Laity

In this, Luther is committing to the laity the reformation required by God by neglecting the pope and clergy. He then mentions that they should take advantage of Charles V being king of Germany. Luther says this because Charles V is young and inexperienced, and not only that, but also Charles…

Introduction According to Warren & Bennis (2010), “The constancy of change that drives efforts to reinvent government bureaucracies, church hierarchies, and business practices call for audacious leaders who take a stand for what they believe in” (p.29). As a practicing Catholic, I have noticed that the Church is continuously challenged to redefine the role of the Church in our ever changing society under the leadership of Pope Francis. While it is relatively easy to appreciate the public…

church employed various methods, foremost amongst them the encouragement of chastity and it’s aloft alternative celibacy for the clergy, the institution of marriage, as well as establishing legal systems to prosecute members of both the clergy and the laity who transgressed their moral boundaries. Prostitution was also used as a method of regulating sexuality for various reasons, such as containing male debauchery. While all of these factors…

Here Luther says that no robe can save their soul, just attending church will not bring you righteousness, not amount of prayer can save you from damnation that only those who have faith in the word of God can be saved. Although these priests, and laity may preach the word of God to others they must not only speak of the gospel to be saved but they must believe it. He states that no amount of praying, sacred duties, or fasting could lead to Christian righteousness or freedom as these are good…

Fear and Self-Preservation in the Face of the Unknown In 1347 CE, the European world experienced a disaster on a scale that has remained among the most massive in all of history: the Black Death. Tens of millions of people perished, disease leaving communities, families, long-running institutions crippled and destroyed. The Black Death remained the great killer, the divine punishment for a sinful world, and fractured society, more so than any corrupt government, empire, or person could ever…

The Pietisms In the late seventeenth century, a movement called Pietism arose in Germany. It was not primarily a theological response but a refocusing on spirituality and practical Christian living. Spener and the Pietists Pietism had many roots and contributors. Its promoter was Philip Jacob Spener (1635-1705), a German Lutheran. He wrote an influential book in 1675 called Pious Desires or Heartfelt, from which the movement got its name. Piety refers to genuine religious impulses, feelings,…

In chapter three of The Shape of Baptism, Aiden Kavanagh writes that “baptism is the paradigm of how faith in Jesus Christ is to be lived” (Kavanagh, pg. 92) This paper will explore Kavanagh’s quote in relation to two questions. First, what does this quote mean? Second, how are the reforms of Vatican II expressive of this statement? For Kavanagh, Baptism is much more than just a sacrament of initiation; instead, it is supposed to be the model of how Christian faith in Jesus is genuinely lived…

pieces much more of the theoretical depth underpinning the secular state (its role, premises, temporality, and religious and explicitly non-religious policies), and additionally she provides good, concrete examples to illustrate her points (Coptic laity versus the ecclesiastical class). While each chapter provides an important argument, her overarching thesis argues…

The doctrine of indulgences rested on three principles. First, God is merciful and just. Second Christ and the Saints, through their infinite virtue established a “treasury of merits”, on which the church could draw, due to the special relationship with Christ and the Saints. Third, the church had the authority to grant sinners the spiritual benefits of those with merits.[1] An indulgence was a sheet of paper signed by the pope or another church official that substituted a virtuous act from…

Methodist Church commented on building up God’s Kingdom and believed the foundation of hell is movable. I totally agree with the following quote by John Wesley who stated, “Give me a hundred preachers, and I care not a straw if they be clergy or laity, who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but, God and I will shake the gates of hell and set up the Kingdom of God on this…