Today many Protestants celebrate the Feast day of Martin Luther. First Thoughts has a good post up at Celebrating Martin Luther which has excerpts and links to Pope Benedict's thoughts on him and the issues surrounding him.
There has been a good bit of looking back on the service of Pope Benedict to his Church over the period of his life. Strangely perhaps one of the biggest accomplishments of his is rarely mention which occurred before he became Pope. That is making substantial headway and finding agreement on one of the major issues that split up Christianity. That is how we are saved or the issue of Justification.
The JOINT DECLARATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION signed by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church in 1999 was and continues to be a rather big deal. In 2006 the World Wide Methoist Council signed on as well. See THE WORLD METHODIST COUNCIL STATEMENT OF ASSOCIATION WITH THE JOINT DECLARATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION .
Cardianl Ratzinger was seen as the moving force on the Catholic side to make this happen. No doubt his German upbringing played a role in helping bring this about.
In any list of accomplishments of Ratzinger / Benedict this needs to be at the top of the list.
Monday, February 18, 2013
On Feast of Martin Luther Pope Benedict / Ratzinger 's Rarely Mentioned Biggest Accomplishment
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496 years ago today Martin Luther nailed a small nail into the door of his Catholic church in Wittenberg, Germany, posting his 95 Theses.
That nail was probably the most significant of all nails since the crucifixion of our Lord. It turned Europe on its head, diminished forever the power of the Roman pontiff, and sparked a movement that would lead to religious liberty for all in the Western world.
But most importantly, he re-discovered the truth of the Gospel: the just shall live by faith...they do not need to live by fear; terrifying fear of the flames and torments of Purgatory, the "Christian's hell", a horrific place to pay for sins for which Christ has already made "satisfaction" when he shed his blood on the cross!
Thank you, Martin Luther!
May God bless his Church Catholic!
http://www.lutherwasnotbornagain.com/2013/10/the-lutheran-reformation-was-about.html
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