#lutherans

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

John Ylvisaker (editor) - Songs for Saints - Concordia - 1976 (The Lutheran Church/Missouri Synod)

[transpondster]

via EV Grieve: Ashes to ashes: A to-go twist on Ash Wednesday

After my mom died, I went into St. Thomas Church at 53rd & 5th on Ash Wednesday. When I walked out I realized it was an Episcopalian church so I thought, “Great. Now I have Protestant ashes on my head.” And that meant I had to walk 3 more blocks south to St. Patricks, stand in line, and do it all again, or I thought my mom would be disappointed. But now, in hindsight, I’m sure she was just laughing at my ridiculousness.

Also, St. Thomas should have better signage, telling people it’s an Episcopalian church, so people don’t make the mistake I made. If I can help just one person avoid that, I’m very pleased with myself.

But I always like seeing ashes on foreheads in New York. Not so much for religious reasons at all. It’s just a nice tradition one day out of the year. You don’t really see it in other cities much, though I would guess Boston and Chicago see their fair share of ashed-up foreheads. But so many people are out and walking in New York, and they go into their offices without a second thought.

[wtffundiefamilies]

[globalchristendom]

Reverend Vijaya Ranga Chokkanatha Aaron, an 18th-century Tamil pastor, was the first Indian Lutheran pastor in history.

[minervacasterly]

One of the greatest misconceptions of the Protestant Reformation is that Martin Luther, being the face of this movement, supported every Protestant movement across Christendom. Nothing can be further from the truth. In his book, Eric Metaxas, leaves it clear how Martin Luther’s intention was never to lead the flock astray from the Church that Saint Peter built but rather return it to its pre-Council of Nicea origins. He truly believed, as many have for nearly two thousand years, that he was the rock upon which his church will be built. This comes directly from scripture:

“Upon this rock, I will build my church.” (Matthew 16: 13-19)

Regardless of which translation you use, or to which Christian denomination you belong to, what Jesus says here to Peter is clear as day. However, some have argued that it is not meant to be taken literally. Like many things in the bible, it is open to interpretation.

With this being stated, where else did Luther differ from other Protestants? If I were to give you a full list, it would comprise a full book. Even doing a 101 would mean doing a VERY LONG post. So I will keep it short by giving the easiest (yet popularly unknown) example:

Anabaptists.

That is all you need to know. If you are still baffled as to why Luther would be against them of all people, you have to remember what Luther believed, before AND after he broke away from his religious schism. The more the Catholic Church pushed back against him, the more disenchanted he became until he was pushed into a corner and he realized the only way to survive was to surround himself was aligning with the interests of his wealthy sponsors. Some of the German Princes who supported Luther did believe in his cause but there was also an ulterior motive as to why they supported him. His writings meant that they’d no longer be in bondage to the higher echelons in the Church. They would be free to tax and have free reign over terrestrial and spiritual domains.

But some Protestants did not like this concept. They thought that they needed to go further. Some of these splinter groups did not (initially) spoke out against Luther. They simply wanted to go their own way but Luther felt that the only way for his movement to be safe was to have a united front. Dissention (aka disagreement) was out of the question. So what did he do? He persecuted them. Their response: Just like Luther had been pushed into a corner, they pushed back and called him no better than the Catholic Bishops he rebelled against. The final outcome was an even more violent pushback against them where Luther spoke out IN FAVOR of Catholic persecution of these groups. Of all of them, the ones he hated the most were the Anabaptists. They were called as such because they did not believe in infant baptism. The argument behind this is that to fully accept the covenant with Christ, you have to be fully aware and within your mental capabilities. Infants cannot decide for themselves, therefore, they have to be older when they decide they want to be part of his flock. If an infant were to die BEFORE the age of consent, then he or she is automatically sent to heaven. They often quoted from the New Testament, from the four main gospels, where Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is closely tied to children. Till this day, there are other Christian denominations (among them the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, Pentecostals, Revivalists, Seventh Day Adventists, Evangelical Free Churches, and Jehova’s Witnesses) that do not practice infant baptism.

With this being stated, you’d think a man who wanted to return to simpler times and was against the suppression of godly choice, would let Anabaptists live and let live, or be an open mind regarding their view on baptism. But you thought wrong. Luther went a full 180 on them. From being the oppressed, he and his followers became full oppressors. Just like the Council of Nicea and the Catholic Church over a thousand years prior, he wanted a form of Christianity that stood for national and spiritual unity. Anything that stood in the way of this progress had to be stamped out.

[authortobenamedlater]

Now we’re on the next episode.

That “may the Force be with you” “and also with you” line was just for the Lutherans and Catholics in the audience.

[twiststreet]

It’s the newly restored “lost” film by the late, great horror legend George A. Romero, a PSA he made in 1973 as a job for a Lutheran charity. Upon seeing it, their members were so horrified they ensured it would never see the light of day — until now. [...] According to his widow, Suzanne Desrocher-Romero — who introduced the belatedly restored version of The Amusement Park at MoMA’s annual restoration fest To Save and Project — Romero casually screened a personal copy of the PSA for his family not long before his death. They were flabbergasted. Why had he kept one of his masterpieces a secret? He shrugged; to him, it was just some odd, old job. They knew it was more than that, and they set about scrubbing it clean for public view.

There’s a new George Romero movie???  2020 has now officially reached the point of “When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.”  

[revgmh]