Comments on: Happy Reformation Day

By: Richard Edmiston

Richard Edmiston — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 23:10:49 +0000

I am wondering if the world will ever have a “bloggernacle day” – not so much because it may have requiered and act of courage to iniciate the bloggernacle as it did to nail the ninety-five theses to the church door but because of way it oppened a door for views of a reformation a restoration and a revolution (the information revolution) to impact the history of a christianity commited open diologe. As a convert from protestantism to a sincere investigator of notion of a restoration – and one who also has lots of catholic frinds. (many of whom seem much more pracical than the people I meet at church) I would like to share my thoughs on the matter of wheather it is proper consider at length, the measure of debt Joseph Smith and his followers owe to the courage of Martin Luther and wheather the protestants have done justice to the causes instituted and the sacrifices made by the reformers.

It seems to me that if an appreciation of the right of expression is not followed with an open and equally sincere appreciation of the priveledge to reflect intellegently upon what has been expreessed freely – that the repetition of a history which seems to ring of “missed opportunity” is shure to follow.

The bloggernacle provides a truly wonderfull opportunity to enrich each other in the singular context in which it is presets itself. To me Catholosisim has a rich fund of history while that which was once freely heralded as “mormonism” (will it be replaced by “bloggernacle-ism”?) provides a rich fund of tennant which are steady enough to extrapolate from under the context of practical concerns.

Without this, the notion of belief orineted governmental intervention, into our daily lives, wheather based on the belief in God or some rediculously oversiplified “smallest common intelectual demonator” political consensus based concept such as… “natural selection” (of selfish beasts) is shure to yield dissapointing results.

History seems to bear this out with trajic regularity. So I say “Long live the bloggernacle and the good cause to which its adherents are so axiously engaged, regardless of their ultimate (or temparary) religious loyalties!

(What day would bloggernacle day fall on anyway?)

(Bloggernacle staff could email me on this)
Richard E.

By: john fowles

john fowles — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:59:21 +0000

Good point Joel. I actually think that your decision shows internal consistency. Post Vatican-II Catholicism has certainly addressed a lot of the problems that bothered Luther. I actually agree with you that considerations of authority tend to steer towards either the Catholic Church or the Restoration through Joseph Smith. For someone who holds to Joseph Smith, the Catholic Church has as little priesthood authority as its myriad Protestant split-offs (that is a large part of the reason for the need of the Restoration). But if I were Catholic, I could justifiably think that Joseph Smith had as little authority as any one of the myriad Protestant sects. Hopefully, however, one would engage in careful, prayerful consideration on this question and not reach this conclusion summarily.

By: Joel

Joel — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 18:35:36 +0000

May a Catholic (convert from Protestantism) offer a respectful opinion?

There is a strong parallel between Luther and Joseph Smith, in that both of them believed that the established Church had gone off the rails and needed restoring. I give JS rather more credence because he was honest about believing this, whereas Luther merely erected a 500-year monument to his own ego while pretending allegiance to the historical Church.

I became Catholic when I realized that if I couldn’t accept JS’s claims (and I’m sorry to say so in this company, but I was unable to), then I could accept Luther’s even less. And when I look at what came out of both JS’s Restoration and Luther’s Reformation, I find I like the fruits of the Mormon Restoration much better.

By: J. Stapley

J. Stapley — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 17:10:12 +0000

I concur. Thanks for the great post John.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 16:42:31 +0000

Nice post, John, and a fine way to memorialize October 31st. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Lutheran.