tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post7003068981141975609..comments2024-03-27T15:47:46.091-05:00Comments on Pastoral Meanderings: Reformation Preaching. . . a few thoughts. . .Pastor Petershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10653554256101480140noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-88790905149810198032017-03-20T18:41:29.027-05:002017-03-20T18:41:29.027-05:00I stand corrected on Zwingli's baptismal theol...I stand corrected on Zwingli's baptismal theology. Relying on memory of something I had read years ago, I thought that Zwingli late in life had gone wobbly on baptism. But apparently not.<br /><br />Of course, I know about the Schmalkaldic League and the Battle of Mühlberg. But that league was formed primarily as a defensive league to protect Protestants. Luther was wary of it on several counts, rightly so. But even when he grudgingly acknowledged that the princes could organize themselves for mutual defense, he never envisioned himself or his fellow clergy taking up arms in that league. That was the princes' vocation to ply.<br /><br />By all accounts Zwingli had a markedly different attitude. He was itching for a fight against the Five States--Catholic territories that had few Protestants for him to defend, but that he hoped would be fertile ground for Reformed preaching. And he was no war hawk who hid behind a pulpit, but he himself took up arms and fought at the Battle of Kappel, accompanied by many fellow clergymen whom he had persuaded to do the same. Unlike Luther, he sought to advance God's kingdom by employing blood and iron rather than purely spiritual weapons. His was a spirit more akin to Münster and Müntzer than to Luther.James Kellermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13159737422545602449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-69364142303556454692017-03-20T09:30:35.667-05:002017-03-20T09:30:35.667-05:00Surely in comparison to Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, a...Surely in comparison to Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and Bullinger could be called "radical" with a small "r" -- even if not formally identified with the Radical Reformation (large "R")?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-14202880103246463952017-03-19T21:44:14.418-05:002017-03-19T21:44:14.418-05:00"Given that Zwingli called for the abolition ...<br /> "Given that Zwingli called for the abolition of infant baptism ..."<br /><br />This is news to me, given that he enthusiastically advocated for, and supported, the death penalty in Zurich for those who were rebaptized, or who rebaptized others. (An example of the "wit and wisdom of Huldrych Zwingli" is his terming "the third baptism" the manner of executing Anabaptists in Zurich, that is, tying them up in sacks and throwing them in the River Limmat.)<br /><br />"... and, like many of the earliest Anabaptists, was willing to take up arms for the faith,"<br /><br />You've never heard of the Schmalkaldic League, or the Battle of Muehlberg?William Tighehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16634494183165592707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-84636444921432322092017-03-19T14:16:45.406-05:002017-03-19T14:16:45.406-05:00Mea culpa! The sentence regarding our first parent...Mea culpa! The sentence regarding our first parent should have includedl "only single solitary tree and its fruit." Again, mea culpa.jbhttp://duncanoflorn.wordpress.com.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-30409624332403239222017-03-19T14:08:57.324-05:002017-03-19T14:08:57.324-05:00Given the current pope, and his immediate predeces...Given the current pope, and his immediate predecessor who clearl;y stated the the primary focus of Trent - Transubstantiation - could and should be still proclaimed through the Lain Rite . . .<br /><br />And given the 5/2/CoWo/Church Growth mentality that threatens the sacramentals, AND the Sacraments, there can be no ignoring or putting in the past that which is alive and in our midst. (<em>I hate Jean Cauvin!</em>). . .<br /><br />It is clear that leaving it "back there," or cutting it some slack, are impossible.`And to know that the RCC and the entire reformed bowl of pottage which has amputated the Sacraments, is alive and well among us, cannot be permitted to exist in <em>our</em> midst.<br /><br />We do not determine content, and abridge and adjust it as we see fit, but rather, to defend it tenaciously. Unfortunately, we do not want to be seen as hard-asses. That would turn potential evangelism efforts much harder. If that is the case, bet on it, you are following the wrong evangelism model. The devil had all of creation from which to chose, but he hooked our first parents and plunged them, and all of us, into this fore-running of hell, on earth.<br /><br />The Gospel - Word and the Mysteries, convey the only possible antidote, and all, always in Christ. Which was always, always, always Luther's primary focus.<br /><br />Let us never, ever delude ourselves!<br />jbhttp://duncanoflorn.wordpress.com.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-84199576695377307142017-03-19T08:27:55.843-05:002017-03-19T08:27:55.843-05:00The similarities and differences between Lutherani...The similarities and differences between Lutheranism and Catholicism are radical, even though there is a prior relationship and some residual effects. Remember that the Counter Reformation and the Peasants War in Germany succeeded in driving half of the population back to Catholicism, and the religious wars between Catholics and Lutherans were divisive, and polarizing. In my view, the historical bloody religious wars and persecutions between Christians against other Christians on the basis of doctrinal positions have hurt the church within and without. Some hold animosity against Christians in general for our religious wars, and for events like the Salem witch trials and other inhumane excesses not befitting followers of Christ. Is it a small wonder why some denominations were formed before and after the Reformation in response to the hypocrisy and bickering of the Christian body on earth? I am a Lutheran. I do not desire to look back at the Catholic Church from which we came. It is a heretical body with many false teachings. I care little about the arguments, or the resudues of Catholicism remaining. I think we need to get past these things and avoid contentions continually.John Joseph Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06596324816480709495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6329600504016968888.post-88604697352545797322017-03-19T07:15:22.319-05:002017-03-19T07:15:22.319-05:00Let's be fair to our opponents. The term "...Let's be fair to our opponents. The term "Radical Reformation" is reserved for the Anabaptists, Socinians, and their ilk. Given that Zwingli called for the abolition of infant baptism and, like many of the earliest Anabaptists, was willing to take up arms for the faith, I can see how Zwingli is somewhat rightly associated with the Radical Reformation. But Calvin and Bullinger? They thought that they had repudiated Zwingli's excesses and were in fundamental agreement with the Augsburg Confession. Many self-professed Lutherans in post-Luther Wittenberg and in the Prussian court agreed. It took a lot of theological work, culminating in the Formula of Concord, to show that Calvinism was not a variant of Augsburg-style Lutheranism.<br /><br />We Lutherans don't like it when Roman Catholics lump us together with anyone who is not Roman Catholic and ascribe to us the views of Pentecostals or Baptists. I think we need to show the same charity and clarity toward others. Thus, you are right to point out that the Reformed have a different understanding of the sermon than we do. But you don't have to lump them in with the old-order Amish in order to make that distinction.James Kellermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13159737422545602449noreply@blogger.com