The first reformation protested the Pope. The second reformation protests the Pastor and the institution that creates the pastor. thoughts?
Thanks for the post. It embodies the question, not simply of leadership and direction, but also authority. It is a question that the synoptic gospels are agreed upon, and is a reference more popular with Deacons than with Bishops.
Matthew 20:25-26
But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,
Mark 10:42-43
So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,
Luke 22:25-26
But he said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.
One of the concerns ones hears expressed by members of reformed and to an even greater degree by the more recent/modern churches has to do with the way authority is exercised in the catholic churches, yet as an outside observer it often seems to me that they are far more authoritarian in terms of the practical and the day to day.
In our age we are far more likely to be concerned about our personhood more than community and hence the growing number of devices and applications designed to put us in control, sometime marketed as the
i-this or the ithat yet the Church does not deal in
i-salvation in the same way. John 3:16 tells us that
God so loved the world.
It is a fairly modern interpretation of history to express the Reformation of the 16th century in terms of authority alone. Far more of the concern in continental Europe was not so much about the authority of the leadership as it was about calling the leadership back to the source of that authority. The Reformers questioned far more the direction that the leadership (Pope) was taking the Church. In England the questions came down to does the priest give you salvation because you have paid for enough chantry masses, and the greatest cause for reform was the translation of Scripture - the King's Bible - and the liturgy in the vulgar tongue.
The great schism of 1054 was indeed another example in ecclesial history where the mater of the authority was brought more sharply into focus, and in many ways more sharply that the reformation. The question revolved around is the Creed settled by the Pope or by the Councils.
Sometimes it seems that the modern Church is caught in the spin of a lust for relevance in a society that experiences levels of change faster than any time in history, and the the voice within that calls us to be faithful to the sacred deposit of faith.
Authority in the Church has been a question since the time of Jesus, and even though he seems to have been clear and is consistently reported we have struggled with all through the time since then, and no doubt will continue to do so.