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Christians and Jews. A Declaration of the Lutheran Church of Bavaria
2. The Importance of the Shoah
The path to a fresh start in the relationships of Christians and Jews has to begin with an understanding of the complicity of Christians in the persecution and destruction of children, women, and men of Jewish origin (the Shoah, the Holocaust). The Shoah represents a deep challenge to Christian teaching and practice. It belongs to the historical development of centuries of an old anti-Jewish tradition, which also presents a total Christian problematic. This tradition helped to prepare the ground for the crimes against the Jews in the twentieth century. !be Lutheran Church of Bavaria has a share in this guilt -as Lutheran and as German.
3. Luther and the Jews
It is imperative for the Lutheran Church, which knows itself to be indebted to the work and tradition of Martin Luther, to take seriously also his anti-Jewish utterances, to acknowledge their theological function, and to reflect on their consequences. It has to distance itself from every [expression of] anti-Judaism in Lutheran theology. In this, attention must be given not only to his polemics against the Jews but also to all places where Luther simplistically set the faith of the Jews as "works-righteousness" over against the gospel.
2. The Importance of the Shoah
The path to a fresh start in the relationships of Christians and Jews has to begin with an understanding of the complicity of Christians in the persecution and destruction of children, women, and men of Jewish origin (the Shoah, the Holocaust). The Shoah represents a deep challenge to Christian teaching and practice. It belongs to the historical development of centuries of an old anti-Jewish tradition, which also presents a total Christian problematic. This tradition helped to prepare the ground for the crimes against the Jews in the twentieth century. !be Lutheran Church of Bavaria has a share in this guilt -as Lutheran and as German.
3. Luther and the Jews
It is imperative for the Lutheran Church, which knows itself to be indebted to the work and tradition of Martin Luther, to take seriously also his anti-Jewish utterances, to acknowledge their theological function, and to reflect on their consequences. It has to distance itself from every [expression of] anti-Judaism in Lutheran theology. In this, attention must be given not only to his polemics against the Jews but also to all places where Luther simplistically set the faith of the Jews as "works-righteousness" over against the gospel.
B
There are more riddles in life than any of us will ever know all the answers to. Sometimes when I feel discouraged about this, I take comfort in Matthew 6:25-34, which begins "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life”. Jesus said the two most important commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor, and all the other laws should follow from those two. I just try to remember and follow those two commandments, try to be satisfied with the imperfect brain God gave me that doesn’t know the answer to everything, try to learn the things I can, and try not to worry about the things I can’t control.
What is worse is we are not excused by not knowing or being wrong. Ignorance/deception will be no defense on judgement day. So which is it? I dont know why I am even asking, just crying out for help I guess. However I know only Jesus can help me. I pray this thread doesnt inspire doubt. Forgive me guys. 
I know there is only one truth. I just want to know what it is.
I know there is only one truth. I just want to know what it is.
2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (ESV)
James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (ESV)
Ps 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. (ESV)
K
To the OP. Start with what saved you. That is the cross. Why put faith in ant thing else. Nothing else has the power to save or deliver. So why waste time in placing your faith in the things of self righteousness, when there is no power in them. The cross was the answer then and it is the answer now. Just accept and say thank you and the Holy Spirit will as long as we ask Him to. He is a perfect gentleman and will not force Himself or His direction. We must seek and through the name of Jesus and then yield to His leadership. Jesus said "I am the way,the truth and the life"
Read the Bible from cover to cover. Keep track of the verses that really stand out for you. You can read through the Bible in a year if you read three chapters of the Old Testament and one of the New Testament. Read the Psalms daily. Pray before and after you read the Bible.
I have done that for 33 years. Each year I am closer to God and my faith deepens. It is the Word of God that transforms us.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2
As for the stuff in the Bible you don't understand, pray and ask God to teach you - it may take a few years, and we will never have all the answers till we see Jesus face to face, but we can have the comfort of knowing Christ is walking with us and the Holy Spirit leading us each day.
