Baptist History, Heritage & Distinctives – The Most Astounding Story of 1999…yet no one seemed to pay any attention Part 1 of 2

Thomas E Kresal Admin · March 25, 2019

Baptist History, Heritage & Distinctives – The Most Astounding Story of 1999…yet no one seemed to pay any attention Part 1 of 2 March 25, 2019

This story came out of Augsburg, Germany and was reported in the Washington Post on November 1, 1999:

“Four hundred and eighty-two years ago, the blunt-speaking monk Martin Luther nailed his legendary attack on Catholic Church practices to a church door in Germany.

His act of conscience triggered the Protestant Reformation, the wrenching division of Western Christianity, and more than a century of religious wars.

On Sunday, leaders of the modern Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches signed a document that officially settles the central argument about the nature of faith. The agreement declares, in effect, that it was all a misunderstanding.

“In the one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body. Let us then pursue all that makes for peace and build up our common life,” proclaimed Catholic Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, Pope John Paul II’s emissary. Cassidy signed the Augsburg accord on behalf of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide.

All but about 3 million of the world’s 61.5 million Lutherans were represented by bishop Christian Krause, president of the Lutheran World Federation.

The United States has 61 million Catholics and 5.2 million Lutherans whose churches belong to the worldwide federation. Another 2.6 million Lutherans belong to the Missouri Synod, which rejected the accord.

TO BE CONTINUED

Thomas E. Kresal from: Excerpts from 21tnt.com Essays/News by James R. Beller

Note from Tom: Brother Beller was the most prolific Baptist historian of our generation. I highly recommend his many books on Baptist history such as America in Crimson Red, Sacred Betrayal, The Collegiate Baptist History Workbook, Soul of St. Louis, etc. Please visit his book store at: prairiefirepress.com