Hemelse Vader, ik bid vandaag voor de vele zendelingen die U overal ter
wereld zo onvermoeibaar dienen: in oerwouden, in steden, soms onder
vijandige omstandigheden en in onbekende culturen. Geef ieder van hen
vandaag een speciale aanraking van U. Sla uw beschermende armen om hen
heen. Bemoedig hen. Hou hen gezond en sterk, met een niet aflatend
enthousiasme over het verspreiden van het Goede Nieuws! Amen.
Hier is mijn dienaar, hem zal ik steunen, hij is mijn uitverkorene,
in hem vind Ik vreugde, Ik heb hem met mijn geest vervuld. Hij zal alle
volken het recht doen kennen... Ongebroken en vol vuur zal hij het recht
op aarde vestigen... (Jesaja 42 vers 1 en 4a).
A YouGov pol has revealed that only six of the ten commandments of God are still important to British Christians.
Not to our surprise most Britain's the four which have fallen by the wayside are the requirement not to
worship idols, use the God His name in vain, to worship no other God, and to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Concerning the Sabbath or the Sunday since the 2012 ruling by a High Court judge - the first on the issue in nearly a
decade - Christians have no right to decline working on Sunday
as it is not a “core component” of their beliefs. The fact that some Christians were prepared to work on Sundays meant it was not protected, the court said.
In 1994, when Sunday trading in England was liberalised shopworkers
were given a guarantee that working would be strictly voluntary, but the
guarantee did not apply to people in other sectors.
The
Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations, published in 2003,
say employers must justify Sunday working as a “legitimate business
need” and does not give a blanket right to Christians not to work.
If employers fail to treat staff fairly and proportionately, the employee may be able to claim discrimination, the rules add.
The last ruling by judges was when a quarry worker claimed his
Christian beliefs had been treated with “contempt” by employers who
tried to force him to work on Sundays in 2003.
When we look at lots of Christians and see what they do on Sabbath and / or on the Sunday it is no surprise courts consider it not of any religious importance.
Keeping the Sabbath Day holy is seen as the least relevant of the
Commandments in the modern era. Fewer than one in five (19%) Britons say
keeping Sundays holy is still an important principle to live by,
including fewer than a third of Christians (31%) and 7% of the
non-religious. Almost half of Catholics said they supported keeping the Sabbath day
holy nut by that they mostly mean keeping the Sunday as rest day. Just 29 per cent of Protestants said they felt the same.
Concerning the first commandment a real Christians must recognise that the majority of Christians do worship more than one god and mostly do not even know the Name of the Holy Father. As such they do not mind swearing or using one of more tittles of God to make their words stronger or to show their disgust over something.
Just under
a quarter (23%) of the overall population say that you may not use the
word "God" in or as a curse, including 38% of Christians and just 7% of
the non-religious.
Less than one in three Christians believe in preserving Sunday as a day
of rest, with 38 per cent against using the Lord's name in vain and 43
per cent condemning the worshipping of idols, though lots of them do not worry to bow down in front of graven images or statues and pictures of gods and saints.
On
Tuesday the Archbishop of Canterbury signalled support for a day of
rest, tweeting that he was "encouraged" by the Chief Rabbi's campaign
for people to spend time offline over the Sabbath.
While almost half of Catholics said they supported keeping the
Sabbath day holy, just 29 per cent of Protestants said they felt the
same.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, said: " In an age as
busy, frantic and feverish as ours I would have thought that keeping the
Sabbath, or at the very least observing a balance between work and rest
and play was more important than ever.
Sabbath is both a radical idea and a practically useful idea for it
simply acknowledges that we need to rest and we need to play. Indeed, it
says this is what we are made for."
He also
lamented Christians' abandonment of the commandment about idolatry,
saying:
"Whether it is celebrity, wealth, a certain designer label pair
of jeans jeans or a make of car, we have all construct a sense of worth
in the desire to own and possess certain things that we believe will
give value.
