Reformation Sunday
All Saints’ Day
A New Testament
October 30th is Reformation Sunday. This year,
we commemorate the 500th anniversary of the publication of Desiderius Erasmus's Novum Instrumentum omne; the
first printed version of the New Testament in Greek.
Portrait
of Erasmus of Rotterdam
Lithograph
by Fr. Schenck after Hans Holbein
1849
On March 7, 1516, Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) wrote to a
friend with great relief that the printing of his New Testament, the Novum Instrumentum omne, was complete.
The research of a decade and the labor of nearly a year had produced the first
published version of the New Testament in Greek, the common language of the
early church. A printed Greek New Testament meant that what had been available
only to a few was now available to many: the Gospel in its original language.
Erasmus—Renaissance humanist, Catholic reformer, and Dutch
educator—had long seen the need for a reliable print edition of the Greek text.
Many had been promised but none delivered. In 1514, Swiss printer Johann Froben
offered him a chance to publish his own, and Erasmus moved to Basel to oversee
the work. The first edition featured Greek text, based on manuscripts available
to Erasmus in Basel and corrected through his own research, alongside a lightly
edited version of the Latin translation that had been used in the Western
church for centuries.
Erasmus’s volume received attention across
Europe. He issued a second, corrected edition in 1519 that reverted to the traditional
“testamentum” title and replaced the Latin text with his own fresh translation.
This was the edition Martin Luther used to translate the New Testament into
German in 1522. English-language Bibles such as the Geneva (1560) and King
James (1611) were also strongly influenced by Erasmus. The reformation of the
church began with the reformation of the Bible.
More:
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted 95 Theses
(propositions) on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church as an invitation to
debate the sale of indulgences for forgiveness. That event sparked a
reform movement that eventually led to a Lutheran church and separate
denominations.
While there is much sorrow in the disunity which the
Reformation caused, Luther did establish the idea that the Church is always in
need of reform in the light of the Gospe. Luther’s primary principal that
Christians are justified by God’s grace through faith in Christ has also found
universal acceptance among denominations. On this day we pray for church
unity, for the purity of God’s Word, and for a church that is always open to
reform and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
http://www.emmanuelypsi.org/seasonal/reformation.html
As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do,
what we have, and what other people think about us,
we will remain filled with judgments,
opinions, evaluations, and condemnations.
We will remain addicted to putting
people and things in their
‘right’ place.
~
Henri Nouwen
This above all:
to thine own self be true,
and it must follow, as the night the day,
thou canst not then be false to any man.
~
William Shakespeare
On
Wednesday, about 50 elk settled down for the entire day
and
into the night in my “front yard.”
A
big bugle!
Vicki
Hall and Kay Owen at Chew and Chat on Thursday!
We
talked for a lo-o-o-o-o-ong time!!!
Lynn
Dimmick, Lurlie Bickford, and Betty Astle at our
Book
Club Thursday evening.
Jeri
Aldridge modeled a hat that Friendship Bridge will be selling
at
the Alternative Gift Fair next weekend.
(Unless
she buys it first!)
Holly
Brekke, John Lange
Many
of our Rotarians came to breakfast in costume Friday morning.
The
Three Witches:
Casey
Sacks, Beth Andersen, and Sondra Kellogg
Kevin
McGuire arrived as Elvis.
Anna
Harry, Kevin McGuire
An Artful Evening
Sculpture Evergreen
Friday,
October 28, 2016
Mount
Vernon Country Club
Peter
Eggers, Tom and Ann Rader
Anna
Marie Nelson (my golfing buddy) is the President of Sculpture Evergreen
and
introduced the evening.
John
Ellis was the auctioneer.
An
eager bidder!
Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity
opinions which differ from that of their social environment.
~
Albert Einstein
October 30, 2016 Thirty-first Sunday
in Ordinary Time/Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 26
Reformation Sunday is always the last Sunday in October, marking
the occasion in 1517 when Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the church door
in Wittenberg, Germany.
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in
him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will
know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We
are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you
mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Very
truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave
does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there
forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:31-36
Reformation Sunday
Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the
mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
The Beatitudes
3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:1-12
All Saints' Day
Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
Happy
Halloween!
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4 with
Psalm 119:137-144 or
Isaiah 1:10-18 with Psalm 32:1-7
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke
19:1-10