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This week I saw a funny (but still VERY serious) video about life in Germany, particularly life on a Sunday, which includes some info on how to do sauna... :)

For me this doesn't work from the logical point of view. If I am a 'co-director' I share in the role of the director. I might be called a 'director of some sort'. The same goes for some other titles you might add the prefix 'co-' to. I could not think of any other word for which this is not...

Yes. As such the term 'co-redemptrix' is heretical. Mary's constent was a pre-requisite for redemption, but Mary did not redeem us. God redeems in Jesus. Not Mary. Therefore Mary cannot be labelled as 'redemptrix'. And the term 'co-redemptrix' suggests that there is (or could be) more than one...

Mary as Theotokos or Mother of God‎: Yes, both. Perpetual Virginity: Not so sure. This is a tradition which has been held by many, including the Reformers. However, I think there is also a possibilty that Mary had other children after giving birth to Jesus. In my view there is no need for her...

Well, the main part of it is that nudity is not 'public'. It is restricted to clearly defined areas and times, such as saunas, nudist beaches, certain areas in parks (FKK-Bereich) etc. Some swimming pools (mainly indoor swimming pools) in combination with their sauna areas might offer 'nude...

I agree with Paidiske that the bishop or perhaps an area dean should be aware of what is going on in sermons and the teaching in this church. On the other hand I agree with you that there is a personal element which should stay within the parish. But I don't think it is your duty to confront the...

Well, to be clear: there is not much tolerance for public nudity in Germany. There are areas in parks such as the English Garden in Munich and other areas where nudity is accepted, but generally nudity is only accepted in restricted areas and beaches which would be marked as 'FKK'...

There are churches that put a lot of stress on the Apostolic Succession. Without it - they say - we cannot be sure whether Christ is present in the elements or not. Personally I would not put so much stress on the issue whether the priests has been ordained within the line of Apostolic...

When asking what makes a communion service 'valid' you might get very different answers if you ask for the 'official' view of different church traditions. I am happy to partake in Holy Communion in different churches as long as a few basics are observed: - bread and wine are used (alternatively...

I don't think the idea is crazy. I had a time when I had church jobs to do whenever I was at a service. I was either engaged as a singer or as server or Master of Ceremonies etc. During that time I found it quite helpful to go to a weekday Eucharist because that would be a service where I did...

To be exact there were no bishops in German Lutheran churches at all. After the Reformation, the local princes took the position of the bishops - which was accepted by Luther, since he saw it as a way to safeguard the future of his movement, since the structures of the old church had broken down...

Ah, yes: academic clericalism really sums it up. The ideal of a Lutheran is the professor, not the pastor... :) And still they find it incredibly difficult to find a way to ordain people who have not spent seven years in academic training... But having said that there is one aspect in Lutheran...

I am not familiar with Lutheranism in the US. In Europe, however, there is this massive gap between Lutherans and Anglicans due to their different ways of being church and doing theology. In the Church of England there were from the beginning different streams of theology, some more reformed...

Perhaps it has more to do with a free decision of the one offering the sacrifice. An animal cannot decide whether it wants give up its life in a sacrificial way. Humans can.

I serve as a non-stipendiary minister of word and sacrament in the Lutheran church in Germany. I am not sure whether it will be possible to find out, really. In my experience, coming from a German background but having studied Anglican theology and lived in the UK for some years, there is not...

I don't think that Calvin and Cranmer share the same understanding. As I think you are right with what you say with regard to Cranmer, I think it is important to not leave out what Calvin says about the impossibility do separate the bread from the body and the rite of physical eating and...

Thanks, rakovsky. I think we are now getting closer to the point. I managed to find the relevant passages in the book of Concord. It took me a while since they were not on the formular of concord, but in the declaration, which strangely is not available online in German. So what you describe as...

I think the key lies in the signum/signatum terminology. A sign contains what it signifies. And therefore the bread contains the substance of the body of Christ. Here Calvin faces the same problem that Luther faces: How to bridge the physical gap between Christ's body physically present in...

I would agree with this.

This is where I cannot agree, as this linguistically and philosophically does not make sense to me. 'Körperlich' refers to a (physical) body or corpus. By definition a body has to have physical properties. It exists in space and time. Otherwise it would not be a body/corpus. Even if Christ's...