatican Council concluded in 1965, the Roman Catholic Church acknowledged that many elements of sanctification and truth existed outside the visible structure of the Catholic Church, a radical step. These processes of reformation within the Catholic Church, as well as changing attitudes of Lu-
Zion’s 2017 Council Members Elder & President .......................................................................... Larry Hile Elder & Vice-President ............................................................. Fred Walker Secretary ............................................................................. Cathy Willmann Deacons .................................................................................... Drew Walker Allen Stallsmith Mike Clamme Trustees ................................................................................Tom Armstrong Mark Prout Neil Stroble Treasurer ............................................................................... Dennis Walker Financial Secretaries ............................................................ Sandy Langdon Anita Reid
theran theologians, made dialogue possible. The Lutheran World Federation, of which the ELCA is part, and the Roman Catholic Churches have spent 50 years in dialogue with one another. What is the purpose of these dialogues? Until the 1960s, Lutherans and Catholics tended to take opposite, one-sided perspectives of the Reformation. Polemics were often harsh and exaggerated on both sides. This sort of mischaracterization and exaggeration began with Luther and his opponents themselves, culminating in mutual accusations that each side was the spirit of the Antichrist. It wasn’t until the beginnings of international dialogue that both Lutheran and Catholic theologians could try to understand each others’ positions for what they really were. Dialogue doesn’t ignore genuine differences. In the recent document Declaration on the W ay, released last year by the ELCA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, a number of remaining significant differences were highlighted, especially the nature of the church, the theology of the pastoral office, and Eucharistic language. However, while acknowledging these differences, both Lutherans and Catholics have sought to begin dialogue from the perspective of what we agree upon. The points of agreement are far greater than the points of disagreement. Catholics and Lutherans agree, in the words of Ephesians 4:5, that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all.” In thanks for the things that unite us in one Lord, and in repentance for mutually destructive actions over the past 500 years, Lutherans and Catholics around the globe are finding ways to commemorate the Reformation together. In October, (continued on page 2)