Dumbass prods must keep trying to square their heretical circles.

From the paper without a name:


How 2 19th century professors changed the way Protestants think about the reformation 


In the mid-19th century, two professors at Mercersburg Seminary arrived at a radical conclusion:

The Protestant Reformation rose out of the Roman Catholic tradition, which rose out the early church. And the Protestant celebration of grace was a response to the Catholic focus on law.

Do you mean God's Law?

The Mercersburg Theology, as it became known, was largely the work of Philip Schaff and John Williamson Nevin, of the German Reformed Church.

Differing with the predominant Protestant view at the time — that the early church was good but had to be almost reborn in the Reformation — they contended God continued to work on the church throughout the medieval centuries.

How nice of them...and (literally) damnably condescending.

“In the 1840s, many Protestants had trouble seeing Catholics as Christians,” said Anne Thayer, professor of church history at Lancaster Theological Seminary, “so it was a distinctive theology then, born within the German Reform Church, and (it) created controversy within the German Reform Church. But that has shaped the kind of worship-centered ecumenical ethos that has characterized Lancaster Seminary up until the present.”

Thayer said Schaff and Nevin believed there was a thread tying together Protestants and Catholics, and they wanted to reclaim that heritage.

Seriously? It isn't a "heritage", it is sacred tradition.

This Monday through Wednesday, Lancaster Theological Seminary will host The Mercersburg Convocation. Titled “Trajectories of Grace (Re)Formation today,” it features three speakers: William Evans, professor of Bible and religion at Erskine College; Douglas Ottati, professor of Reformed theology and justice at Davidson College; and Marcia Robinson, assistant professor of religion at Syracuse University.

Try inviting an orthodox Catholic, boys...if you dare!

Although the convocation is held annually, this year’s event is especially poignant because it is tied to the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 theses that led to the establishment of Protestantism.

Who?

Oh, right. The heretic priest who just HAD to get laid.

Lancaster Seminary was founded in 1825 by members of the German Reformed Church in the United States. In 1836-37, it moved from Lancaster to Mercersburg under the charter of Marshall College. In 1871, it returned to Lancaster 18 years after the consolidation of the Franklin and Marshall colleges.

It was during the seminary’s time  in Mercersburg that Schaff and Nevin presented their views and initiated a lively debate within the church. So, lively, in fact, that Schaff, whose inaugural address was titled “Principle of Protestantism,” was tried for — and acquitted of — heresy.

Can a heretic be accused of heresy by heretics who are worried that his heresy threatens their heresy?

My poor head...

They argued for an ecumenism within Protestant churches, which were splintered at the time.

Do you think they aren't now? 33,000 "denominations" can't be right.

“They stressed the importance of liturgy and sacraments, in contrast to 19th-century American Revivalism, which was dominant in this area,” Thayer said.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

"Liturgy and sacraments"??????

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

You're killing me! (And your souls!)


“So instead of expecting the preacher to be the sole actor in a worship service, there was a liturgy that included the congregation. They had prayers to say; the sermon wasn’t the sole focus of the worship service.”

Wow.

Today, such arguments are much more accepted among Protestant churches and denominations.

“It was far more radical in the 19th century than it is today,” Thayer said.

The Mercersburg Theology is often seen as the early beginnings of the ecumenical impulse in American Protestantism.

“A hallmark is that it reached across all denominations,” said the Rev. Chris Rankin, administrative vice president for the Mercersburg Society and pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, 2340 State St., East Petersburg.

The focus, Rankin said, is on the Eucharist. His church offers the Eucharist every Sunday at the early service and every other Sunday during the late service.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Like HELL you offer the Eucharist, you poor benighted bastard.

Please forgive me Lord, and help them all find their way home to the One True Faith in Thee.


The society, founded in 1983, upholds the concept of the church as the “Body of Christ, Evangelical, Reformed, Catholic, Apostolic, organic, developmental and connectional.”

Uh..."connectional"? Which Gospel contains that word?

Two of Trinity’s previous pastors — the Rev. George Geisler and the Rev. Harry Royer — were instrumental in forming The Mercersburg Society.

Rankin said The Mercersburg Theology holds that the church is a living organism that continues to evolve. (JUST LIKE THE FREAKIN' CONSTITUTION! - F.G.) In spite of the decline of the church in today’s climate, Rankin said, “What the Mercersburg Theology offers us is hope.”

Thayer said Schaff and Nevin  stressed God’s ongoing work through the history of the church.

What they believed, she said, is, “that is our heritage — all of it.”

How radical.

May God have mercy on all souls.

TheChurchMilitant: Sometimes anti-social, but always anti-fascist since 2005.