Martin Luther - A Very Poor Example
“Whenever the devil harasses you, seek the company of men or drink more, or joke and talk nonsense, or do some other merry thing. Sometimes we must drink more, sport, recreate ourselves, and even sin a little to spite the devil, so that we leave him no place for troubling our consciences with trifles. We are conquered if we try too conscientiously not to sin at all. So when the devil says to you: do not drink, answer him: I will drink, and right freely, just because you tell me not to.” - Martin Luther
As you can see, Martin Luther was used of God to bring back justification by faith, however he is no one to follow or from which to receive any Christian living advice.
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2 comments:
Is this "tongue in cheek?"
I know you are serious, Rick. I'm with you.
I don't care anymore how "correct" a person's words are; I am looking for authenticity of their life. Books galore out there by all kinds of contemporary "celebrities" and Christian "professionals" don't interest me a bit. Correctness is not necessarily "Truth" in the biblical sense. Truth is a Spirit, truth is Jesus, truth is apostolic authenticity. The people I'm reading or listening to now are people who have lived and walked a sacrificial, obedient, life, with no prestenses of trying to "be somebody."
Authentic apostolic New Testament christianity has always existed, even before Luther, Calvin, et al. in pockets and communities often persecuted by the religious establishment. I don't believe the Reformation was the stream of that authentic New Testament faith. Waldensians, Hutterites, anabaptists expressed the Faith more accurately than the religio-political movements that persecuted them. Mine is a whole different perspective on history than what reform people have. Since Constantine, the visible church's melding with the world's kingdoms and cultures, and the Greek (Western) rationalizing and systematizing of New Testament christianity has not been a good thing.
Victoria
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