麻豆传媒AV

聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Half a millennium to the day, on October 31, 1517, an Augustinian friar, Dr. Martin Luther, nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church, or 鈥淪chlosskirche,鈥� in Wittenberg Germany. Not only Lutherans, but Protestants worldwide commemorate October 31 every year as 鈥淩eformation Day.鈥�

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To commemorate the 500^th anniversary of this event, St. John Lutheran Church in Preece颅ville held a Reformation 500 week from October 24 to October 29. The week began with a movie Tuesday evening on Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers whose sermons are still being published more than a century later.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 On Wednesday, a film on the life of William Tyndale, the English scholar who was strangled and burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English, was shown. The translators of the King James version of the Bible made much use of his translation in preparing theirs, said information from organizers.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 On Thursday there was a movie about John Huss, the Bohemian reformer who was martyred for his assertion that man is saved by faith alone, and Friday the discussion was on John Wycliffe.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 On Saturday, Pastor John Rasmussen, a professor from the Institute of Lutheran Theology in the USA, came to Preeceville from Texas to give a series of three lectures on Luther and the Reform颅ation.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Throughout the week, hot beverages were served after the movies, and on Saturday and Sunday, refreshments were included as well. After the Sunday service, a pot luck lunch was enjoyed by the parishioners.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Reformation 500 in Preeceville found its completion in a festive Communion service, in which Pastor Rasmussen preached on the text in John 8: 鈥淚f the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed.鈥�

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Names such as Giacomo Savonarola, John Huss, William Tyndale, John Wycliffe and Ulrich Zwingli, and later the German friar Martin Luther, the Frenchman John Calvin and the Scot John Knox, are well known, the information said.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 "The year 2017 being the 500^th year since that day, this year鈥檚 Reformation Day is a very special occasion," said Pastor Hein Bertram, minister of St. John Lutheran Church in Preeceville. 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Reformation 500 conferences were held worldwide, from as far afield as Germany to Singapore, 麻豆传媒AV Africa, Hong Kong, Great Britain and here on the American continent as well, it said.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 According to a poll in which academics worldwide were asked who the 1,000 most important figures in the past millennium were, Gutenberg was named as the most important, and Luther as the third.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Were it not for the invention of the printing press, the works of the reformers and Luther in particular would not have gone viral.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 "In his first lecture, Luther: Man Between God and the Devil, he explained Luther on a statement from the work The Bondage of the Will.

"The scripture sets before us a man who is not only bound, wretched, captive, sick and dead, but who, through the operation of Satan his Lord, adds to his other miseries that of blindness, so that he believes himself to be free, happy, possessed of liberty and ability, whole and alive. This situation is changed radically when Christ sets the sinner free, and His will becomes the standard," said Bertram.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A brief historical overview then followed, mentioning Luther鈥檚 life first as a monk and then as a reformer; his reaction to abuses such as the sale of indulgences, particularly by Johann Tetzel with his infamous ditty, as soon as the money in the cashbox clinks, the soul from purgatory into heaven springs. He then went on to explain the events that led to the Augsburg Confession, which is a standard confession of the Lutheran Church of the 21^st Century.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Pastor John Rasmussen explained in his sermon that the medieval scholastic doctrines of baptism and penance, which were seen as the 鈥渇irst and second planks鈥� after the shipwreck of original sin, and how Luther changed the order of the catechism from creed, the Lord鈥檚 Prayer, the Ten Commandments of the Catholic Church, which necessarily leads to the sacrament of penance, to that which is the standard in the Lutheran Church today: The Ten Commandments, the creed, and then the Lord鈥檚 Prayer.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽To the question, 鈥淲hat must I do to be saved?鈥� Luther, on the basis of scripture, answers: 鈥淣othing! Nothing we do can add to the full, perfect and sufficient offering that Christ gave on the cross at Calvary, to obtain our salvation.鈥�

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To the medieval idea of salvation through works and then only to face purgatory Luther, as well as the other reformers, answers in the words of St. Paul, 鈥淏y grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.鈥�

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The five tenets of the theology of the Reformation are: sola fide, faith alone; sola gratia, grace alone; sola scriptura, scripture alone; solo christo, through Christ alone, and soli deo gloria, to God alone be the glory, the information said.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The proceedings of the day were completed with a viewing of the 1953 film Luther.