Maturity in the Christian walk is not instantaneous. But that is a good thing - we grow into the image of Christ, as we reflect back his glory.
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Cor. 3:18
As for the temptation to sin, God is the one who helps us through that. But not perfect till we see Christ face to face.
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Cor. 13:12
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appearswe shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2
It is best to read these verses in context, so feel free to open up to the above chapters and read what surrounds them, to really get a feel for where God is leading you!
I have done that for 33 years. Each year I am closer to God and my faith deepens. It is the Word of God that transforms us.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2
As for the stuff in the Bible you don't understand, pray and ask God to teach you - it may take a few years, and we will never have all the answers till we see Jesus face to face, but we can have the comfort of knowing Christ is walking with us and the Holy Spirit leading us each day.
Maturity in the Christian walk is not instantaneous. But that is a good thing - we grow into the image of Christ, as we reflect back his glory.
"And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Cor. 3:18
As for the temptation to sin, God is the one who helps us through that. But not perfect till we see Christ face to face.
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." 1 Cor. 13:12
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appearswe shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is." 1 John 3:2
It is best to read these verses in context, so feel free to open up to the above chapters and read what surrounds them, to really get a feel for where God is leading you!
If they do believe they will leave these ways of the flesh nature and have a Godly sorrow as the Corinthians came to in 2 cor. 7 was shown that they did by Paul's writing.
So they did by "Faith" in Christ quit the sin nature and moved onto God's nature in the Spirit of God through the resurrected Christ.
So as I am saying, I used to do all those things, and by the grace of God being all God and none of me, except to be God's type of water glass to be poured onto all, to understand to believe and trust God to do in you what you can't do in the flesh through you by God's Spirit that God through the resurrection of Christ placed in the one's that believe a new perfect nature in the Spirit, by the resurrection. We being dead to the sin nature, by the death of Christ.
So do you believe God did this made us Holy through his Son if we believe we are, scripture states so, and never of self.
[h=3]Colossians 1:21-23[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
[SUP]21 [/SUP]And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled [SUP]22 [/SUP]in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: [SUP]23 [/SUP]if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
So they did by "Faith" in Christ quit the sin nature and moved onto God's nature in the Spirit of God through the resurrected Christ.
So as I am saying, I used to do all those things, and by the grace of God being all God and none of me, except to be God's type of water glass to be poured onto all, to understand to believe and trust God to do in you what you can't do in the flesh through you by God's Spirit that God through the resurrection of Christ placed in the one's that believe a new perfect nature in the Spirit, by the resurrection. We being dead to the sin nature, by the death of Christ.
So do you believe God did this made us Holy through his Son if we believe we are, scripture states so, and never of self.
[h=3]Colossians 1:21-23[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
[SUP]21 [/SUP]And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled [SUP]22 [/SUP]in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: [SUP]23 [/SUP]if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
cool and you will be able to do this type of Love of God, once you have discovered if not already these verses
1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
and in discovering this amazing Love we see>
[h=3]Ephesians 3:17-19[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
[SUP]17 [/SUP]that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, [SUP]18 [/SUP]may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; [SUP]19 [/SUP]and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
So it is no longer us trying it is now through belief we are doing, yet not us God through us as in 1 Cor. 13:4-13. God bt Faith in God plants this type of love in us, if we believe God and are giving God all the credit it is done.
1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
and in discovering this amazing Love we see>
[h=3]Ephesians 3:17-19[/h]Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
[SUP]17 [/SUP]that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, [SUP]18 [/SUP]may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; [SUP]19 [/SUP]and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
So it is no longer us trying it is now through belief we are doing, yet not us God through us as in 1 Cor. 13:4-13. God bt Faith in God plants this type of love in us, if we believe God and are giving God all the credit it is done.
