Yes, everyone, I too am seeing Luther's doctrine of vocation being expressed in Roman Catholic circles! It's also foundational to the other Protestant versions, and certainly that of the Puritans. Luther's doctrine if valuable not because it was Luther's but because it is true. It's great that Christians from all over are re-discovering this profound teaching of the Bible.
For the Puritan version that left the original foundation in Luther's Reformation teaching, see Max Weber's work on the "Protestant Work Ethic" which STILL shows up everywhere in secular scholarship. He does quote Puritans who say that one earns favor before God by working hard in one's calling, something that begins to obscure the Gospel. Others he quotes go so far as to say that one can prove one's salvation by the God-given success that you enjoy in your calling. That's a short step to today's "prosperity gospel" that is causing so much harm and that is everywhere today.
Anecdotal evidence is still evidence, though it is not statistical "data." That more people are applying for financial help to get abortions comes close to being data, if it is quantified. That the mindset is there--reflected even in the journalistic story and that it is getting printed--that hard economic times are some sort of rationalization for infanticide is surely telling.
Good grief, you guys, I've got to defend myself. First of all, we ARE paying off the credit card and hadn't used it in years, cutting down the balance by half. We have switched over to debit cards. Second, we ARE rejecting the interest rate hike and freezing the account. Third, I am NOT calling for a government agency to do anything. There was a time in the olden days when legislators passed laws, rather than setting up bureaucracies, and what is being considered are certain quite modest laws addressing certain practices of the credit card industry. It doesn't seem to be just for one party to be able to change the terms of a contract that has been honored and lived up to unilaterally. Also, I am thinking that there is something to the Biblical and the traditional legal injunctions against usury. I think some of these banks may be committing usury. (Read Luther, who was no liberal, on that subject.)
Great quote, Dan. Thanks for that. Notice how Luther brings it around to that vocational imperative of loving and serving our neighbor. I'm trying to figure out how to apply, it, though! (Luther did tactifly allow Phillip of Hesse to commit bigamy, later saying it was one of the worst decisions of his life to do so!) But the "unbelievers may do as they will" is an intriguing principle.
You hit it, Manxman. What the culture does effects Christians and the church because of how it affects our children, our families, and our ability to function in the world.
Thanks, Paul. Everybody, make the change! Change to his new Cyberbrethren also. Come to think of it, I'll change the link right now.
There's nothing like that rock 'n' roll flute!
The more I see it, the more I love this painting. Look at the expressions on the faces of those babies! I wonder how a church in Norway acquired a Cranach painting. The story must go deep into the Reformation when it was spreading from Germany into Scandinavia. The more I think about it, if I see this painting at a garage sale, I think I'll pay twenty bucks and just keep it!
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Thingamajig