LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
CROSS-CULTURAL CHURCH PLANTING TO REACH AMERICA
FROM THE PAST INTO THE FUTURE
A PAPER PURPOSAL
SUBMITTED TO DR. JONATHAN YEAGER
IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE
HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY II CHHI 525
BY
JONATHAN R CHAMBERS
WHITESBORO, TEXAS
March 7, 2014
Thesis Statement
In this paper we will endeavor to explain and show the purpose of the modern day church and to purpose a cross-cultural church planting strategy to reach our American culture with its wide variety of cultures, modernism, secularism and atheism while showing the planning that goes into the beginning stages of reaching the modern American culture with the Gospel of
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Luther was adamant that the church must begin and end with the Word of God and that Jesus was the Word made flesh.2 Luther believed that Jesus Christ created the Bible and the church and therefore it was impossible for the church to create the Bible because it was the inspired Word of God.3 The Bible was the one and only authority of the Church and nothing else compared. His beliefs lead him into conflict with the Catholics who believed that they had the authority over the church. Out of this belief in the Word of God came all of His other theological teachings such as salvation by grace, the sacraments of the church, the law and the gospel, and the cross.4 His belief that he did not have to work for God’s approval but that it was given to him freely by grace and this was a starting point for all of his other views to really take shape. In so doing this he found a boldness to stand up for his beliefs and went down in history when he nailed the Ninety-Five Thesis to the door of the Church at Wittenburg.5 There was new technology taking place namely the invention of the printing press and the world was growing and moving forward.6
In America today, there are churches that are adopting and accepting things that are contrary to the Word of God and those who stand up for truth are considered non-tolerant of others. Technology is
Luther wanted to separate from the church because the church leaders got to greedy for money. The priests and leaders of the catholic church started to make up things such as selling indulgences which was basically pay the church to be forgiven for your sins and your families sins. Document 4 says, “They[pastors] fatten on the sins of the people,” this shows that pastors only cared for the ‘fleece’ or money of the people rather than actually caring for them. Another example that shows that the catholic church cares for nothing but money is the fact that they got upset when people spent money on things that did not necessarily matter. Document 8 is proof that people were spending lots money on non holy things, the texts says, “So much money is going into the coffer of the vendor that new coins must be minted on the spot,”. Document 6 shows that priests were getting upset on how people were spending their money. The text says “Where is our gratefulness toward God...For so many enslave all their senses to delights…”. This made Luther want to create Lutheranism because he felt that religion should not be about how much money one has but rather their soul.
Luther was zealous towards the gospel. He felt strongly about the gospel and felt it was unfair only the upperclassmen and well educated could read and interpret the bible themselves. People should be able to read and interpret God’s word themselves rather than trusting the pope’s interpretations. This was unpopular with the Catholic Church because they felt a loss of control over the masses and common people. What is more is the people of Wittenberg were too unintelligent to understand God’s word and this lead to the translating of the New Testament to German in 1529. It was not long before Luther took it upon himself to translate the Gospel in its entirety to German.
He had different beliefs than the Catholic Church. Therefore, Luther wrote the “Ninety-Five Theses” accusing them of indulgences and church abuses. He posted it on a church door in Wittenberg which put him in many disagreements with the church. The Catholic Church declared him as a heretic, someone whos beliefs contradict with the church. Later, he began the first Protestant church. He believed that the Bible was the ultimate source of authority and only considered two sacraments. His ideas and actions started the
This paper will address the churches political and religious practices that Luther disagreed with, the theses he posted on the church board, what he did to show his disagreement and gather support from the community and how he was able to challenge the church at the
Christianity is a religion that has been around for about 2000 years. This religion is based on the birth, teachings, life and death of Jesus Christ. In the early first century, it started to expand from Palestine to the rest of the world. A movement that began with Jesus and twelve Apostles has grown to approximately two billion people worldwide. In America, this religion started from the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Until recently, the religion expanded all over the Americas and was followed by the largest majority of its people. Although Christianity was followed by a lot of people in the Americas, increasingly Christianity faces many challenges and problems, including declining attendance, rise in atheism, religious alternatives,
Martin Luther was a German professor of theology at Wittensberg. He later left his studies to peruse monkhood. In doing this, Luther had a lot of time to think about his relationship with God and realize the flaws in the church. Luther disagreed with many teachings/ ideas of the Roman Church, which he than acted upon. He strongly disputed the idea that one can obtain freedom from God 's punishment for committing sin by purchasing an expensive piece of paper from the church called an Indulgence. He wrote all about the usefulness of indulgences in community in a very sarcastic tone in Theses Ninety-Five in 1517. Although demanded, Luther refused to rid of his writings at the request of Pope Charles V.