Today we do find lots of christians spending more time on their idols than on the Divine Creator God. In the United States we see a similar trend having 'money' or 'wealth' having become the most important god. There even in mega-churches people have special services to offer them more wealth.
Fewer than a third of Britons (31%) say that people should not worship
idols (defined in the survey as statues or symbols). Christians are
split on whether they still consider this to be an important
commandment, with 43% saying it is and 44% saying it is not. Meanwhile,
only one in five non-religious Brits (20%) say it is still an important
rule, though most, not to say all, of the respondents who claim to be Christian worship a triune god and as such go in against the first commandment of God.
Only one in five Britons (20%) still believe that the Christian God’s
monopoly on worship is still relevant in modern Britain (including 36%
of Christians and just 5% of non-religious Brits).
The survey shows that believers and non-believers alike support the simple, ancient statements
which continue to provide the foundations of our legal system and our
shared sense of right and wrong.
Having been central tenets of Biblical teaching for several millenia 6 from the 10 commandments are still considered of value today.
"Thou shalt not kill" receives 93% of the votes. Most Brits think it is still important to live by this and by the command "thou shalt not steal". In the case of both Commandments, they were seen as still important by 94% of Christians and 93% of those with no religion.
Being honest about certain matters seems surprisingly still important for 87%, though we can see a lot of boasting and hear lots of fake stories and hear a lot of people not telling the truth.
Not bearing false witness (telling lies) about others came third
among all groups, with 87% of all Brits, 90% of Christians, and 86% of
those without a religion saying that it is still important to live by.
Honesty has also to do with how we treat others and how we behave ourselves in relationships. Though we hear a lot about people having good fun with different people of the opposite or even same sex, close to three quarters (73%) of the population at large say that not
committing adultery is still a top life principle, including 69% of
non-religious Brits and 76% of Christians. Which is strange that it is so high on the roster because we encounter lots of divorces and mixed families.
Today we also find lots of elderly people left alone in homes. Police also often have to come to help by violence against parents. Though the poll shows that "Honouring thy father and thy mother" is still an important rule to follow for 69% of all Britons, including 78% of Christians and 60% of the non-religious.
The Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, said:
"This survey shows that
the practical morality which has lain at the heart of the Judeo
Christian tradition for the last 3500 years still finds favour with most
British people today, even where explicitly religious commandments gain
less support.
After 500 Years, Reformation-Era Divisions Have Lost Much of Their Potency
Theological differences diminished to a degree that might have
shocked Christians in past centuries.
As Protestants prepare to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation,
new Pew Research Center surveys show that in both Western Europe and
the United States, the theological differences that split Western
Christianity in the 1500s have diminished to a degree that might have
shocked Christians in past centuries.
When we look at the Lutheran, Calvinist, Presbytarian, Pentecostal and Baptist churches we do not notice a lot of free thinking and continued Biblical study in the church.
While the Reformation led to more than a century of devastating wars
and persecution in Europe, both Protestants and Catholics across the
continent now overwhelmingly express willingness to accept each other as neighbours and even as family members. this would not be bad when they all kept to study of the Bible and would aim to bring their flock closer to God.
The majority of present protestant churches are aiming to please their folks and are looking for ways to make their service as entertaining as possible; That way the Pentecostals are enjoying a growth whilst many other protestant churches are loosing members.
In Western Europe, the Pew Research Center conducted telephone surveys from April 11
to Aug. 2, 2017, among 24,599 people across 15 countries. In the U.S.,
the survey was conducted online from May 30 to Aug. 9, 2017, among 5,198
panelists on Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (although all
of the questions analysed in the survey were asked of only half the sample).
Of the U.S. Protestants 46% say the Bible provides all the religious guidance Christians need, a traditionally Protestant belief known as sola scriptura.
But 52% say Christians should look for guidance from church teachings
and traditions as well as from the Bible, the position held by the
Catholic Church.
