#Religious Reform

[tmarshconnors]

*A pastor who fails to deal with sin is like a doctor who fails to deal with illness. You better find another one."

Martin Luther OSA was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation, and his theological beliefs form the basis of Lutheranism. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Western and Christian history. 

Nailed the 95 Theses: Martin Luther is best known for his 95 Theses, which he is said to have nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. This act is commonly considered the starting point of the Protestant Reformation, challenging the Catholic Church's practices, particularly the sale of indulgences.

Excommunicated and Outlawed: In 1521, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X and declared an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms. Despite this, he continued to promote his reforms and translated the Bible into German, making it more accessible to the common people.

Translation of the Bible: Luther translated the Bible into German, starting with the New Testament in 1522 and completing the Old Testament in 1534. His translation played a significant role in shaping the German language and making the Scriptures accessible to a broader audience.

Theological Contributions: Luther's theology emphasized key doctrines such as justification by faith alone (sola fide), the authority of Scripture alone (sola scriptura), and the priesthood of all believers. These ideas were foundational to the development of Protestantism.

Lutheranism: Martin Luther’s teachings and reforms led to the establishment of the Lutheran Church, one of the major branches of Protestantism. His followers, known as Lutherans, continued to develop his theological insights and build upon his reforming work, influencing the course of Christian history.

[finalilluminationsofholiness]

Hello i am the lord uriM Of The LORD my God To Whom i prostrate In Obedience To The Everlasting ILLUMINATION Of The Words

Please

[glitteredbubbles]

Mary Oliver / Ethel Cain / Tony Kushner / Reyna N.A. / Frank Bidart / First Reformed / avainblue

Religious trauma collection

[worfsbarmitzvah]

there’s such an attitude among ex-christian atheists that religions just spring up out of the void with no cultural context behind them. like ive heard people say shit like “those (((zionists))) think they own a piece of land bc their book of fairy tales told them so!!!” and they refuse to understand that no, we don’t belong there because of the torah, it’s in the torah because we belong there. because we’re from there. the torah (from a reform perspective) was written by ancient jews in and about the land that they were actively living on at the time. the torah contains instructions for agriculture because the people who lived in the land needed a way to teach their children how to care for it. it contains laws of jurisprudence because those are pretty important to have when you’re trying to run a society. same for the parts that talk about city planning. it contains our national origin story for the same reason that american schools teach kids about the boston tea party. it’s an extremely complex and fascinating text that is the furthest thing from just a “book of fairy tales”

[anistarrose]

I think when a lot of queer people who aspire to marriage, and remember (rightly) fighting for the right to marriage, see queer people who don't want marriage, talking about not entering or even reforming or abolishing marriage, there's an assumption I can't fault anyone for having ��� because it's an assumption borne of trauma — that queers who aren't big on marriage are inadvertently or purposefully going to either foolishly deprive themselves of rights, or dangerously deprive everyone of the rights associated with marriage. But that's markedly untrue. We only want rights to stop being locked behind marriages. We want an end to discrimination against the unmarried.

We want a multitude of rights for polyamorous relationships. We want ways to fully recognize and extend rights to non-romantic and/or non-sexual unions, including but not limited to QPRs, in a setting distinct from the one that (modern) history has spent so long conflating with romance and sex in a way that makes many of us so deeply uncomfortable. And many of us are also disabled queers who are furious about marriage stripping the disabled of all benefits.

We want options to co-parent, and retain legal rights to see children, that extends to more than two people, and by necessity, to non-biological parents (which, by the way, hasn't always automatically followed from same-gender marriage equality even in places where said equality nominally exists. Our struggles are not as different as you think). We would like for (found or biological) family members and siblings to co-habitate as equal members of a household, perhaps even with pooled finances or engaging in aforementioned co-parenting, without anyone trying to fit the dynamic into a "marriage-shaped box" and assume it's incestuous. We want options to leave either marriages, or alternative agreements, that are less onerous than divorce proceedings have historically been.

I can't speak for every person who does not want to marry, but on average, spurning marriage is not a choice we make lightly. We are deeply, deeply aware of the benefits that only marriage can currently provide. And we do not take that information lightly. We demand better.

