Sunday School wk2 quotes

Purgatory -

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, first published in 2005,

210. What is purgatory? Purgatory is the state of those who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven.

211. How can we help the souls being purified in purgatory? Because of the communion of saints, the faithful who are still pilgrims on earth are able to help the souls in purgatory by offering prayers in suffrage for them, especially the Eucharistic sacrifice. They also help them by almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance.

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ML on Monastery life – He declared, “I kept the rule so strictly that I may say if ever a monk got to heaven by his sheer monkery, it was I.  If I had kept on any longer, I should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, readings & other works.”  Luther racked his own health for the rest of his life from fastings & austere blanket-less German winter nights, suffering for God.

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Justification by faith – ML said, “There upon I felt myself reborn & to have gone through open doors to paradise.”  If salvation comes through faith in Christ’s work alone then that meant the intercession of priests was irrelevant.  If faith formed and nurtured by the Word, written and preached, requires no monks, no masses, no prayers to saints, no pilgrimages to shrines, trips to holy lands, or touching holy relics then life as it was known in Europe was forever altered.  The mediation of the Pope & the Roman Church crumbles into insignificance.

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Authority – As Luther debated his new ideas with Roman theologians he said, “A council may sometimes err.  Neither the church nor the Pope can establish articles of faith.  These must come from Scripture.” 

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On Good works & the gospel – “God works do not make a man good, but a good man does good works.” My paraphrase: “Christians do good works, good works don’t make one a Christian.” 

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ML words @ diet of worms -“Since then your sere Majesty & your Lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed. Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the Pope or in Councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred & contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted & my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot & I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.” At the end of this speech, Luther raised his arm "in the traditional salute of a knight winning a bout." Renaissance historian Michael Mullett considers this speech as a "world classic of epoch-making oratory."