In the United States we can find mega churches where the preachers just shout with quotes from the bible but not really look into biblical texts to teach about the Word of God. How more entertaining a pastor can be how bigger his church can be. Among self-identified white evangelicals, 44% express both convictions of sola fide and sola scriptura,
and this figure rises to 59% among white evangelicals who say they
attend church at least once a week. 19% say neither religious tradition espouses sola fide, and one-in-ten
U.S. adults (11%) say only Catholicism traditionally teaches that
salvation comes through faith alone.
Among Protestants who know that only Protestantism (trinitarian) traditionally teaches
that salvation comes through faith alone, about three-quarters (77%)
embrace the concept of sola fide. But among the much larger share of
Protestants who are not aware that sola fide is solely a Protestant
teaching, far fewer (35%) believe that faith is all that is needed to
get into heaven. The survey does not take into account the non-trinitarian protestant churches which for the majority teach that people are not just saved by their baptism or by their reborn status. Most of non-trinitarian protestant churches teach one has to become like Christ and one has to follow the commandments of Christ and the commandments of God. According those churches one has to live according the faith and have to do good works. Without repenting for the wrong being done, they do not believe one can enter the Kingdom of God.
In nearly all of the European countries surveyed, majorities or
pluralities of both Catholics and Protestants adhere to the
traditionally Catholic view that both faith and good works are necessary
to attain salvation. In fact, in every country except Norway (where 51%
of Protestants say salvation comes through faith alone), belief in sola
fide is a minority view even among Protestants.
Catholics and Protestants in Western Europe generally report low
levels of religious observance: Medians of just 8% of Protestants and
14% of Catholics say they attend religious services weekly or more. But
Europeans who say religion is important in their lives are especially
likely to hold their respective church’s traditional position regarding
the means of salvation. For example, 31% of Protestants in Sweden who
say religion is “very” or “somewhat” important in their lives believe in
sola fide, compared with 10% of other Swedish Protestants.
The impact of secularization is apparent, but so are pockets of
religiosity. For instance, the Netherlands has a relatively high level
of disaffiliation, with about half of Dutch adults (48%) describing
themselves as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” religiously.
Yet Dutch Protestants also stand out for some of Europe’s highest
reported levels of church attendance, with 43% saying they go to church
at least once a week.
In every European country surveyed, roughly nine-in-ten or more
Protestants and Catholics say they are willing to accept members of the
other tradition as neighbours. And large majorities of both groups say they would be willing to accept members of the other group into their families.
For example, 98% of German Protestants say they would accept Catholics
as members of their family, and a similar share of German Catholics
(97%) say the same about Protestants.
English: page of the Acts of the Apostles from the last edition of the bible originally translated by Johann Dietenberger, published in Augsburg 1776 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In past generations, especially when God’s word was first available for
people to read in their own language, God’s offer of “salvation” was
embraced by many. Let us read God’s word ever more fervently – and let
it ‘infect’ our hearts, so that there is the same reaction in us as when
Paul’s preached to the Gentiles!
We read, when they “heard this,
they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as
were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). May we be among
the “appointed”.
De meeste protestanten zal je vandaag horen zeggen dat zij mogen terugblikken op "500 jaar Evangelieverkondiging, en de verdediging van de Bijbelse leer". Voor de protestanten is dit 500-jarig jubileum een goede aanleiding om meerdere lezingen en studies te brengen over de Reformatie. Het kan een tijd van reflectie genoemd worden waarbij mag nagedacht worden over de uitdagingen waar gereformeerde kerken vandaag de dag mee te maken hebben.
In de tijd van Luther mag het zo geweest zijn dat er verscheidene geestelijken waren die echt hun best deden om te verkondigen en het Woord van God onder de gewone man te brengen. Vandaag de dag vindt men eerder verkondigers bij diegenen die door vele protestanten zelfs als niet-christenen worden aanschouwd, terwijl het juist mensen zijn die men moet aanschouwen als ware volgers van Jezus Christus en aldus echte Christenen zijn.
