Quotes:

Reformation Women: Katharina Schutz Zell

• “She combines the graces of both Mary and Martha.” Intense and capable, Katharina became the early Reformation’s leading female author. Sometimes called the “Mother Reformer,” she spent herself in gospel service.
• It was one of the first Protestant marriages—a bold step for both husband and wife as it broke canon law and defied Rome.
• Katharina’s first published work was a defense of clerical marriage.
• She stated that Roman Catholic arguments against clerical marriage were not based on Scripture but on the pope’s system of taxing the rampant prostitution among the clergy.
• Katharina’s behavior counters the stereotype of a helpmeet being spineless and needy. Her direct and frank rebuttal made her known throughout Europe.
• Strasbourg changed, and Katharina became involved in her most public and painful controversy. When her husband was alive, they had a student, Ludwig Rabus, live in their home as an intern. He became Zell’s successor and the city’s most popular preacher. Despite his training, he attacked Reformed views and customs, urging high Lutheranism. Katharina’s tolerance did not extend to one abusing her husband’s pulpit and theology, and she wrote against Rabus. Her writings against him are the most notable of her works, as their defense of truth and very public, controversial nature placed Katharina in the role of Reformer.

This message was sent to you by Robertcoss via Diigo

Quotes:

Where Does Ultimate Authority Lie?

• There is a science in theology and in biblical studies that we call hermeneutics. It is the science of biblical interpretation. It teaches objective principles and rules that govern our treatment of the text, lest we turn the Bible into a piece of clay that we can shape and form for our own desires, as the Pharisees did.
• At the heart of the science of hermeneutics in Reformed theology is the regula fidei, or “the law of faith,” which says that no portion of Scripture must ever be set against another portion of Scripture. The first assumption here is that all of Scripture is the Word of God. The second assumption is that God does not speak with a forked tongue, that what He reveals in His Word is always consistent.
• The biggest theological controversy in church history was the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century. On the surface, it seemed as if the whole controversy was about one doctrine—justification by faith alone, which is the gospel itself. When Martin Luther was brought into disputes with the princes of the church, they reminded him that his understanding of justification was not the traditional understanding, that the church long had explained justification in different categories. But Luther simply said: “Here is what the Bible says. My conscience is held captive by the Word of God. I must submit to Scripture, not to man-made traditions.” So, the secondary issue was the question of authority.
• Where does ultimate authority lie? Is it in the Scriptures alone or is it in the Scriptures and tradition?

This message was sent to you by Robertcoss via Diigo