The Theological Declaration of Barmen

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Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest and theologian who started the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century. He strongly disproved of the temporal power and wealth which the Catholic Church regarded greatly. He opposed ideas such as the "paid indulgences," whereby one could supposedly remove God's punishment of sin by paying the Church in temporal wealth. Martin Luther famously wrote the ninety-five theses that included all the errors of the Church at the time. When he refused to retract his statements, he was excommunicated by Pope Leo X.
In the required reading, Luther gives an account of arguments and counter-arguments regarding Church authority. He states that there are "three walls of the Romanists" which they use to protect themselves from reformation. The first wall is that "if pressed by the temporal power, they have affirmed and maintained that the temporal power has no jurisdiction over them, but, on the contrary, that the spiritual power is above the temporal." Luther's response to this is that the whole Church is made up of members of the Body of Christ, and therefore he states that we are all one body of priests. He believes there is no consecration needed to enter the priesthood. The second wall is "if it were proposed to admonish them with the Scripture, they objected that no one may interpret the Scripture but the Pope." Luther counters this by claiming that the Pope can indeed make errors in matters of faith, and that when Christ gave St Peter the keys of authority, he gave them in fact to the whole Church. The third wall is stated as "if they are threatened with a council, they pretend that no one may call a council but the Pope." Luther points out to his audience that if the Pope acts contrary to the Scriptures, the Church members are dutifully bound to admonish and enlighten the erring Pope. Luther also quotes the Acts of the Apostles to show that not only did St. Peter call councils, but the other apostles and elders of the time.
Luther's arguments are clearly stated and supported by logic and by Scripture. He was a very learned and spiritual man, who followed his conscience and spoke out to the leaders of his time about matters which gravely contradicted his conscience. What were his true motives, however, of publicly proclaiming the errs of the Church at the time? Did go too far with his accusations? Why did he think it was necessary to not only reform the Church, but also to create a schism amongst the Christians of the 16th century?

Risa

Martin Luther is considered to be the start of the Protestant Reformation with his 95 Theses in 1517. Luther argued against the church for multiple reasons which are known as the "Three Walls": that the priests should not control worship, that the scriptures should be accessible to all and that councils should not just be called by the pope. In short, Luther wanted Catholicism to be more accessible to the general public. Luther believed that everything came from the Scriptures and that every person had faith, which would make them eligible to be a priest. Luther hated the practice of selling indulgences and argues against it in his letter to the German nobles stating that sin would always exist. He sent his letter to the nobles because he knew that they had the most power after the church and would most likely be the ones to establish the Protestant religion. The Diet of Worms in 1521 would be the nobles reaction when he is accused of hearsey. For me, reading Luther's letter to the nobles was revolutionary and I can't help but see the letter through a history lens as suppose to a theological one. AP European History probably is the cause of that. Luther, in both the history world and the theological world, was a major cornerstone to the results of what was to come in later years.

Tara

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis started out at a young age with not much structure in his life. He indulged himself in unnecessary pleasures. He believed in the poor and wanted to give to the needy. One time he turned away a poor man, but in his hear the realized that was wrong so he turned around and did the right thing. “He would not refuse those who begged from him for the love of God”. One day he met “a knight who was of noble birth” but was in a bad condition, so Francis took off his own clothes and clothed the man. He did not realize there was a divine plan for him. “One day he heard the Lord speaking to him during the night in a familiar way”. From that day on “he begged that the divine kindness show him what to do”. One day he had an encounter with a leper, “from then on he clothed himself with a spirit of poverty, a sense of humility and an eagerness for intimate piety”. Francis is known for fixing three churches. Throughout this process he had to come over a lot of obstacles. No what he still faced the harshness and “declared he would gladly suffer anything for the name of Christ”. Francis did everything to “obey the divine command” At one point he touched a mans sore and it vanished. He was very much devoted, “he even used to declare that a conversation with a woman was unnecessary except only for confession or very brief instruction”. “Therefore his soul melted for the poor and the infirm; to those to whom he could not extend a hand he extended his affection.

