Reformation

Modern Cloister: God’s Glory Alone

/ J.K. / Leave a comment

This is our last episode in the Five Solas Series. If you are just catching this on for the first time, this Sola functions almost like a summary of the previous three, so if you like what you hear, please go back through and listen for a deeper dive (plus our other two episodes, what lead to the Reformation and Sola Scripture, which means we hold Scripture as our final authority). Ultimately, we are saved by God to His Glory alone. Listen below, find us on YouTube and wherever podcasts are found, or listen on our home page at Modern Cloister.

Modern Cloister: Scripture Alone

/ J.K. / Leave a comment

If you haven’t listened to the into episode, please listen there first. We try to get a chunk of history out of the way, so we don’t have to cover it on each episode. I think it does a pretty nice job of giving the historical setting and helping the listener understand the need for the Reformation. You can find in the intro here.

In this episode we dive into Scripture Alone (Sola Scriptura), which arguably had the largest impact of any of the Solae. The ‘middle three’ (grace, faith, Christ) are inextricably linked and form a major theological point, but on the practical life of a Christian side, placing the Bible as the top source of authority was hugely impactful. It is also the first domino to fall of sorts, as then all arguments need to start from and end in the Bible. Of course, there has also been an overcorrection, where people think Bible Alone means only me and my Bible, which might have peaked about 200 years ago, when many new denominations/movements started that are essentially heresies from the early church that people quite studying. So, we try to make it clear that confessions, community, etc. are important and needed. I do feel (maybe I am just being hopeful) that there has been a recent renew of interest in early history and the writings of the church fathers.

As always comments or questions are always welcome below. Listen below, find us on YouTube and wherever podcasts are found, or listen on our home page at Modern Cloister.

Modern Cloister: What led to the Reformation?

/ J.K. / 1 Comment

We are excited to launch a new series on the Five Solas (I know that ‘s’ isn’t correct Latin, don’t @ me) of the Protestant Reformation. This episode is the kick off, then we’ll spend the next few months going through each of the five. Sola is Latin for ‘alone or only’, so you may have heard of Scripture Alone, or Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone to the Glory of God Alone. These are the five rallying cries that came out of the Reformation, and we feel that are as important right now as they have been in the last 500 years.

This short episode will be a brief overview of some of the situations that led us to the Reformation. Check back next week for Scripture Alone. I am hoping to have a book review related to the series up at some point soon. I also plan to get back to review some books, putting some Bible Study notes up, but honestly, I’m not too hopeful. We may attempt a book review Pod, so if that is something that sounds good, let us know. Any other comments or questions are always welcome below.

Listen below, find us on YouTube and wherever podcasts are found, or listen on our home page at Modern Cloister.

500th Anniversary of the Reformation

/ J.K. / Leave a comment

Happy Reformation Day. This is the 500th anniversary of the day that Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg Church. A couple of things to remember, first Luther was not trying to break away from the church, that is why he (and the others) are called Reformers (and the the event is called the Reformation, not the Great Schism), because they wanted to reform the church. A huge focus was the selling of indulgences (which is still a thing), the more important impact was the ‘rediscovery’ of Grace. We also received the Five Solae (or solas for Americans), to ground us back in the Bible and Grace and away from the Church and Papal Authority.

One of the more fascinating changes that Luther brought was the weekly sermon and the singing of hymns, especially in the common language. Luther also eventually supported marriage of pastors, something all Protestant churches do today, but the Catholic Church still does not. Basically, the typical Sunday morning at church would be unrecognizable to modern protestants. There would be no sermon, basically just the ‘Mass’ or communion, and it wouldn’t be in the common language, it’d be in Latin. Even if you happen to go Advent or Easter and catch a homily (a type of sermon), it would also not be in your language. You would not sing, if there was a choir and any singing it all, it would also, you guessed it, not be in your language. The Bible, again, not in your language. The priest didn’t know Hebrew or Greek, and some of them likely didn’t know Latin. It really is hard to think about today, how far off from any type of church service you’ve ever been to, and how different it would all seem.

As Christians, this should probably be seen as the most important event/date outside of the Bible. Or at least most important since the formulation of the early creeds and confessions. However, the church had drifted so far from those early days, that this is at least on par with the early church.

 

That is really all I have to say. I’ll leave you with three podcasts, two articles related to the Reformation, and of course a few books to read. I don’t listen to many podcast that or focused towards Christians, because honestly, most kind of suck. Three that I do listen to are White Horse Inn, Theocast, and 5 Minutes in Church History. The first two both did a podcast each on the Five Solae that are well worth listening to for a basic theological understanding. The church history podcast (which if you listen at 1.5X like me, is more like 3:30) posted a podcast every day this month with some historical insights.

Two articles that I found interesting (there were surprisingly few out there), one is kind of a Catholic view, and the other more in the lines of ‘why I’m still protestant.’

You can also check our my review of Martin Luther in His Own Words, Martin and Katharine, and probably the best intro book into Protestantism and Reformed Theology out there.

So, that is it. Take some time and reflect before heading out to teach your kids to take candy from strangers this evening.

 

 

Book Review: Martin Luther in His Own Words

/ J.K. / Leave a comment

Martin Luther in His Own Words: Essential Writings of the Reformation

My Rating – If you are looking for something

Level – Short, but moderately difficult read. This isn’t an intro for the Reformation, some knowledge of church history and theology will be needed.

Summary
The title could be a bit misleading to some, i.e., one may think it is a sort of autobiography. However, the book is a collect of Martin Luther’s writings. Twelve selections, to be precise, broken into five broad topics (cleverly) modeled after the five solas – fida, gratia, scriptura, Christus, and gloria.

If you are unfamiliar, the five ‘solae’ (alone or only in Latin, think of the modern words sole and solo) was the cry of the Reformation. So the chapters are laid out in the Latin words mentioned above that correspond to faith, grace, Scripture, Christ, glory (to God). Delving into these is beyond the scope of a book review, but as this year (2017) is the 500 anniversary of the Reformation and Martin Luther was the initiator, it was a pretty interesting way to divide the book.

There is an into by Kilcrease before each selection that helps with context and there are a few footnotes within the selections that are helpful for understanding particular, archaic, and/or theological/ecclesiastical terms.

My Thoughts
There is a difficultly in trying to review a sample pack of a book. My main critique would be that Luther’s most famous writings are probably ‘The Bondage of the Will’ and his Larger & Short Catechisms, and if you know much about him, his commentary on Galatians, and of the 12 selections, only four come from sources other than these. Granted, this may have been their reason for the selections, but I would have preferred a more diverse grouping.

I wanted to like this book more, but maybe because I am fairly familiar with Luther, it just didn’t quite do it for me. However, if you do not know much about Luther’s writings or the beginnings of the Reformation, this may be a great place to start. Kilcrease’s introductions are great and very informative. Or, if you are curious about Luther’s writings and don’t know where to begin, this would be a great place to start. If you haven’t read much, the translation footnotes are incredibly helpful and will make it an easier read the just pulling some of the freely available online versions of many of his writings.

There is renewed interest in Luther and the Reformation in general this year as we approach the 500th anniversary and this book is one to read, if you are looking for something.

If you were looking for a biography then check out Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. I haven’t read it yet, but the general consensus seems to be that it is the best.

If you think this book sounds a little to introductory, or you’ve read it and want more of Luther, then this collection (which I have read) seems to be the best next step (there is some overlap) – The Martin Luther Collection: 15 Classic Works

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.