Luther

With yesterday being said to be the day that Martin Luther (1483-1546) nailed his thesis to the door at Wittenberg church door, I watched Luther with a group of friends. I found it rather well done. I previously had only watched the old Luther film.

There is great significance in Martin Luther's experience and doings in Germany. His actions obviously had ramifications for the religious life of the Western world. But it also had an amazing impact on Western culture, poltics, and civil liberties. There are a number of points that one may disagree with Martin Luther on, but it is foolish to ignore or undermine his contributions to the cause of truth and religion.

Here is one of my favorite Martin Luther quotes: "Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace." (from "An Introduction to St. Paul's Letter to the Romans")

A Skeptical, Questioning Man of Faith

Is it possible to be skeptical and questioning and have remarkable faith in God?

This is something I've been pondering as I'm making way through the book of Genesis.

Both the New and Old Testaments describe Abraham/Abram as one who was faithful, and whose faith was accounted to him for righteousness. But, at the same token, Abraham had doubts and posed questions. Abraham questioned whether God's promises to him could really be true given the realities he was facing (Gen.15:3). And not only did he struggle with putting faith in seemingly impossible promises, further he asked for assurance regarding God's promise to him (Gen.15:8). You can tell that being childless put his faith to the test and caused him to really examine whether he could trust God's promises.

Abraham certainly seems to have been an intense individual. In the narratives of Genesis 12-15 we see a lot of different facets of his character. He showed prudence in his dealings with the king of Sodom. He showed great statesmanship in resolving the issue with his servants and Lot's servants, and also in rescuing Lot. He also showed a lack of courage and faith in using trickery to try to protect his life in Egypt.

There was something remarkable about Abraham. It wasn't that he was without doubts or had a perfect trust in God. He very much struggled as chapter 15 makes clear. But Abraham was remarkable and unusual in a different sort of way. This should be very obvious when we remember that Melchizedek appeared out of "nowhere" with wine and bread to bless Abraham and say:

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” (Genesis 14:19-20)