Now, talking about the benefits of marriage in respective countries' current legal frameworks, so that all people can make choices from an informed place, is all well and good — but is not an appropriate response to someone saying they are uncomfortable with marriage. There are people for whom entering a marriage, with all its associated norms, expectations, and baggage, would feel like a betrayal of one's self and authenticity that would shake them to their core — and every day, I struggle to unpack if I'm one of them or not. If I want to marry for tax benefits, or not. If that's worth the risk of losing disability benefits, in the (very plausible) possibility that I have to apply for them later in life. If that's worth the emotional burden of having to explain over and over, to both well-meaning and deeply conservative family members, that this relationship is not one of romance or sex. (Because, god, trying just to explain aromanticism or asexuality in a world that broadly thinks they're "fake" is emotional labor enough.)

Marriage is a fundamental alteration to who I am, to what rights an ableist government grants me, and to how I am perceived. I don't criticize the institution just because I enjoy a "free spirit" aesthetic or think the wedding industry is annoying, or whatever.

[vox-anglosphere]

Queen Mary I

[sunkissedliterarylightofchrist]

Reminder that the death penalty is highly unethical and should be completely and totally abolished with no exceptions.

[my-sacred-art-2]

Monica Bellucci (Italian, born September 20, 1964).

Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, 1627. Domenico Passignano (Italian, Florence, 1559 - 1638).

Minneapolis Institute of Art.

[scotianostra]

On November 24th 1572, John Knox, the leading light of the Scottish Reformation, died.

Say what you like about the man, but he is an integral part of our story, the exact place and date of his birth is not known with certainty, but it is generally accepted to be Giffordgate, near Haddington, East Lothian in either 1513 or 1514. Knox’s father, a farmer is said to have been amongst those slain at Flodden, around the time of his birth, but really we have no way of knowing this, born of a humble family, records of which are scant, another source tells us that his family stood in feudal relationship for The Earls of Bothwell and one of his forebears was killed at The Battle of Sauchieburn, where James III was killed.

The name “John Knox” is first recorded among the records of the University of Glasgow, where Knox enrolled in 1522. There, he is stated to have studied under John Major, one of the greatest scholars of his time. Major was at Glasgow in 1522 and at St. Andrews in 1531. How long John Knox remained at college is uncertain. He was ordained to the priesthood at some date prior to 1540, when his status as a priest is first mentioned.

By 1547, Knox was preaching at St. Andrews. When the French attacked a Scottish castle to quell a Protestant uprising there, Knox was captured and then spent nineteen months as a slave in France. After his release, Knox returned to Scotland and began his attacks upon the Catholic Mass, writing his tract A Vindication That the Mass Is Idolatry. His work in Scotland was put on hold, however, when the Catholic Mary Tudor ascended to the English throne. Her coronation and reign as “Bloody Mary” drove Knox from England, sending him to Europe where he travelled to Geneva and met John Calvin, who further instructed him in Reformed theology. Knox eventually left Geneva to pastor the English refugee church in Frankfurt, Germany.

Knox returned to Scotland in 1555, only to be driven out by persecution the next year. Returning to Geneva, Knox accepted a call to pastor the English church there. During this time, Knox offered his best-known contribution to the Reformation. Until Knox, and for some time afterward, the Reformers believed that a Christian must always live in submission to secular authorities. From Romans 13, they reasoned the King (or Queen) was established by God and, therefore, must be obeyed. Even wicked monarchs were to be obeyed, insofar as their commands didn’t violate Scripture. For Knox, this unquestioning obedience was unacceptable.

His experience and witness to persecution along with his view of idolatry led Knox to disagree with the prevailing view of subjugation to the throne. Focusing upon the Old Testament, Knox came to a different conclusion. Central to Knox’s position were the prophets and their insistence upon purifying the nation of Israel from idolatry. For Knox, the implications were obvious: just as Christians could not obey wicked laws, they should not submit to wicked rulers. In his mind the Catholic Mass was idolatry, and, therefore, the Catholic was an idolater. Any Catholic monarch—such as Queen Mary I—was, therefore, an idolatrous and wicked ruler. Christians should not submit to such rulers but oppose them.