Ook al zijn de kerken in het noordelijk halfrond sterk aan het verminderen, zijn er nog steeds veel kerken, maar er zijn weinig tekenen van de Kerk. er is zeer weinig te merken van de taak die Jezus aan zijn volgelingen heeft gegeven. Men ziet niet echt veel christenen aan anderen hun geloof kenbaar maken. Zij die werkelijk uit gaan in de wereld, en het Goede Nieuws van het komende Koninkrijk kenbaar maken, worden dikwijls met de vinger gewezen als een gevaar voor het volk. Zij die zich houden aan de EneWare God worden niet graag aanhoord, vooral om dat vele mensen vinden dat zij door hen in hun vrijheid om aan al die wereldse feesten mee te doen zouden beperkt worden.
De meest gekende hoofdstromingen in het protestantisme (Lutheranisme, Calvinisme, Gereformeerd protestantisme, Presbyterianisme, Anglicanisme of in de VS episcopalisme, Anabaptisme, doopsgezinden of kortweg baptisme en het Methodisme) willen graag de mensen doen geloven dat zij werkelijk van de Bijbel uit gaan. Naast hen is er een groep die heel sterk is opgekomen de laatste jaren, namelijk het pentecostalisme of de pinksterbeweging. Die stroming legt een sterke nadruk op de beleving van het werk van de Heilige Geest.
Van Engeland en Duitsland is het protestantisme nu overgewaaid om het meest te groeien in het zuidelijk halfrond.
Met dit 500 jarig jubileum denken meerderen dat de tijd is gekomen om te bezinnen waar wij als mens tegenover god naar toe zijn gegaan en welke rol de kerk daarin speelt. De uitdaging voor de kerk van vandaag is volgens dr. Todd M. Johnson
"om een gereformeerde kerk te zijn
overeenkomstig het Woord van God. Het is niet een teruggaan naar de
Reformatie, maar een teruggaan naar de Bijbel, zoals de reformatoren
deden. We moeten ons niet zozeer richten op de bijproducten van de
Reformatie –de muziek, de kunst enzovoort–, maar ons veelmeer richten op
een teruggaan naar de Schrift voor alle aspecten van het kerkelijk
leven: de eredienst, Evangelieverkondiging, kerklidmaatschap, tucht; en
op persoonlijke bekering en een christelijk leven dat de almachtige God
welgevallig is.”
In het kleine Duitse plaatsje Wittenberg zou de ijverige priester zijn tegenstand tegen de handel in aflaten op 31 oktober 1517 aan de kerkpoorten gehangen hebben. De "95 stellingen" stelden de handel in aflaten aan de kaak, een concept van de dominicaanse priester Johann Tetzel waardoor rijken de vergiffenis van hun zonden konden afkopen van de paus. Luther vond het onrechtvaardig dat rijken zo geen boetedoening moesten doen wanneer ze te biecht kwamen.
Wie kon vermoeden dat enkele acties van rooms Katholieke priesters tot zulk een grote verandering in het christendom zou zorgen.
Eerst was er de door Thomas Cranmer nietigverklaring van het huwelijk tussen Hendrik VIII en Catharina van Aragon die niet alleen aanleiding gaf tot de ëxcommunicatie van die bisschop maar ook koning Hendrik VIII tot hoofd van de katholieke kerk van Engeland deed uitroepen door het Engelse parlement in 153, alhoewel deze teruggedraaid werd in 1554 door koningin Mary Tudor. doch vijf jaar later werd die akte door de opvolgster, de protestantse Elizabeth I, terug bezegeld.
Maar door velen wordt de aanklacht van de wantoestanden in de katholieke Kerk in de 16de eeuw, door de augustijnerbroeder (1506) die het sacrament van de priesterwijding ontvangen had (1507), als beginpunt genomen van de Grote Verandering of Reformatie. Maarten Luther ontwikkelde hij zich na zijn benoeming in 1508 tot hoogleraar in de moraaltheologie aan de Universiteit van Wittenberg tot een persoon die niet op zijn mond gevallen was en de Kerk van Rome op de vingers durfde tikken.
