Todays Devotional
95 Problems
Oct 31, 2022
Martin paced back and forth as he considered what he was about to do.
One last turn and that was it. He picked up the hammer, the nails and a few sheets of paper and headed for the door. On October 31, 1517, Dr. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a local Catholic church. Germany would not be the same, the world would not be the same. The Reformation had officially begun.
What triggered Luther’s writing of these theses was his questioning the church’s right to collect money for penances that would actually go towards the building of a new basilica, which began a year earlier in Germany. It led to his study of the long held doctrine of righteousness by works. Luther would go deeper down the rabbit hole as he read the Bible for himself. Though a Catholic monk, The Book for him was first an object to be feared, but as he questioned the efficacy of “paying for one’s sins” to escape purgatory and enter heaven he decided to cast those fears aside and study the Bible thoroughly. His world was changed with each unfolding chapter. God’s true character revealed itself. He became convicted that a voice had to be raised in protest to what struck Martin Luther as wanton corruption in the church he served so well. He was convinced “That the Scriptures are our only final authority (sola Scriptura); that God accepts us by grace alone, through faith alone, on the basis of Christ alone (justification)”.
Todays Devotional
95 Problems
Martin paced back and forth as he considered what he was about to do.
One last turn and that was it. He picked up the hammer, the nails and a few sheets of paper and headed for the door. On October 31, 1517, Dr. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of a local Catholic church. Germany would not be the same, the world would not be the same. The Reformation had officially begun.
What triggered Luther’s writing of these theses was his questioning the church’s right to collect money for penances that would actually go towards the building of a new basilica, which began a year earlier in Germany. It led to his study of the long held doctrine of righteousness by works. Luther would go deeper down the rabbit hole as he read the Bible for himself. Though a Catholic monk, The Book for him was first an object to be feared, but as he questioned the efficacy of “paying for one’s sins” to escape purgatory and enter heaven he decided to cast those fears aside and study the Bible thoroughly. His world was changed with each unfolding chapter. God’s true character revealed itself. He became convicted that a voice had to be raised in protest to what struck Martin Luther as wanton corruption in the church he served so well. He was convinced “That the Scriptures are our only final authority (sola Scriptura); that God accepts us by grace alone, through faith alone, on the basis of Christ alone (justification)”.
Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light
He compiled 95 points he wanted to debate and posted them to the church’s front door. The magnus opus begins like this:
Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.
Luther’s timing was strategic because the day he posted them was All Hallows Eve. The day before all the saints of the church were celebrated (hallow=holy=saint). A day whose beginning saw the remembrance of the early church’s martyrs. But another event was also celebrated at the same time and was being adopted by western believers.
Samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year. It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. This meant the Aos Sí (pronounced ees shee), the ‘spirits’ or ‘fairies’, could more easily come into our world and were particularly active. From at least the 16th century,the festival included mumming and guising in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.This involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise), usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Sí, or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf, similar to the custom of souling. Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was also believed to protect oneself from them.
Luther recognized the similarities of freeing the soul from purgatory and the transition of the spirits from one world to the next. Four hundred and ninety-nine years ago a witness made a mark and four hundred and ninety-nine years later we still forget. Be not tricked by the treat of forgetting. Darkness and shadow foregoes the bloodletting. Yes, I’ve got 95 problems and Halloween is one of them.
– YorkAli Walters
Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light
He compiled 95 points he wanted to debate and posted them to the church’s front door. The magnus opus begins like this:
Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.
Luther’s timing was strategic because the day he posted them was All Hallows Eve. The day before all the saints of the church were celebrated (hallow=holy=saint). A day whose beginning saw the remembrance of the early church’s martyrs. But another event was also celebrated at the same time and was being adopted by western believers.
Samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the ‘darker half’ of the year. It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned. This meant the Aos Sí (pronounced ees shee), the ‘spirits’ or ‘fairies’, could more easily come into our world and were particularly active. From at least the 16th century,the festival included mumming and guising in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.This involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise), usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Sí, or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf, similar to the custom of souling. Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was also believed to protect oneself from them.
Luther recognized the similarities of freeing the soul from purgatory and the transition of the spirits from one world to the next. Four hundred and ninety-nine years ago a witness made a mark and four hundred and ninety-nine years later we still forget. Be not tricked by the treat of forgetting. Darkness and shadow foregoes the bloodletting. Yes, I’ve got 95 problems and Halloween is one of them.
– YorkAli Walters
Key Text
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. – Ecclesiastes 9:5
Key Text
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. – Ecclesiastes 9:5