Returning to Scotland in 1559, Knox led the Reforming party of Scotland. He continued to promote reformation and raised troops to assist in that goal. Over the last thirteen years of his life, Knox passionately fought for reform in Scotland and opposed the Catholic Church and Catholic rulers. Despite Knox’s hard work, his goal was not realized until after his death in 1572.

The statue in the pic is at New College Edinburgh that I took a couple of weeks ago. Knox's grave is now under a car park in Parliament Square Edinburgh.

[aesthetictheology]

I'm really enjoying this book by R.C. Sproul, and the opportunity to learn about the classical reformed perspective.

Also, my latte yesterday was beautiful. Baristas rock.

[gxlden-angels]

As you all know, I was raised in one of those wack ass "non-denominational" pentecostal churches. I was always taught anyone not pentecostal/baptist/methodist or within that realm weren't actually christians. Essentially, if your group had a Name™️ like Mormons, JWs, Catholics, etc. then u were that group, not "[That Group] Christians"

[tmarshconnors]

"Faith is the gift of God, and cannot be wrought in the hearts of men by any power of man, but only by the Holy Ghost."

Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. 

Born: 2 July 1489, Aslockton, England

Died: 21 March 1556 (age 66 years), Oxford, England

Archbishop of Canterbury: Cranmer served as the Archbishop of Canterbury, the highest religious office in the Church of England, from 1533 until his death in 1556. He played a pivotal role in the English Reformation, promoting the break from the authority of the Pope and establishing the Church of England as a separate entity from the Roman Catholic Church.

Author of the Book of Common Prayer: Cranmer is perhaps best known for his work on the Book of Common Prayer, which was first published in 1549 during the reign of King Edward VI. This book provided a standardized form of worship in English, making religious services more accessible to the general population and promoting uniformity in worship practices within the Church of England.

Supporter of Henry VIII's Divorce: Cranmer played a key role in King Henry VIII's efforts to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. He provided theological and legal arguments supporting the annulment, which ultimately led to the English Reformation and the establishment of the Church of England separate from papal authority.

Martyrdom: Despite his prominence during the reign of Henry VIII and Edward VI, Cranmer's fortunes changed dramatically during the reign of Queen Mary I, a staunch Catholic. He was arrested, tried for heresy, and ultimately convicted. On March 21, 1556, Cranmer was burned at the stake as a heretic. His final recantation, where he renounced his earlier Protestant beliefs, is often cited as one of the most dramatic moments of the English Reformation.

Influence on English Protestantism: Cranmer's theological writings and liturgical reforms had a lasting impact on English Protestantism. His emphasis on Scripture, justification by faith, and the primacy of individual conscience over papal authority laid the groundwork for the development of Anglicanism as a distinct branch of Christianity. Despite his tragic end, Cranmer's legacy continues to shape the beliefs and practices of Anglicans worldwide.

[secular-jew]

Is Israel secular?

Citizens of Israel are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze, Hindu, Sikh, atheist and agnostic, religious and secular, straight, gay, trans, and everything in between. Have you never been to Israel? Maybe go to Israekl and learn for yourself instead of asking dumb questions.

[thepeopleinpower]

Capitalism and colonialism took community away from us and I want it back. I’ve heard about it from my grandparents and in books and articles online. All throughout history and still today in some parts of the world. People looking out for each other. Regularly. Relentlessly. Neighbors watching each others children, having enough food to share and actually sharing it, being invested in each others lives because everyone has different strengths.

Today community has been strategically painted as a weakness and something to be skeptical of because it is a threat to the very foundations of capitalism. And that’s a real fucking shame because in reality, growing up with community and still having that through adulthood would probably make most people generally happier and less perpetually tired and stressed. It is renewable resilient versatile adaptable self-sustaining and kind of the Ultimate Resource.

[thatnerdyqueer]

it's so funny when you think about activism and solidarity coming from the weirdest places, but then you remember, the concept of 'weird' is kind of defined by who's in power and then it makes sense

[sistersorrow]

Something in 40k which I find interesting, very funny, and also both realistic but a really weird worlbuilding choice for a setting that is meant to be at least somewhat satirical is that the Imperial Cult of the Imperium of Man is in many ways more tolerant of heterodoxy than the real world Catholic Church