Voor zijn veelvuldige opmerkingen tegen de Rooms Katholieke kerk werd Luther in 1521 geëxcommuniceerd door paus Leo X. Met de reformatoren Huldrych Zwingli en Johannes Calvijnwerd hij één van de vormgevers van wat wij nu het Protestantisme noemen. Luther wordt aanzien als dé leidende persoonlijkheid van de Reformatie in het Duitse Rijk.
In 2017 neemt men aan dat er wereldwijd 560 miljoen protestanten protestanten zijn, waarbij men de niet-trinitarischen dan wel niet bij rekent. In 1600 leefden vrijwel alle protestanten in Europa, nu woont nog maar 16
procent van de gemeenschap er. Men ziet in Europa het aantal gelovigen ook in protestantse kringen sterk dalen, dit in tegenstelling met de landen van het zuidelijk halfrond. Men vermoed dat tegen 2050 dat
percentage gezakt zal zijn naar onder de 10 procent van de dan verwachte 870
miljoen protestanten wereldwijd.
In 1900 was slechts 1,7 procent van de protestanten woonachtig op het zuidelijk continent –bovendien ging het toen vooral om Europeanen in Zuid-Afrika–,
nu is dat 41 procent.
Demografische factoren –zoals het kleine aantal kinderen per gezin in
het Westen – versterken het effect van de vermindering van gelovigen in het noordelijk halfrond en de groei van de kerken in het zuidelijk halfrond.
Het zwaartepunt van het protestantisme van Europa via Noord-Amerika naar
Afrika en ook Azië. In de lijst van landen met de grootste protestantse
gemeenschappen stonden in 1910 alleen westerse landen. Een eeuw later
is de lijst veel diverser. De Verenigde Staten vormen nog steeds het
land met de meeste protestanten (56 miljoen). Maar Nigeria (53 miljoen)
en Brazilië (35 miljoen) haalden inmiddels Groot-Brittannië (minder dan
29 miljoen protestanten) en Duitsland (25 miljoen) in. En in de lijst
staan verder drie Aziatische landen (China, India, Indonesië) en nog
twee Afrikaanse (Kenia en Ethiopië).
Rwanda, Burundi, Ivoorkust, Burkino Faso en Tsjaad,
mogen er toe bijdragen dat daar de protestantse kerken de laatste eeuw het snelst mochten aangroeien. De laatste tien jaar kende de protestanten
vooral in Sao Tomé en Principe –een eilandenstaat in de Golf van
Guinee–, Bhutan, Niger, Singapore en Iran een grote toename.
In his 1996 book, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order, Samuel P. Huntington prophesied that the 21st
century would be one of clashes between at least six religious-rooted
civilizations: Western Civilization (Western Europe and the USA),
Orthodox Christian (Russia and others), Hindu, Sinic (Confucian China,
Korea, and Vietnam), Buddhic (South Asia, Tibet, and Mongolia), and
Muslim. The age of the nation-state is over; fasten your seatbelts for a
wild clash of civilizations. Without natural borders like the other
civilizations, the Muslim world is in conflict with all its neighbors.
From the Muslim regions of Thailand, Myanmar, China, and the Philippines
in Asia to colonial created half-Muslim and half-Christian states of
Africa, and between the Muslim migrants to Europe and the USA, Islam is
at war with its neighbors.
Nuclear-armed Muslim Pakistan and increasingly Hindu India under the
BJP (Hindu Nationalist Party) have been at war for almost a century over
the province of Kashmir. Nuclear Jewish Israel threatens to destroy any
Muslim neighbor that threatens its survival. Increasingly Orthodox
Russia is pushing back at Western expansion into its civilizational
territory, and Christian America and Western Europe are currently at war
in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria, and elsewhere to resist
the Muslim drive to restore the lost unity of the Islamic world and the
leadership of a single caliph.
Each civilization and religious-based people that seeks to restore
its once great but now lost greatness cites its holy books and history
as justification. Muslim fighters cite the great victories won by the
prophet Mohammad and the early caliphs over pagans, Jews, and Christians
as justification for their wars to expel “Crusaders and Jews” from
their sacred lands and so-called “terrorists” take this struggle to
Europe and the world. Osama bin Laden wrote that he organized 9/11 to
show his opposition to the stationing of American (Christian) troops in
Saudi Arabia, the protector of the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina.
