"He that adds to the words of this book......"
Martin Luther translated the Bible into German language of the common folks. He actually accomplished this feat in about 11 weeks while holed up in a friend's castle. (Things were starting to heat up in Germany as his theological protestations took on political overtones. The country was in turmoil so his friends suggested he keep a low profile)
Meanwhile back at the castle.... This was not the first translation of the Bible into German but has been the most well known. He was truly gifted with the ability to make the translation "sing" in the Germanic tongue. However, aside from changing the original Canon of Scripture, he also took liberties in translating scripture to accomodate his doctrinal bent. One of the most prominent translational issues was in Romans 3:28. Martin added the word "solus" or alone after the word "faith."
This became the rallying cry of the reformers, "Faith Alone"/Sola Fide! In actuality, the only time "Faith Alone" is used in the unadulterated scripture is back to Old Jimmy (James 2)
"Man is justified by works and not faith alone"
I can see Martin now, warming himself by the old stove in the cold German winter. The icy winds of reformation blowing through the cracks in the castle walls threatening to extinguish the candle light he was working by. Suddenly, an idea for a new hymn came to mind. He called it "Jimmy in the Stove". This hymn however never made it on the charts the way "A Mighty Fortress" did.
I have found the only extant copy of this hymn he started writing as he was translating the Bible into German (again).
Let's throw Jimmy in the stove
Let’s toss Jimmy in the stove
This castles' getting colder and we're saved by "faith alone"
So let’s toss Jimmy in the stove
Let’s toss Jimmy in the stove
This castles' getting colder and we're saved by "faith alone"
So let’s toss Jimmy in the stove
Let’s tear out the book of Maccabees
Let's get rid of the book of Maccabees
It was written by the Jews and it proves "pugatry"
So let's burn the books of Maccabees*
Let's get rid of the book of Maccabees
It was written by the Jews and it proves "pugatry"
So let's burn the books of Maccabees*
*Copyright 1534 Epistle of Straw Music
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 8:37 AM
7 Comments:
You're right..too bad my Works are better than yours...sorry you aren't getting in! Paul writes more about faith than this one Roman verse..and you're attack on Luther is weak...too bad you've been brainwashed by the Chruch of BABYLON...go do you're works...and find out if faith matters or not!
The above comment illustrates my point that I blogged previously about. Folks hear the words "Catholic Church" and immediately claim "Babylon ,whore of Babylon" without responding in a calm manner to historical facts. I don't
understand why folks would throw away 1500 years of church history to follow the teaching of a gentleman who felt that he could re-write the Bible his way and insert words and delete books to justify his doctrines. Crying out "Whore of Babylon" is not the intellectual argument that I was hoping to see here. I really want to know. Are folks comfortable having as their "pope" a gentleman who added to the words of Scripture as the book of Revelation warns about? I am just asking someone out there to show me where the Bible says "faith alone". I'll end this lttle rant of mine with Scripture from Jimmy: "Show me your faith apart from your works and I will show you my faith by my works." James 2:18
Only Christ's sacrifice opens the way for us to get to heaven but as Paul said we are asked to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Any works we do are through the grace of God anyway. I will never be good enough to get to Heaven without Christ's once and for all sacrifice on the Cross. Makes sense to me and thanks for writing! Please come and comment as often as you feel led.
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Martin Luther desired to remove the book of Revelation from the Bible. It strikes me as a bit odd that one who wishes to defend Luther's self-assumed claim of authority to edit scripture would appropriate and mis-apply text from that book.
As were the Benedictine and Franciscan reformations, the Lutheran call to reform was (and is) a righteous call. Unfortunately, the zeitgeist of Luther's day was one of a headstrong self-reliance maintained through resistance to criticism.
Nevertheless, neither Luther's righteous call, nor the resistance of Church leaders to hearing it, gave Luther authority to edit scripture.
"I will never be good enough to get to Heaven without Christ's once and for all sacrifice on the Cross."
That's all you needed to say...so stick with that fundamental Christian truth and leave the other James comments aside...start with this truth and then talk about James..and I may be interested in hearing your opinions.
I assume that when you write, "...stick with that fundamental Christian truth and leave the other James comments aside," you do not mean to say that Holy Scripture (James' epistle included) does not contain fundamental Christian truth.
If I understand you correctly, your concern centers around being assured that no authority, doctrine, philosophy, teaching or practice that purports to be Christian, should deny or even fail to acknowledge the full redemptive power that is *unique* to Jesus' sacrifice: that universal sacrifice being made once and for all.
To very roughly sum up Pope Gregory I:
Nothing less and nothing more than the perfect sacrifice of He who is fully Man and fully God could atone for sin. All else and all others would by their limited nature (if nothing else) fall short of God's infinite glory. Nothing less and nothing more than the infinite could span the gap between the limitless righteousness of Heaven and our merely human (and necessarily finite) righteousness. His was and is the infinite sacrifice. In His dying He destroyed Death. In His rising, He restored life; and this, His perfect, infinite and therefore Eternal Sacrifice has potency enough for all and for all time.
I hope this helps clarify things a bit.
Just to avoid any misunderstanding:
The words above are not Pope Gregory's words, but my own humble and rough summary of his Christology.
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