31 October 20XX
My Dear Lucilius:
Happy Hallows Eve,
my friend! As Protestant and Catholic we do not always share all
things in equal understanding, but as fellow history buffs and
Christians we can at least celebrate this day both in memory of the
those that have lived the Christian life before us and the Ninety
Five Theses by Luther.
Yes yes, I know – we have ultimately different (very different) views on their value and their impact. But it can not be argued that even within the Catholic Faith, the Theses enabled a reformation of sorts within the Church as well.
These come to mind
this day both because of the date and because, frankly, I got to
wondering about Theses of our modern times.
Looking around now –
the world lit largely by candle and kerosene and fire - one wonders
where the 95 Theses of our day were. Surely the signs were there,
even as they were there for Luther? (Of course they were there; we
discussed them many times). But could not the country, the nation –
good Heavens, even a city – find one person to nail them to a door?
The reality is, of
course not – as our current circumstances attest to. But I wonder,
even if someone had successfully “nailed” them to a door –
would anyone have listened?
Society – not just
the media but society in general – took great pleasure into
destroying verbally (and in some cases physically) anyone who
disagreed with the stated narrative of “Everything is really
alright”. And there are no more church doors – public places –
where such things can be read with any frequency. The most available
sites are carefully screened to cut out such chatter; the lesser
sites always ran the risks of simply being “unavailable” or
disappearing.
And even if Theses
had been posted, would they have been read and discussed as in
Luther’s time? Not at all: we are no longer a society that
discusses anything. We go to verbal war and bury the opposition and
then salt their land. In the end, I suspect, the Luthers of our day
simply chose to prepare within their own small communities and lives
and await a better day.
Sadly, we had no Luthers to listen to. Now we only have the voice of Cassandra crying out that Troy has fallen to fill our ears.
Your Obedient
Servant, Seneca
I can’t remember if it was an actual conversation or a passage in a historical novel. In it, a couple senior clerics were swapping screeds the way your guys are and lamenting the development of the printing press. Why - ANYONE could say ANYTHING and EVERYONE would hear it! Common people would read the Bible for themselves and draw their own conclusions!!! One poisoned mind could infect countless others!!! The church nobility would have no control either!!!! Horrors!!!! 😆👍
ReplyDeleteLuther didn’t really say anything that most everyone didn’t already know. All he did was say what everyone was already thinking, and rub their noses in it. Today we have the Internet. The process is even faster and more efficient than the printing press.
The problem isn’t the lack of a Thesis or the man to write it... it’s the over abundance of them. Now we have our noses rubbed in the hypocrisy, sanctimony and corruption of our leaders 24/7/365. I dunno about you... but sometimes I just get so fed up I just need to push away from the computer and go do something else. Every day I am reminded that the leaders that are sworn to protect and represent me...they actually hate me and will sell me down the toilet as a casual political gesture.
I don’t think a collapse is coming... I see a reckoning.
Glen - I am not familiar with your reference, but it was a concern for real at the time when Luther translated Scripture into German (for Wycliff as well, but he paid the ultimate price). The idea that the people could read Scripture, could understand it in their own language, was heresy.
DeleteAgreed that Luther said that which many others recognized. That said, I wonder if we suffer from an overabundance of prophets, or not enough. I really have come to expect nothing of my leaders, as I find them useless at best and dangerous at worst.
You are beginning to sound like me and my absence from the media. This is exactly the frustration that has driven me away.
A reckoning? Perhaps. But who will do the reckoning?
This is a very important chapter because I think you are truly hitting the nail on the head. The clues, the warnings, the modern 95 Thesis, as it were, is there and it's been loud and clear. The problem is that people would rather mock and scoff than listen and discuss rationally. Sadly, even when the collapse finally comes, these same folks won't get it. They'll still be pointing the finger and blaming everybody else. It's sad to think humanity has come to this.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, I think that the recent plague scare points this out precisely. Preparing for something like this has been preached for years. The implications of a global economy with global travel have been available to anyone who wanted to investigate. Yet people seem completely caught flat footed and are acting irrationally (more people die from the flu so far a year, but we take that in stride). Add to that a political element ("Our country is not doing enough") which causes all governments and authorities to overeact, and we have a petri dish (Ironic, is it not) ready for something terrible to happen.
DeleteAnd yes, these will be the same people that, forced to live under a system that lowers their standard of living, will suddenly point the fingers at everyone else and say "Why did you not do more?"
That is so true Leigh. For me, in my place in the field right now, scorn and derision are the default position in any debate. “Me first!!!” Is the order of the day. It’s contagious too.
DeleteGlen, if there was a new 21st Century Chivalric Order, I suspect it would be called "The Order of Me".
DeleteI think we have an overabundance of false prophets.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Leigh (and you all); it's sad we have come to this.
Linda, and suddenly it all seems to be coming home to roost.
Delete