Lindsey Ritter

Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton, in “Firewatch July 4, 1952”, starts out by describing to us a scene that is a watchman sitting in the darkness on a night in July. He then continues on to give us details that lead us to believe that it is the author’s turn in the responsibility of “watchman” in a monastery on this particular night. By 8:15 that night, the other Fathers are already in bed and the watchman is left to sit in darkness in silence. Whether the main character is currently a part of the monastery, we do not know. It is suggested that the watchman and the monk are two entirely different things by his stating that, “Some of the monks complained about the different colored walls, but a watchman has no opinions.” This suggests that the watchman’s duty is nothing like that of a monk’s. Here, the watchman is to pray in silence, while monks, during the time that they are not watchmen, usually focus on community prayer. We find out that the duty of the watchman is to experience the “fire watch.” The fire watch is, “an examination of conscience in which your task – as watchman suddenly appear in its true light: a pretext devised by God to isolate you, and to search your soul with lamps and questions, in the heart of darkness.”
Clearly, living in community is an important part of living in a monastery. But, in this passage, it is evident that lone prayer and meditation is necessary as well, do you think that personal prayer is just as important is communal prayer? Why or why not?
Side note (I thought this was interesting): In this excerpt, Thomas Merton makes an interesting claim, “… and the night was never made to hide sin, but only to open infinite distances to charity and send our souls to play beyond the stars.”
Katie McQuinn



Merton’s description of monastic life differs from Benedict’s description in many ways. To begin with, the literary form of Merton’s description was extremely different than the form of Benedict’s. Merton’s description was given in the form of story. Merton was describing the monastic life while he traveled through the monastery and remembered the events that would/have taken place in the rooms. Merton’s description of monastic life was as if we (the reader) were also taking his rounds around the monastery with him. He included the audience in his work and shared how monastic life has bettered him and challenged him throughout his many years there. He shared questions and concerns that he has been struggling with. Merton allowed us to also feel the passion he so strongly feels towards his life and gave us insight on why he and so many others devoted themselves to the monastic life. Benedict’s description of monastic life was a more structured form that was broken into different sections of rules and guidelines that monks and monasteries are to follow. The description of monastic life provided by Benedict was more like a handbook of what monks are to do and what they are not supposed to do which would lead to punishment. It was a more rigid description that did not leave room for the reader (who is not a monk) to sympathize and understand more clearly why so many choose to live a monastic life. Although the two descriptions provided by Merton and Benedict has many differences, they also share similarities between them. Both descriptions showed how monks actually live in a monastery. They describe a quiet and often silent type of living with no personal possessions. Both descriptions also describe the monastic life as an extremely simplistic one where they completely devote themselves to God and deepening their faiths.

- Nicole Dillon

The Rule of St. Benedict

In The Rule of Saint Benedict, the Prologue involved numerous ideas of never being in an idle state of always regretting our disobediences/evil actions. Instead, we're to move forward and make up for those actions. An example of this idea is when his says that "the labor of our obedience will bring you back to him from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobediences," meaning that actually doing something about drifting away from God and severing our relationship with God is what's most important. The worst thing is to be stuck, regretting the things we've done wrong and to not improve. There are many ways to improve our relationship with God like going to Church, simply praying, participating in service projects, etc... In this reading, I feel like a Monk's daily life schedule is an extreme example. It's extreme because it seems like a Monk's attempt to connect with God is central in his daily life. Their daily schedule is so rigorous it seems they barely have free time, and if they do, it's used to read. They have minimal personal belongings and they share everything they own. This especially is important because it's a reminder that the things on earth are practically worthless since what matters most is our relationship with God.. It's a huge reminder of mortality and how unimportant "things" are.
-Katie Lamb

Cyril of Jerusalem

Before reading St Cyril's "Baptism as a Symbol of Christ's Passion and Resurrection" and "The Anointing with the Holy Spirit: Chrism, the Oil of Gladness" I had a different view on the purposes of sacraments, and specifically Baptism. I believed that sacraments were merely rites of passage in which believers participate in the religion. I realize that there is a certain deeper meaning for each sacrament, but this is my general notion. Specifically, I believed Baptism to be important because it purifies, and makes one a member of Christianity. I did not understand the deeper meaning of Baptism aside from cleansing of original sin before this reading.

St. Cyril's readings explain how Baptism is symbolic of Christ's suffering. He also claims that we symbolically share in Jesus' death and resurrection. By entering the Baptismal font three times, it is equivalent to the three days that Christ spent in the tomb. "Your first rising from the water represented the first day and your first immersion represented the first night. At night a man cannot see, but in the day he walks in the light." (Pg 45) How excellent is this religion that allows us to share in Christ's agonizing death and resurrection without enduring any literal pain or suffering?

In addition to Baptism, St. Cyril also gives accounts on Communion and Confirmation. He speaks about how these sacraments bring one closer to the Trinity. Through Baptism, in general, one is recognized as in the likeness of God. Through Communion, one gains likeness, and closeness to Christ. And with Confirmation, one is anointed with the Holy Spirit. He states that we are to remember that the chrism we are anointed with "becomes the instrument through which we receive the Holy Spirit." (pg 48)

Liz O'Toole