Friday, October 17, 2008

An Email to My Mother

So, you said to check out why Luther left the Catholic church.... I'm not sure why he left, but apparently he agreed w/ them on the immaculate conception of Mary, her perpetual virginity, and the real substance of the Eucharist. Three of the things I have the hardest time accepting. Check out these quotes. Cited for your comfort. (Like reading a THE Protestant reformer cite Catholic doctrine is going to be comforting! Haha..) Love ya. ;-)

"Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that." {Luther's Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) & Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }
"Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers." {Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }

"It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin." (Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," 1527).

"She is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin- something exceedingly great. For God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil." (Personal {"Little"} Prayer Book, 1522).
In 1529 Martin Luther engaged the question of transubstantiation in the famous conference at Marburg with Zwingli and other Swiss theologians; he maintained his view that Christ is present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.


If you want to really get crazy, read the quotes below from a couple other Protestant "reformers" that you may recognize....

"Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ's 'brothers' are sometimes mentioned." - John Calvin, {Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. 2 / From Calvin's Commentaries, tr. William Pringle, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949, p.215; on Matthew 13:55}

"I have never thought, still less taught, or declared publicly, anything concerning the subject of the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of our salvation, which could be considered dishonourable, impious, unworthy or evil . . . I believe with all my heart according to the word of holy gospel that this pure virgin bore for us the Son of God and that she remained, in the birth and after it, a pure and unsullied virgin, for eternity." - Huldreich Zwingli, {Thurian, ibid., p.76 / The Perpetual Virginity of Mary . . ., Sep. 17, 1522}

"The Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as when she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin." - John Wesley, {"Letter to a Roman Catholic" / In This Rock, Nov. 1990, p.25}

Anyways... Like I said, pray for me. Love ya,


PS.. Here's a copy of Luther's 95 Theses if you want to read them. Link.

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