Ok priest aside, a lot of Catholics on various forums say that Catholicism is the truth, too. I see how huge it is, compared to other denominations and wonder if they know something I don’t. LOL.
I think many in ALL denominations, sects and cults believe that there's is right. Just don't shock me too much. IF we were to follow all those who say "I'm right" we'd be going in a lot of directions.
Please tell me about what you cherish about Lutheranism (if you already did, tell me again when you’ve got the time).
Here's a quick list, off the top of my head, in no particular order. Perhaps the other LCMS folks could chime in (in a thread about that)....
1. Humility.... mystery.... respect.
In Lutheranism, there is a deep respect for what God says and a cooresponding humility in what we theorize. Great attention is given to what God said (the very, verbatim words as opposed to some where it's "what I think God meant to say, what I think God means"). And a willingness to stop there. "God gets the last word" as my doctrine prof stressed. Lutherans are okay with tensions, paradoxy, mysteries..... okay with saying "I don't really understand this.... I don't know how this cranks out." Catholicism is very much influenced by Plato, Aristotle, Alchemy, various philosophies... Lutherans are not opposed to philosophy per se but don't form dogma out of such and handle it carefully; Lutherans sometimes "blame" medieval Catholic Scholasticism with much of the reason for the needed reforms, scholasticism being an attempt to merge theology with philosophy. Zwingli (Evangelicalism) and Reformed (post Calvin Calvinism) are both heavily influence by human reason, logic and medieval science with their emphasis on what "cannot be true" and formation of purely logical constructs ("Since A is true and B is true therefore C
must be true" Even though the Bible flat out says it's not)
2 Lutheranism is very CHRIST-Centered, very GOSPEL centered.
To me, this was
THE most striking thing I noted about Lutheranism when I first began to visit, as a former Catholic. Christ is everywhere! All over the worship service, the hymns, the liturgy, and especially the sermon. Not self. Not the denomination. THE key, central doctrine - Luther insisted - is Justification (what many Protestants mean by "Salvation"), Christ, the Cross, the Resurrection. The emphasis (almost obsession!!!) is on Christ as THE Savior. These two points are combined in a great summery of Lutheranism known as "The Theology of the Cross"
3 Reform - not Revolt, Tradition - not Reconstruction.
The Lutheran Reformation was a conservative one. While the polemics became increasingly horrible (on all sides) as the Reformation developed, Luther respected Christianity, he held the Early Church Fathers in high esteem, he honored and submitted to the Seven Ecumenical Councils and the ancient Ecumenical Creeds.... he was a student of Christian history and stated he would gladly submit all he believed to an Ecumenical Council (although he knew such a Council was sadly impossible). Luther saw a few things that needed REFORM or correction (many of which most Catholics ALSO thought needed correction). But he had no desire to throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater, to throw away 1500 years of faith, to reinvent the wheel. What NEEDED correction (to bring back in line with Scripture and faith) should be.... what MORAL sins needed to be corrected (read about the popes of that day?) should be. But MUCH of what was believed was true and good and sound.... and much of what was practiced was good. Much the same could be said of the Anglican (English) Reformation, although less so. And to some degree of Calvin's thought much less so. These are sometimes called the "Conservative" or "First Wave" or "Magisterial" REFORMATION But then came Zwingli and the Anabaptists movements - they were rebellions, revolutions, reinventions, repudiations of 1500 years of Christianity (although in truth they kept a lot more than they cared to admit). As I read Scripture (including my name sake in the OT), I see that REFORM is often needed as error and corruption can creep into the community of faith, but I reject the radical movements such as Zwinglis, the Anabaptists and the various Reconstructionists movements (LDS, etc., etc.) Lutherans kept was is good.... reformed what needed to be.... and only tossed out what was clearly unbiblical or undermined the Gospel.
4. An Embrace of Community and Accountability.
While the very adjective "catholic" means "all of us" "universal" "whole" it seems to ME that The Roman Catholic Church is very, very much all wrapped up in itself. Catholic this, Catholic that.... in my Catholic days, I noted how some in that church can't seem to say a full sentence about their faith without mentioning their individual denomination. Lutherans (in typical Protestant fashion) hold that ALL CHRISTIANS are the church, ALL Christians are the people of God, ALL Christians are the children of God. Jesus is the Lord of His Church (He never retired or handed over His job to some dude). It's not about Lutherans, it's about JESUS. We embrace one, holy, catholic church - the community of believers. We have nothing at all against Christians assembling at a given place and time (congregations) - indeed, that's very biblical. And we have nothing against the tradition of congregations cooperating with others in denominations - and perhaps submitting to the accountability of such (accountability is regarded as essential). Lutherans are not so comfortable with "I think, I feel, I did" and more comfortable with "Christianity believes, WE think." It's more "Jesus and WE than Jesus and ME" (pardon the grammar) when it comes to doctrine. Lutherans study church history, the Fathers, the Councils....
Luther passionately rejected that ANY person (save Jesus!), ANY congregation, ANY denomination can simply declare himself/itself to be infallible, unaccountable, the "Mouth of God" or even equate self with Jesus Himself (Indeed, many believe Luther was excommunicated because he held to that). The Lutheran Principle of Sola Scriptura which says that what a person/congregation'/denomination says as dogma is ACCOUNTABLE to the verbatim words of God in Scripture - he/it is not equal to such or above such or simply unaccountable if self says that self can't be wrong. This too was a major reason for Luther's excommunication, the Catholic Church was very angered by that principle. This applies to tradition, as well - which is UNDER Scripture, not ABOVE it.
Part of this accountability and community, as well as "let Scripture have the last word" is the "Law/Gospel" distictive. In doctrine and issues of morality, the Bible MAY seem to differ - even contradict at times - but what we have is different CONTEXT. Sometimes, we have LAW (God's will, God's justice) and sometimes we have GOSPEL (God's heart, God's grace and mercy). The context and application is critical. This hermaneutical principle is important in Lutheranism (you can see it here at CH in discussions of "Once Saved, Always Saved" and Justification, etc.).
5. Simple.
Rick Steeves (he has all those European travel programs and books) says he's a Lutheran because "they believe in traveling light." He used the analogy of how he packs for a trip - with what's needed, and said his faith is like that. While Lutheranism is not simplistic, there is a emphasis on key things. Luther's Small Catechism is perhaps 10 pages long (and half that isn't doctrine), my Catholic Catechism is 800 pages long. Tells you something. Now, there's a RICH mine of gold in Lutheran theology but we still pack light. Lutherans themselves are sometimes surprised to hear their pastor say, "Well actually Lutheranism is silent on that" (but he may well go on to share HIS fallible, non-binding opinion, lol).
This video is helpful....
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. [just kidding]