The supporters of Israeli Dr. Baruch Goldstein compared his 1994
massacre of 29 worshippers in a Hebron mosque in the occupied West Bank
to God’s instructions in Judges 2:2-3, “And ye shall make no league with
the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars … (for
they are) thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto
you.”
As long as religions were armed with swords, chariots, and bows and
arrows, religious warfare was limited. But today nuclear bombs, chemical
and biological warfare, and man-made epidemics put the entire human
race at risk. All world empires have been inspired by some form of
national destiny but when this destiny becomes infused with a divine
purpose there is no compromise with the enemy.
Luther Before the Diet of Worms, photogravure after the historicist painting by Anton von Werner (1843-1915) in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
500 years ago 95 theses where posted at the door of the cloister church of Wittenberg, which became to serve as the catalyst
for one of the world’s largest religious splits, as thousands broke off
from the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther his legacy, 500 years later, is 560 millionProtestants across the globe, making up more than a third of the world’s Christians.
Religiously speaking, the Reformation led to the translation of the
Bible into languages other than Latin, allowing many people to engage
with scripture for the first time. It also brought an end to the
controversial sale of "indulgences" — payments the Church said reduced
punishment for sins after death, which Luther regarded as corrupt.
Universal education for girls and boys is one of the legacy which is not wiped out, but some of the early protestant teachings seem by many forgotten.
For the special anniversary Chancellor Angela Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, has encouraged German churches to promote a narrative of unity over division in their celebrations. that unity which was not present 500 years ago seems to be very close.
Many protestants today are not any more exited or more interested in reading the bible than Roman Catholics. In several countries they also are not any more interested to go regularly to services. concerning doing good a big change entered in the vision of many. In Luther’s home country of Germany, 61 percent of Protestants believe
good deeds are needed for salvation. In John Calvin’s Switzerland, 57
percent agree, as do 47 percent in Abraham Kuyper’s Holland.
In the united States we can find conservative protestants and fundamentalist protestants who think whatever they do wrong they shall be saved and going to heaven when they are baptised or so called 'reborn'. Half of American Protestants say that both good deeds and faith in God
are needed to get into heaven (52%).
Lots of Americans are convinced they need pastors and churches. Some even believe how bigger the church how closer it is to the 'truth'. From those American protestants 52% believe that in
addition to the Bible, we need guidance from church teachings
and traditions, according to two studies released at the end of August by the Pew Research Center.
"opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond
the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from
understanding one another.”
Not long after Francis’ address, the Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury
in England expressed remorse for the violence committed there in the
name of the Reformation. Hundreds of churches and monasteries were
demolished in the 1500s, and many people gruesomely killed, during
England’s pained transition from Catholicism to Protestantism.
Since the 16th century and the tumultuous times that followed Protestant and Catholic relations have improved dramatically. At regular intervals we also can see protestants and Catholics bringing an ecumenical service. when we look at several protestant churches today we also find many which also have statues and paintings in the church depicting persons they call god or saints.
When in the 16th and 17th century so many tried to read the Bible and wanted to find the biblical Truth, today there are not many protestants really interested to examine certain dogma's or sayings by theologians. Most of them hold strongly to their denominational teachings, not giving it much thought.
Not many probably would mind if their church comes closer to other churches of the Protestant or Catholic Faith as long as they can keep to their traditions.
From that perspective the attitude of the general public has become passive not to say the least. And those who are still active in church, most often do not want to think to examine the things they are taught by their denomination.
Whilst 500 years ago many where pleased to spend a lot of time reading the Bible, today there are not so much people really interested and that reflects also in protestant services where is less given time for the word of God and where is spend more time and attention to the entertainment factor of the service.
Today we can use some preachers who are willing to take up the task given by Jesus, to proclaim the Kingdom of God. We can use a new awakening.