The ancient Office of the Inquisition is up to its old tricks again. The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, has said that Catholics “have no reason to celebrate” the beginning of the Reformation.
The German cardinal said in a new book-length interview: “We Catholics have no reason to celebrate October 31, 1517, the date that is considered the beginning of the Reformation that would lead to the rupture of Western Christianity.”
The date, known as “Reformation Day,” marks Martin Luther’s sending the Archbishop of Mainz and Magdeburg a document protesting the sale of indulgences, and also posting on the door of the chapel at Wittenberg – a text which came to be known as the 95 Theses. Luther did not then propose separating from the Church, but the 95 Theses eventually led to his excommunication in 1521.
Cardinal Müller says in the new book: “If we are convinced that divine revelation is preserved whole and unchanged through Scripture and Tradition, in the doctrine of the Faith, in the sacraments, in the hierarchical constitution of the Church by divine right, founded on the sacrament of holy orders, we cannot accept that there exist sufficient reasons to separate from the Church.”
The remarks will cause a stir, coming a year before the 500th anniversary of Reformation Day. Extensive celebrations and commemorations occurred in Germany and elsewhere.
Pope Francis traveled to Sweden in October 2017 for an ecumenical commemoration, along with representatives of the Lutheran World Federation and other denominations.
The cardinal noted that the champions of the Reformation had framed the pope as Antichrist in order to “justify the separation” from the Catholic Church. This misrepresentation of their motives is quite the opposite of the facts. The Lutherans separated from the church because they saw that the pope was Antichrist.
Citing the Vatican II document Dei Verbum, he added: “A Protestantization of the Catholic Church on the basis of a secular vision without reference to transcendence not only cannot reconcile us with the Protestants, but also cannot allow an encounter with the mystery of Christ, because in Him we are repositories of a supernatural revelation to which all of us owe total obedience of intellect and will.”
In other words, he is placing the authority of the church above the authority of the Bible. He is also saying there is no way that the Catholic Church can become protestant which he considers to be relativism. Protestantism, however, is based on the absolute authority of the Bible, which is quite a different model of truth than Roman Catholicism.
Last year, the cardinal said that in debates over marriage and the sacraments, pastors should “be very vigilant and not forget the lessons of church history.” He said that confusion over the sacramental nature of marriage could lead to divisions similar to those of the Reformation.
While that isn’t likely, the Catholic Church remains committed to unity with authority of the pope and the hierarchy as the basis of a connection to Christ and salvation. Rome never changes.
“The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy that existed in past ages exists today. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that Protestants are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of their lives, to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty and slew the saints of the Most High.” The Great Controversy, page 571.
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timesandlaws.com
Thursday March 22nd, 2018 at 05:29 PMGood Reminder that Rome does not Change. And so the question remains, why would the SDA church attach herself to Rome and become the secretary of their counsels via their Religious Liberty president? Ganoune Diop? http://www.worldea.org/news/4758/the-world-evangelical-alliance-introduces-its-new-leadership-structure-to-global-denominations-in-rome
We see the evidence here of the Religious Liberty of SDA at the head… the actual Secretary of this Ecumenical Meeting. He is not just attending, he is not just participating, he is new Secretary for 2017.
“While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 2 Peter 2:19
Shame on SDA for confederating…for Uniting, for being Ecumenical.
Wikipedia explains:
The terms ecumenism and ecumenical come from the Greek οἰκουμένη (oikoumene), which means “the whole inhabited world”, and was historically used with specific reference to the Roman Empire.[2] The ecumenical vision comprises both the search for the visible unity of the Church (Ephesians 4:3) and the “whole inhabited earth” (Matthew 24:14) as the concern of all Christians.
“In Christianity the qualification ecumenical is originally (and still) used in terms such as “ecumenical council” and “Ecumenical Patriarch” in the meaning of pertaining to the totality of the larger Church (such as the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church) rather than being restricted to one of its constituent local churches or dioceses. ”
So SDA is married, united to Rome. Shame!
admin
Friday March 23rd, 2018 at 11:02 AMIt is hard to make a strong case that the SDA Church is married to Rome. After all, the church still keeps the Seventh-day Sabbath. But there are certainly compromises and perhaps even something of a courtship going on. –Admin
timesandlaws.com
Friday March 23rd, 2018 at 12:58 PMFornication. “With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. ” Rev. 17:2
Betsy
Friday March 23rd, 2018 at 11:05 AMWell, actually, it was the Pope who excommunicated Luther in 1521. Luther did not leave the church in 1517. The Catholic church refused to accept the reforms that Luther requested. If you read his 95 Theses, he appeals to the Pope in very respectful terms and seeks a reformation of what he believed was the only valid church on earth. Luther at first innocently believed, as did many reformers, that the church fathers wanted a holier church and holier leaders. During the Counter-Reformation, the church had to address the open and grievous lifestyles of the priests that led people all over Europe to deplore “Mother Church.”
The Reformers all hoped to reform the church. That was the original intent.
But he actually shows clearly that Reformation doctrines were incompatible with the Catholic church’s teachings. At least he’s accurate on that point!
Shannon
Saturday March 24th, 2018 at 01:50 PMRemember, the changes start small. It is a creeping compromise. When we are tested and do not remain faithful in the small things, we will not stand the test in the bigger things