He wrote the 95 theses challenging the wealth of the church, the way to salvation, the authority, and indulgences. Moreover, his four concepts of sola fide, sola scriptura, priesthood of all believers, and all work is sacred challenged the very structure of the religion that the church was built upon. His belief of only faith alone could save one from purgatory, which nullified the need for indulgences. He proves this by quoting the Book of Romans and the New Testament, which was the passage God made him point to. He was able to justify faith alone by proving if one believed in Jesus's messages one was saved, because believing one was saved only with works while not believing in God was not the way to salvation (Justification by Faith). Moreover, Luther believed anyone could interpret the scripture and only what is in scripture should be believed, which challenged the Pope's interpretation and made people less dependant on the church. The Priesthood of all believers challenged the Pope's immediate connection to God and argued that even Priests and the Pope were susceptible to mistakes (The interpretation of the Bible and the Nature of the Clergy). In contrary to the Roman Catholic Church he was adamant about the fact of all being equal in God's eyes, thus the clergy was equal to the laity and not deserving of special privileges. He also stated that the church was protecting itself with the three concepts of spiritual power stronger than temporal power, only the Pope could interpret Scripture, and only the Pope could summon a council (On Papal Power). This allowed the papacy to defend itself from outside attempts to reform it. The papacy argued temporal power was earthly and ever changing, but spiritual power dealt with the after life and was constant, resulting in the papacy seeing itself more powerful than temporal power. Luther
When luther left the church he began writing his ninety-five theses. His theses was a list of things he thought was wrong with the church. Such as the church having people to work so that
Martin Luther was arguably one of the most important figures in the entire history of Christianity. If the creation of the Lutheran Church was not enough of an accomplishment, he can also be credited with orchestrating the division of the Catholic and Protestant churches. Even as a young Augustinian Monk Martin Luther was convinced the Catholic Church had lost its way. He obsessed over his purity and relationship with God, and strongly believed the Catholic Church had lost its way over the selling of “Indulgences”. Essentially, how the Church misinterpreted and taught the concepts of sin relative to temporal and eternal punishment. He was destined to confront the Catholic Church which he did and ultimately led to the separation events that are still highly relevant to this day. This was the primary driver for the first phase of his rebellion. The second was his German translation of the New Testament, which he used to both teach anyone to read and learn the holy book.
Initially, America did not have a Christian foundation in the sense of creating a theocracy. However, it was shaped by Christian moral truths, and the forefathers created a hospitable environment that supported this religion. The relationship linking the state and religion grew strong as most of the people in the nation became Christians. This research paper outlines how Christianity came to be one of the major religions in the United States of America.
Martin Luther is considered to be one of the greatest theologians of all time. He was the leader of the Protestant Reformation, seen as a great intellectual and reformer in the eyes of many modern day Christians. The common consensus is that Martin Luther, disgusted at the corruption of the Catholic Church, wanted to change everything for the better by bringing religion closer to the people, rather than just using priests to dictate everything. This is one perspective of Luther, but there is another side to the man that is much more accurate and unsettling that explains the effects that the offsprings of Lutheranism have had on the post-renaissance world. Luther was intolerant, sexist, racist, and very anti-Semitic. Luther’s first error is found in his wholesale acceptance of
Martin Luther rejected several teachings and practices of the church. He believed that freedom from sin didn’t have to be bought. Luther proposed his discussion of the usefulness of the indulgences in his 95 theses in 1517. In 1520, he refused to retract his writings by the commands of Pope Leo X and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, at the Diet of Worms in 1521. He was excommunicated by the pope and condemned as an outlaw by the emperor.
Martin Luther was eager to change the Roman Catholic Church since his beliefs clashed with the church’s practices. He proclaimed that salvation of the soul will come about because of the genuine confidence in God, not simply great deeds. Martin Luther also firmly hated the demonstration of conceding and offering indulgences since he felt that forgiveness came from that person and God.
Martin Luther was responsible for the start of the Reformation. He was against many of the Catholic Church’s teachings and beliefs, especially the sale of indulgences. He believed the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt and should be reformed. His beliefs were based on three principles: Sola Fide, Sola scriptura and Sola gratia. He believed that salvation should come from faith rather than from doing good deeds and that religious truth could be obtained by reading the Bible. He believed that humans are able to educate themselves and gain knowledge. At the time, the sale of indulgences was a common practice. On the 31st of October 1517, Martin Luther nailed a document,
Martin Luther (November 10, 1483 - February 18, 1546) was a Christian theologian, Augustinian monk, professor, pastor, and church reformer whose teachings inspired the Lutheran Reformation and deeply influenced the doctrines of Protestant and other Christian traditions. Luther began the Protestant Reformation with the publication of his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. In this publication, he attacked the Church's sale of indulgences. He advocated a theology that rested on God's gracious activity in Jesus Christ, rather than in human works. Nearly all Protestants trace their history back to Luther in one way or another. Luther's relationship to philosophy is complex and should not be judged only by his famous