Lutheran Essentials meets in the undercroft of the church on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. You can reach the undercroft by going around to the back parking lot of the church and descending the staircase to the kitchen. Knock on the door if it is closed and some one will let you in. You can also join us remotely via our livestream. This week we will starting our study on Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. We are also providing hard copies of the Book of Concord for free, as well as copies of the Lutheran Service Book.
We will open class with Psalm 97 and our catechism lesson will be the Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed. We will then start our study of the 95 Theses with a historical introduction covering the history of the Western Church from the Great Schism in AD 1054 to the posting of the 95 Theses on October 31st, AD 1517. We will discuss the development of Scholasticism and the power of the Papacy. We will also talk about indulgences and what they were granted for.
We will then take a look at Luther’s 95 Theses. We will focus first on his first and best thesis, that regarding that our whole life is to be one of repentance. We will then talk about the false teaching regarding indulgences Luther saw and how it related to papal power. We will also talk about how Luther at the time of the 95 Theses was still thinking in medieval terms and had not come to the full realization of the depth of the false doctrine and practice in the Western Church.
As always new people are always welcome to this study at any point during the class. Please talk to the Pastor, Elders or Paul Edmon if you have any questions.
