Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 14, 1993 TAG: 9303110310
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
YOU MIGHT CALL THIS THE REVIONIST'S REFORMATION
Last week I inadvertently revealed a new discovery, perhaps undercutting the work of scholars who have been covering up the truth for, lo, these many centuries.Yes, Martin Luther actually nailed 99 theses, not 95, on the door of Castle Church at Wittenberg, Germany, back on Halloween 1517.
I wouldn't feel compelled to elaborate on the discovery, but since not a single one of my millions of loyal readers pointed out the discrepancy, obviously some education is in order.
For years, Lutherans (and a few other Protestants) have been taught that the Great Reformer made 95 points in opposition to the Roman Catholic tradition of selling "indulgences."
That was the great deal in which you could pay the pope cash rather than fulfilling some other penance in order to obtain absolution from sin.
Luther objected to this practice, got excommunicated, and now we have women priests.
In fact, early reports are that women were the first to recognize the humor in the previously hidden theses.
So, in the spirit of intellectual and scholastic integrity this column is known for, we offer "the secret theses of Martin Luther":
96. That along with the sellers of indulgences, so too are the humorless to be regarded as misguided in religion because, as we have been admonished, "Faith without smirks is dead."
97. For, as it also is written, "The first shall be last and the last - who get the laugh - shall be first."
98. Away with those who say God has no sense of humor! Remember God's command to Joshua and the Israelite males' response: "You're going to circumcise what?"
99. And be confident upon approaching the pearly gates of heaven that St. Peter probably has heard that joke already.
And Luther might have added that "those who forgive the typographical errors of the journalist and lovingly reprove his mistakes do better deeds than those who write nasty letters to the editor about him."
Now that we've corrected the misperception that I might have miscounted Luther's theses (with thanks to copy editor John Hudson), we'll move on to more a serious matter.
There were many Southern Baptists, including some moderates, who had hoped that with the war for power in the denomination effectively won by conservatives, some measure of calm would fall.
Those hopes continue to be disappointed.
In recent weeks a series of squabbles and fights have continued to smear the good name Southern Baptists once had - and blame can be laid in both the conservative and moderate camps.
Just a few examples:
A church in Wake Forest, N.C., near Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary recently refused to grant membership to the seminary's new president and his wife.
Granted, Paige Patterson is an acknowledged "architect" of what moderates perceive as the "conservative takeover" of the denomination. He is, thus, a politician with a specific agenda.
The congregation refused to accept his membership - even a tenuous "custodial" relationship short of granting full voting privileges.
While it is obvious that the wounds of the denominational controversy have been deep and slow to heal, the Wake Forest congregation also has sent a powerful message to outsiders denying the purported healing power of their faith - a power that undoubtedly is preached from their pulpit.
Perhaps "There is a Balm in Gilead" isn't in their hymnal.
Elsewhere, conservative leaders have decided to alienate a huge portion of the female membership of their denomination by condemning the Women's Missionary Union.
The WMU was founded in 1888 as an independent auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention. Since that time, it has provided financial and spiritual support to the convention's foreign and domestic missionaries.
It recently decided to provide nonfinancial support to other missionary-sending organizations - that would include, apparently, the moderate Conservative Baptist Fellowship.
Conservative male leaders of the denomination - including Adrian Rogers of Memphis, a past president and perhaps the single most influential figure in the convention - have blasted that move. Some have suggested the WMU is acting adulterously and should now hand itself over to the control of the convention - presumably for some punishment short of stoning, though that is prescribed for adulterous women in Scripture.
This is another case of action denying the doctrine of the church. Denominational leaders' insecurities about the "fidelity" of the WMU contradict the Gospel they preach about taking the "good news" to the world. And their attitude marks a blatant rejection of Baptist polity, which insists on the theological independence of affiliated groups.
When Southern Baptist elder statesman Herschel Hobbs suggested recently that the two sides ought to meet to talk about their differences, both sides refused.
There is no end in sight.
Cody Lowe reports on issues of religion and ethics for this newspaper.
Memo: Correction ***CORRECTION***