The Freedom of the Christian

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Luther's exposition on the freedom of a Christian. I think it was informative and an accurate representation of the thought process behind the Reformation. Luther gave did an excellent job of describing how works and faith relate in s Christian life. Up until Luther, works were largely emphasised as a vital part in the Christian's life. However, as Luther pointed out, works aren't the basis of our faith but the result of it. One does not perform works in order to maintain or earn their justification (right standing before God), they perform them out of a love and appreciation for Christ and His saving work on the cross. There is no need to try to earn God's love, since that was already accomplished through God's son, Jesus Christ coming to earth and dying in the place of sinners who otherwise deserved His wrath. This is how the Christian has freedom as Luther described, they are no longer in bondage to the law(rules), they no longer have to live under the crushing weight of guilt that is produced when they fail to keep the law because they realize that freedom from their sin was already accomplished for them. They now live under a grace which requires nothing more than faith. "Sola Fide" (faith alone) is one of the five foundational truths that resulted from the Reformation. Because of Luther's teaching Christians reached a whole new understanding of how works relate to faith, teachings that were very contrary to what the Roman Catholic church was teaching in that day. Not only were Luther's teaching relevant to his time period, but remain to give Christian's a greater understanding of their faith in relation to works.

The Reformation

What was the main cause driving the Reformation? This question was briefly discussed in the text, but is a question that still can lead to many possible answers. It seems to me that there is not merely one cause leading up to the Reformation, but several. One obviously main reason, probably the most central of them all is once The Bible started being interpreted by individuals instead of the church, there was found to be many inconsistencies in the way the Catholic church interpreted it. For instances, the church at the time, taught that the pope was the mediator between God and men, where as Scriptures make it clear that Jesus Christ His Son was the mediator between men and God. Also, the act of justification wasn't a continual process of rituals of forgiveness as the church taught, but a once and for all act of grace by faith, where one repentance of all sin as an act of faith was satisfactory for all sin committed past, present, future. Both of these concepts pointed toward something that people were starved for; a personal relationship with God, a way for them to have a personal connection with God beyond the church. This is what Luther was inspired by, this is what led him to post his 95 thesis on the door of the The Castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. Upon examining the Bible for himself, Luther found many inconsistencies with what the Bible said and with what the church said the Bible said. Un-intentional or not, it doesn't matter, the fact of the matter was there was much mis-interpatation going on in the Catholic church. Because men such as Luther, were granted the ability and the chance to read the Bible for themselves, they were inspired to reach the conclusion that a relationship with Christ was so much more than a set of rituals, it was in fact a relationship. This concept led way to the desire for that relationship and furthermore inspired people such as Luther and Calvin to break away from the church therefore leading way to the Reformation.

12th Century Renaissance

It was interesting to read the turning point of Christian faith in the 12th Century, to see the thirst and knowledge for truth in that time. Even before the reformation, people were in search for not only a more personal relationship to God, but also in pursuit of truth and justice. As I was reading I couldn't help but wonder if there was a face behind this renaissance? In the Reformation we have the face of Luther, the father if you would of the Reformation..this makes me wonder who was the "Luther" of this renaissance? Was there one? Especially in regards to the thirst for knowledge and the movement toward a more personal Christianity. It's also interesting to read how this renaissance really led way to an overall movement toward a more personal and almost democratic system of justice. I also thought it was awesome to learn more about the formation of Universities and just the formation of a lot of the words that are used so commonly today in the academic world.

Wikipedia Assignment #2

This article briefly explains Papal Authority and gives a brief historical background on the issue. It gives background on who made the decision to institute Papal authority in the Roman Catholic church as well as gives arguments against the primacy of Simon Peter who is considered the first “pope”. In addition, quite a large portion of the article is devoted to revealing some of the challenges and arguments that surround the primacy of the Roman Pontiff.

1. 2,863
2. The term searched was “Papal Authority” and the article it came up with is entitled, “Primacy of the Roman Pontiff”.
3. There is no disambiguation link.
4. Mostly arguments on the different viewpoints of Papal authority and justification for why people inserted what they did into the article.
5. First change was June 12, 2004 and the last was March 18, 2008.
6. Two
7. Five
8. One

If one was interested in looking at this article to gain better understanding of the arguments surrounding Papal authority than I would highly recommend it. However, if someone was simply trying to gain factual historical background I do not feel that this would be the best option. After reading the article and reading through the discussions page it seems that there was a an extreme of personal opinion inserted in the article. Which would be extremely detrimental to one who was just seeking after facts as they might be mislead by someone else’s personal opinion.

Foundations of Papal Authority

I found it very interesting to read on what basis the Roman Catholic church formed their foundation for Papal authority in the church. Specifically the Biblical reference that were used to place Peter as the "first Bishop of Rome". Reading through the passages it seems to me that these passages may have been misinterpreted in the beginning as the basis for this claim. It seems at though in Matthew when Jesus refers to Peter as "the rock" He will build His church on I think it could be a referral to the overall foundation of the Apostles that Jesus will use to build His church on. I think Peter is specifically named because his name in the Greek is petra which is translated over as "rock" and in this particular passage he was the one who made the reference to Jesus as Christ, and that is what the church will be built on,the claim that Jesus is Christ, not Peter himself. Other Apostles and followers of Christ who make this claim is what Jesus will build His church on. This is merely my interpretation of the passage, I would find it interesting to read further on the subject and dive deeper into who specifically in the Roman church translated this passage to support Papal Authority.

Spartan Women

I found it to be very interesting to read about the role the Spartan women had in society. They had an incredible freedom compared to the rest or the Classical world in that time period. They were given more political and social power and had almost the same rights as the men did. It was very obvious that Sparta encouraged thier women to have a very active role in society and to be a part of the rapidly changing world. It's neat to see the encouragement of female involvement and how women were so readily willing to take care of duties and responsibilities while thier husbands/brothers/fathers were away at war. It really spoke to me in the sense that I think it solitifies the point that society needs both men and women fufilling different roles to which they are called for it to flourish.

Wikipedia Article #1

This article contained information on the events, history, and background of the armies that were involved in the Battle of Thermopylae. It seems to focus more on the Greek army, giving brief Greek history, then really focusing in on the individual men and events that led up to this battle.

1. 8,979 words
2. My search was “The Battle of Thermopylae” and the article it came up with was “Battle of Thermopylae”
3. Other links to different events that “The Battle of Thermopylae may be referring to.
4. This was a page for people to post their opinions on the article as well as critique the validity of it, as well as add changes.
5. First change was January 12, 2007, last change was September 13, 2008
6. Six
7. One-hundred and Twenty-Five
8. Seven

I think this article would be great for someone who is interested in learning more about this battle. It really focus’s in on the primary events in this battle and offers great detail and very many other sources of information.