October 31, 1517 – “Next to the introduction of Christianity, the greatest event in History”

The quote from Philip Schaff in the title is speaking towards the entire Protestant Reformation. Martin’s 95 Theses, mentioned below, is what brought such a period of time.

After serious deliberation, without consulting any of his colleagues or friends, but following an irresistible impulse, Luther resolved upon a public act of unforeseen consequences. It may be compared to the stroke of the axe with which St. Boniface, seven hundred years before, had cut down the sacred oak, and decided the downfall of German heathenism. He wished to elicit the truth about the burning question of indulgences, which he himself professed not fully to understand at the time, and which yet was closely connected with the peace of conscience and eternal salvation. He chose the orderly and usual way of a learned academic disputation.

Accordingly, on the memorable thirty-first day of October, 1517, which has ever since been celebrated in Protestant Germany as the birthday of the Reformation, at twelve o’clock he affixed (either by himself or through another) to the doors of the castle-church Wittenberg, ninety-five Latin Theses on the subject of indulgences, and invited a public discussion. At the same time he sent notice of the fact to Archbishop Albrecht of Mainz, and to Bishop Hieronymus Scultetus, to whose diocese Wittenberg belonged. He chose the eve of All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1), because this was one of the most frequented feasts, and attracted professors, students, and people from all directions to the church, which was filled with precious relics.

– Philip Schaff
History of the Christian Church, Volume VII: Modern Christianity, The German Reformation. 1910, p. 155-156

In a much less elegant manner, I have something to say to the Church of today and of the future. The video below was recorded for submission in the Something Beautiful Podcast’s 1more Video Series.

What are your thoughts on the Protestant Reformation? If you wanted to say something to the Church of today, what would it be?

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Introduction to the Academic Papers

Beginning tomorrow the first “academic” paper is going to be published (read this post if you are clueless). This is not the first ever written, or the first that I wrote, but the first here (just to be clear). Before it publishes I want to let you know about a few things that you may want to take advantage of.

First, most of my papers are filled with references to Scripture. Lots and lots of references, in an effort to demonstrate that what I write is not based solely on my words, but God’s. That being said, not every verse is going to be explained, in the context of the paper or the verse it-self, so you will want to make sure to have a Bible nearby so that you can reference it easily. If you are a geek like me I recommend the YouVersion app (available in your browser and on your mobile device). I use the ESV most of the time, so keep that in mind as-well.

Second, in addition to having the papers published here I will also include a PDF of each article available for download. Use this as you see fit. You will have the option of downloading the file directly from the article, or from the corresponding “Downloads” page of the category of the article (i.e. ‘Theology’, or ‘Church History’). Feel free to share these with friends and anyone who you feel would benefit from, or appreciate, the article. This is also an easy way to print the article if you need a hard copy.

Third, below each article will be the standard comment box. I invite you to use this after you have read the article to do one of several things, or all of them: tell me that you read it, tell me that you did or did not enjoy it, give me your view of the topic at hand, etc. These articles are not complete, per se, and I know that we will all benefit from starting a discussion based on them.

Finally, every article (and the respective PDFs) are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License (follow the link for more information). Basically this means that you are free to copy and use these works, but under certain guidelines. If you need permission to use these beyond the scope of this license, you can get more information here.

As I have stated previously, I look forward to sharing my work with you. Please take advantage of the email subscription available so that you will receive the latest posts in your inbox (sign-up on the homepage), or subscribe via RSS.

Humbly,

Aaron
2 Timothy 3:16-17

Theology and Church History Papers will be Published Soon

As you may or may not know, I am a full-time student at Liberty University Online. I am currently focusing on a major in Religion and a minor in nothing at this point. As a student, and if you ever were one yourself you will relate to this, I have to write a lot of papers to complete assignments. Studying religion has forced me to take a hard look at where I stand on theological topics (such as marriage, women in ministry, evil, etc), look back at the history of Christianity (specifically after the first century) and take a good look at several key passages of Scripture.

Something that I have not done here in a while is posted anything serious. Lots of pictures, random thoughts on technology, but nothing really focused on my studies and what eventually hope to teach somehow: the Bible.

So, beginning this Friday, I will post papers that I write for my LUO classes here, to this blog. They will range from theological, to historical, to  exegetical in nature, and I’m sure if you have any interest in religion or Christianity you will enjoy these papers.

That being said, here are a few disclaimers:

• I will not publish a paper until it has been graded (this doesn’t really effect you, but just so you know)
• All of my papers have to meet certain word counts, some are shorter than others. For example, my theology papers are considered short essays, and they cannot exceed 800 words. They are also assigned in a question/answer format, but our writing cannot show that this is the case. As such, not every point in some papers will be “unpacked” as much as I would like. The beauty of publishing them here is that we can discuss certain points that you feel should be opened up a bit more.
• Your comments on my writing are appreciated but not necessary (especially if they are belittling). Although, if you consider yourself a good writer and have a few tips or advice, please feel free to share your thoughts.

My hope for this project is to continue the conversation that it started in my classes. Also, I hope to grow in my knowledge through interraction with some of you by discussing points and helping each other where we are weak in our understanding of God’s Word.

I hope that this is something that you will enjoy. I look forward to sharing my work with you.

Cheers,

Aaron
2 Timothy 3:16-17