Kirjailijakuva

Tietoja tekijästä

Mary E. Hinkle is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and an associate professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota

Tekijän teokset

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

There is no Common Knowledge data for this author yet. You can help.

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

Signs of Belonging: Luther’s Marks of the Church in Christian Life by Mary E. Hinkle. Age: adult. This small book, one of the Lutheran Voices series by Augsburg Fortress (the ELCA’s publisher), is good for personal or group Bible study. Its chapters are concise, and each is followed by several study questions. There are also several books listed at the end for further reading. Its theme: what makes the way we worship Lutheran? What must a Lutheran worship service encompass? Luther identifies 7 signs, or practices, that differentiate our worship from others: 1) the Word, 2) Baptism, 3) Holy Communion, 4) the forgiveness and reproof of sin, 5) the Office of the Ministry, 6) Worship, or Public Prayer, and 7) The Holy Cross (that is, suffering on account of faithfulness). It is also instructive to note what it does NOT include.
These practices, or signs, are open and public to believer and nonbeliever alike – our church doors are open to all. Each sign is connected to the Bible and the earliest history of the church. The first mark, the Word, refers to the scriptures as well as Christ, the Word Incarnate. “Where you hear this word preached, believed, professed, and lived,” Luther writes, “there you find Christian holy people.” The second mark, baptism, has been practiced by the church since its earliest days. God saves us not through acts we accomplish but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Sign 3, Holy Communion, is seen in Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper in the gospels and in Corinthians: “do this in remembrance of me.”
Not only did Christ possess the power to physically heal but also to forgive our sins, sign 4. He even gave his disciples the authority to do so, and this is still a central part of our worship. When Luther lists sign 5, the Office of Ministry, as part of the church, he means there are people (our ministers), designated by the church to proclaim the Word of God, administer Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, and to announce the forgiveness of sins. “Sixth,” Luther writes, “the holy Christian people are recognized by prayer, public praise, and thanksgiving to God.” He commends any “prayers or songs which are intelligible and from which we can learn, and by means of which we can mend our ways.” This made me giggle a bit. I guess nonsense syllables like “sha na na” don’t cut it. The seventh mark, the Holy Cross, means the church is recognized by the suffering it endures as a result of following the Crucified One. Luther says that these seven true marks of the church are the way the Holy Spirit makes Christians holy and breathes into us the life of the risen Christ.
That, succinctly, is it. As opposed to Roman Catholicism, we do not have additional sacraments, deify Mary or the saints, or make individual confession to a priest. And unlike Protestant fundamentalists, we do not handle snakes, speak in tongues, promise a “gospel of financial wealth,” nor is the ELCA a political mouthpiece for any political party.
Read this book to delve more deeply into Luther’s seven signs of the church. It is a short, very easy book to read. After you read it, you will look at worship differently and be able to identify and treasure each mark of the church, right here at Epiphany. To me, Lutherans have the best theology on the block and we become better servants when we continually challenge ourselves to learn all we can about it.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Epiphany-OviedoELCA | Aug 26, 2011 |

Tilastot

Teokset
1
Jäseniä
28
Suosituimmuussija
#471,397
Arvio (tähdet)
5.0
Kirja-arvosteluja
1
ISBN:t
1