Martin Luther was big on saying, "Sin, and sin boldly." Is that the language of a man who is "big in genuine repentance"?
What you don't know about Martin Luther ! - YouTube
Martin Luther, the Devil and Denominations - YouTube
What you don't know about Martin Luther ! - YouTube
Martin Luther, the Devil and Denominations - YouTube
The Book of Concord states that Jews are a dishonest "race" with evil purpose.
Defense of the Augsburg Confession - Book of Concord
The Defense of the Augsburg Confession: Articles VII and VIII: Of the Church.
18] Neither are the wicked the kingdom of Christ, for the reason that the revelation has not yet been made. For that is always the kingdom which He quickens by His Spirit, whether it be revealed or be covered by the cross; just as He who has now been glorified is the same Christ who was before afflicted. 19] And with this clearly agree the parables of Christ, who says, Matt. 13:38, that the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the Wicked One. The field, He says, is the world, not the Church. Thus John [Matt. 3:12: He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff] speaks concerning the whole race of the Jews, and says that it will come to pass that the true Church will be separated from that people. Therefore, this passage is more against the adversaries than in favor of them, because it shows that the true and spiritual people is to be separated from the carnal people
The Large Catechism - Book of Concord
The Large Catechism: Holy Baptism
54] For even though a Jew should to-day come dishonestly and with evil purpose, and we should baptize him in all good faith, we must say that his baptism is nevertheless genuine. For here is the water together with the Word of God, even though he does not receive it as he should, just as those who unworthily go to the Sacrament receive the true Sacrament, even though they do not believe.
Bitter fruit.
Matthaeus 7:16 An ihren Früchten sollt ihr sie erkennen. Kann man auch Trauben lesen von den Dornen oder Feigen von den Disteln? (Luther Bibel)
Really bitter.
Denn wenn auch der Selbsterhaltungstrieb des jüdischen Volkes nicht kleiner, sondern eher noch größer ist als der anderer Völker, wenn auch seine geistigen Fähigkeiten sehr leicht den Eindruck zu erwecken vermögen, daß sie der intellektuellen Veranlagung der übrigen Rassen ebenbürtig wären, so fehlt doch vollständig die allerwesentlichste Voraussetzung für ein Kulturvolk, die idealistische Gesinnung.
Der Aufopferungswille im jüdischen Volke geht über den nackten Selbsterhaltungstrieb des einzelnen nicht hinaus. Das scheinbar große Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl ist in einem sehr primitiven Herdeninstinkt begründet, wie er sich ähnlich bei vielen anderen Lebewesen auf dieser Welt zeigt. Bemerkenswert ist dabei die Tatsache, daß Herdentrieb stets nur so lange zu gegenseitiger Unterstützung führt, als eine gemeinsame Gefahr dies zweckmäßig oder unvermeidlich erscheinen läßt. Das gleiche Rudel Wölfe, das soeben noch gemeinsam seinen Raub überfällt, löst sich bei nachlassendem Hunger wieder in seine einzelnen Tiere auf. Das gleiche gilt von Pferden, die sich des Angreifers geschlossen zu erwehren suchen, um nach überstandener Gefahr wieder auseinanderzustieben.
--Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
Defense of the Augsburg Confession - Book of Concord
The Defense of the Augsburg Confession: Articles VII and VIII: Of the Church.
18] Neither are the wicked the kingdom of Christ, for the reason that the revelation has not yet been made. For that is always the kingdom which He quickens by His Spirit, whether it be revealed or be covered by the cross; just as He who has now been glorified is the same Christ who was before afflicted. 19] And with this clearly agree the parables of Christ, who says, Matt. 13:38, that the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the Wicked One. The field, He says, is the world, not the Church. Thus John [Matt. 3:12: He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff] speaks concerning the whole race of the Jews, and says that it will come to pass that the true Church will be separated from that people. Therefore, this passage is more against the adversaries than in favor of them, because it shows that the true and spiritual people is to be separated from the carnal people
The Large Catechism - Book of Concord
The Large Catechism: Holy Baptism
54] For even though a Jew should to-day come dishonestly and with evil purpose, and we should baptize him in all good faith, we must say that his baptism is nevertheless genuine. For here is the water together with the Word of God, even though he does not receive it as he should, just as those who unworthily go to the Sacrament receive the true Sacrament, even though they do not believe.
