Using the patriarch Abraham as a reference he shows that even Abraham was not justified by his own actions, but by faith alone. It was his faith, the yielding of his heart, and resulting justification that came before he was circumcised. Throughout the letter we see the state of man, and find that the solution is not to simply be a better person, but to submit totally to the will of God, and accept the blood of Jesus in faith, knowing that it is by faith that we are saved (Romans 5:1). The Natural World Paul teaches us that we are to worship the creator, not the created. In his description of the foolish actions of mankind, he tells of how in their folly men traded the glory of God for images of their own creation designed to look like men, birds, and animals (Romans 1:22 & 23).
Gregory VII saw these offenses, how they were tearing away at the church as a whole, and wanted to abolish these practices. It was through the reform and purification that then led to a more organized church, with a strong hand placed firmly on the ruling class of the medieval era. In 325 AD the Council of Nicaea forbade marriage and concubinage among the lower ranks of the clergy, which were still customary too much of the Western church. The reform of the 11th century was determined to eliminate this behavior at all costs. While Pope Gregory VII did not introduce the celibacy of the priesthood into the Church, he did take up the fight against the indecency with greater energy unlike his predecessors.
We must stop running after the accumulation of worthless religious "things" and find our satisfaction in the Person of Christ. Nee claims that this proves we miss the point of Christianity altogether in our prayers for "gifts" as if they were something separate from the Person of Christ. He writes, "Christianity is not reward, neither is it what Christ gives to me. Christianity is none other than Christ himself." The Person of Christ is what we really seek.
Luther believed that all believers should abide by the words of ‘our Lord and Master Jesus Christ” and repent of our sins (Morris, 1998, p. 56). The problem Luther had with the Catholic Church and the priests specifically was the use of the word of God as a sacramental penance, rather than a real act of repentance from the heart intending to change the behavior of the man (Lohse, 1998, p. 4). Luther demands that the inward changes be reflected by the outward actions that the world can see (Lohse, 1998, p. 4). If one is harsh to others outwardly, their inward harshness is just as readily seen. Man must see their repulsion to sin must continue or
Martin Luther Timeline 1517 – Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle church. The Theses contained attacks on the papal abuse and the abuse of indulgences. 1518 – After Luther refused to take back what he had said, Pope Leo X restated the Church’s beliefs on indulgences and also criticized Luther’s ideas. 1519 – Luther wrote to Pope Leo X, making sure he understood it was not his intention to question the power of the Pope or Church. The Luther-Rome dispute began to grow.
This Council forbid priests from marrying, and was once again brought up in the Council of Trent in 1563 (History News Network). Priestly celibacy is an institution that put several things into focus for a priest’s life. They become focused on the Church and Christ instead of being caught up in problems with family. Also, by not having a family, the priest’s savings would not go to family, but would instead go back to the Church. Celibacy is supported in Scripture and shows how the lives of some of the greatest Christian leaders were celibate.
Despite all of Innocent’s lofty views of himself he still maintained a pious and clear mind. Innocent also believed that the Pope should have ultimate control over the crusades and did not want state governments or the Kings to get too much involved in the crusades. Hans Eberhard Mayer tells of Innocent III and his involvement (or un-involvement, as we later find out) in his book The Crusades. He tells how Innocent sent letters to the clergy instead of kings and governors to help rally support for the crusades. This prompted the clergy to preach that the crusades were for the poor and lowly and no longer for just anybody.
He basically degrades the entire Bible by saying that there is no fact in the world and everything is an interpretation. He claims the truth is unnecessary to be spoken because it is only necessary to speak the truth when the untruth is so false that it can be detected. Nietzsche shares his belief that a human’s life is 100% controlled by the individual and all success should be credited to that individual. Then he disrespects all Christians by claiming they are a species of weak failures looking for pity that shall parish to the strong-willed all-powerful being. I strongly disagree with almost everything Fredrick Nietzsche writes about in this section of the reading.
Luther spoke out against clerical celibacy, papal abuses, salvation by works, and other Catholic doctrines. Luther proves to be the better reformer because of his full commitment to reformation. He did not involve himself with the teachings and rituals of the Catholics, within his writings and words he tore down what he found corrupt. Erasmus on the other hand was a Catholic priest, even though he wanted to reform, there was still a part that did not want to fight the church upfront because of his role. Erasmus tried to find a middle road approach, but this only disappointed scholars from both sides.
This is where we have fallen apart as a Church, we are not moving. If we are Christ's resurrection has not been preached, we are not praying, and we refuse to act like Christ then Christianity is a huge joke. If we are God's children that means something is wrong! We are morally corrupted and we need the Gospel as much as everybody else needs to hear it. It brings us back to the excuses, we all have told an excuse to God to either not believe or not telling