Bitter fruit.
Matthaeus 7:16 An ihren Früchten sollt ihr sie erkennen. Kann man auch Trauben lesen von den Dornen oder Feigen von den Disteln? (Luther Bibel)
Really bitter.
Denn wenn auch der Selbsterhaltungstrieb des jüdischen Volkes nicht kleiner, sondern eher noch größer ist als der anderer Völker, wenn auch seine geistigen Fähigkeiten sehr leicht den Eindruck zu erwecken vermögen, daß sie der intellektuellen Veranlagung der übrigen Rassen ebenbürtig wären, so fehlt doch vollständig die allerwesentlichste Voraussetzung für ein Kulturvolk, die idealistische Gesinnung.
Der Aufopferungswille im jüdischen Volke geht über den nackten Selbsterhaltungstrieb des einzelnen nicht hinaus. Das scheinbar große Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl ist in einem sehr primitiven Herdeninstinkt begründet, wie er sich ähnlich bei vielen anderen Lebewesen auf dieser Welt zeigt. Bemerkenswert ist dabei die Tatsache, daß Herdentrieb stets nur so lange zu gegenseitiger Unterstützung führt, als eine gemeinsame Gefahr dies zweckmäßig oder unvermeidlich erscheinen läßt. Das gleiche Rudel Wölfe, das soeben noch gemeinsam seinen Raub überfällt, löst sich bei nachlassendem Hunger wieder in seine einzelnen Tiere auf. Das gleiche gilt von Pferden, die sich des Angreifers geschlossen zu erwehren suchen, um nach überstandener Gefahr wieder auseinanderzustieben.
--Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
It is unfortunate that those passages single out the Jew for in context what is the issue is unbelievers in general...not just Jews. Nevertheless those statements do not rise anywhere to the level of later Luther's anti-semitism.
Of course we can run down the long history of anti-semitism in the Roman Church can't we...but not here, this is a moldy debate.
Of course we can run down the long history of anti-semitism in the Roman Church can't we...but not here, this is a moldy debate.
My post didn't include Luther's antisemitism. It was a direct comparison of the Book of Concord and Mein Kampf. After Auschwitz, calling it "unfortunate" is missing the point. If I go to pain to re-read Mein Kampf, in German, which is a horrible exercise, it's for everyone's edification, because I already knew what he wrote.
Sure, we can discuss the Vatican and every other church, of course. Hitler was a Catholic choir boy in his youth, the only thing moldy is the church he sang in.
It's not antisemitism per se though, it's what led to Auschwitz and what didn't. And the Vatican a lot of blood on their hands.
Rev 2:2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. (ESV)
Yesterday I posted about the Greek Orthodox Church (idolatrous image of man) and the United States (idolatrous image of man), enjoy:
http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...-people-worshiping-sunday-17.html#post1150978
http://christianchat.com/conspiracy...ople-push-back-justice-roosting-chickens.html
Sure, we can discuss the Vatican and every other church, of course. Hitler was a Catholic choir boy in his youth, the only thing moldy is the church he sang in.
It's not antisemitism per se though, it's what led to Auschwitz and what didn't. And the Vatican a lot of blood on their hands.
Rev 2:2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. (ESV)
Yesterday I posted about the Greek Orthodox Church (idolatrous image of man) and the United States (idolatrous image of man), enjoy:
http://christianchat.com/bible-disc...-people-worshiping-sunday-17.html#post1150978
http://christianchat.com/conspiracy...ople-push-back-justice-roosting-chickens.html