FAITH
Friday, May 19, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 7A
BRIEFLY
Luther and literacy
HERMISTON — A wine
tasting event raises money
for the Catholic Daughters
of America Marilyn Harris
Memorial Scholarship Fund.
The event is Saturday from
6:30-8 p.m. at The Bistro at
Bellinger’s, 1823 S. Highway
395, Hermiston. Tickets are $12
in advance or $15 at the door.
In addition to wine tasting, the
event features appetizers and a
silent auction.
For more information or
tickets, call Kristi Smalley at
541-571-0997 or stop by Our
Lady of Angels Church, 565 W.
Hermiston Ave., Hermiston.
On 500th anniversary of Reformation, legacy continues
Wine tasting benefits
Catholic Daughters
scholarships
Nazarene church
hosts Ugandan Kids
Choir
HERMISTON — The
Ugandan Kids Choir will
perform in Hermiston.
The public is invited to
experience the unique worship
experience. The 10-child choir
will present traditional rhythmic
dances and songs of Africa
Sunday, May 28 at 10:30 a.m.
at the Hermiston Church of the
Nazarene, 1520 W. Orchard
Ave.
These children from Uganda
have been given improved
lives through child sponsorship
including education through the
years to secure jobs and a better
future.
As a sponsored mission of
Childcare Worldwide, the choir
participants receive education
and other support to assist in a
better future. For more about
the choir, visit www.facebook.
com/ugandankidschoir.
For more about the
Hermiston performance, call
the church at 541-567-3677.
Baptist church hosts
movie night
BOARDMAN — A movie
about a high-powered executive
who meets an angel is featured
during family movie night in
Boardman.
“What If?” focuses on Ben
Walker, who left his girlfriend
and ministry calling for a
business opportunity. The
celestial visitor gives him a
glimpse of what his life would
have been like if he followed
his true calling to be a preacher
and family man.
The public is invited to
watch the flick Saturday at
6 p.m. at the First Baptist
Church, 200 Willow Fork
Drive, Boardman. The 2010
family drama is rated PG.
There is no admission charge.
Refreshments and popcorn will
be available.
For more information, call
541-481-9437.
By RICHARD GUNDERMAN
Indiana University
T
his year marks the 500th
anniversary of Martin
Luther’s famous 95
Theses, which helped spark the
founding of the Reformation
and the division of Christianity
into Protestantism and
Catholicism.
The 95 Theses critiqued the
church’s sale of indulgences,
which Luther regarded as
a form of corruption. By
Luther’s time, indulgences had
evolved into payments that
were said to reduce punishment
for sins. Luther believed that
such practices only interfered
with genuine repentance and
discouraged people from
giving to the poor. One of
Luther’s most important
theological contributions
was the “priesthood of all
believers,” which implied that
clerics possessed no more
dignity than ordinary people.
Less known is the crucial
role Luther played in making
the case for ordinary people to
read often and well. Unlike the
papacy and its defenders, who
were producing their writings
in Latin, Luther reached out
Martin Luther in a 1533 painting by Lucas Cranach.
to Germans in their mother
tongue, substantially enhancing
the accessibility of his written
ideas.
In my teaching of
philanthropy, Luther’s promotion
of literacy is one of the historic
events I often discuss with my
— Martin Luther
students.
Early years
castle, where he remained for two people were not only capable
Born in Germany in 1483,
of interpreting the scriptures for
Luther followed the wishes of his years.
It was during that time that
themselves, but that in doing so
father to study law. Once, while
they stood the best chance of
caught in a terrible thunderstorm, Luther produced an immensely
influential translation of the New
hearing God’s word. He wrote,
he vowed that if he were saved,
Testament into German.
“Let the man who would hear
he would become a monk.
Impact of Luther’s writing
God speak read Holy Scripture.”
Indeed, Luther later joined
Gutenberg’s earlier
Luther’s Bible helped form
the austere Augustinian order,
introduction of the printing press
a common German dialect.
and became both a priest and
in 1439 made possible the rapid
Prior to Luther, people from
a doctor of theology. Later he
dissemination of Luther’s works
different regions of present-day
developed objections to many
throughout much of Europe, and
Germany often experienced
church practices. He protested
their impact was staggering.
great difficulty understanding
the promotion of indulgences,
Luther’s collected works run
one another. Luther’s Bible
the buying and selling of
to 55 volumes. It is estimated
translation promoted a single
clerical privileges, and the
that between 1520 and 1526,
German vernacular, helping to
accumulation of substantial
some 1,700 editions of Luther’s
bring people together around a
wealth by the church while
works were printed. Of the six to
common tongue.
peasants barely survived.
seven million pamphlets printed
Expanding literacy
Legend has it that on Oct. 31,
This view, combined with the
during this time, more than a
1517, Luther nailed his 95
wide availability of scripture,
Theses to the door of the church quarter were Luther’s works,
shifted responsibility for
many of which played a vital
in Wittenberg, the town where
role in propelling the reformation scriptural interpretation from
he was based.
clerics to the laity. Luther wanted
forward.
He was branded an outlaw
ordinary people to assume more
Thanks to Luther’s translation
for refusing to recant his
responsibility for reading the
of the Bible, it became possible
teachings. In 1521, Pope Leo X
Bible.
for German-speaking people to
excommunicated Luther from
In promoting his point of view,
stop relying on church authorities
the Roman Church. His patron,
Luther helped to provide one of
and instead read the Bible for
Frederick of Saxony, saved
the most effective arguments for
themselves.
Luther from further reprisal
universal literacy in the history of
Luther argued that ordinary
and had him taken in secret to a
“Let the man who would hear
God speak read Holy Scripture.”
Seventh-Day Adventist
Church
Saturday Services
Pendleton
1401 SW Goodwin Place
276-0882
Sabbath School 9:20 am
Worship Service 10:45 am
Western civilization.
At a time when most people
worked in farming, reading
was not necessary to maintain a
livelihood. But Luther wanted
to remove the language barrier
so that everyone could read the
Bible “without hindrance.” His
rationale for wanting people
both to learn to read and to read
regularly was, from his point of
view, among the most powerful
imaginable – that reading it for
themselves would bring them
closer to God.
For much of Luther’s
life, his remarkable output
in theological treatises was
exceeded only by his Bible
commentaries. He believed that
nothing could substitute for
direct and ongoing encounters
with scripture, which he both
advocated for and helped to
shape through his detailed
commentaries.
Reading to interpret truth
Luther had many reasons
to favor the dissemination of
learning. He was a university
professor. His 95 Theses
were intended as an academic
disputation. His teaching and
scholarship played a crucial
role in the development of his
theology. Finally, he recognized
the crucial role students would
play in carrying his movement
forward.
So powerfully did Luther’s
influence reverberate down
through the ages that, during a
visit to Germany in 1934, Rev.
Michael King Sr. chose to change
both his and his son’s name to
Martin Luther King. MLK Jr.,
namesake of the great German
reformer, would make full use
of the power of free speech in
catalyzing the American civil
rights movement.
In posting his 95 Theses,
Luther was encouraging a
vigorous exchange of ideas.
The best community is not the
one that suppresses dissent
but one that challenges ideas
it finds objectionable through
rigorous argumentation. It is
largely for this reason that the
founders of the United States
took so seriously freedom of
religion, free association and the
protection of a free press.
Luther trusted ordinary people
to discern the truth. All they
needed was the opportunity
to interpret what they read for
themselves.
■
Richard B. Gunderman, MD,
PhD, is a professor and vice
chairman of the department of
radiology at Indiana University,
with faculty positions in pediatrics,
medical education, philosophy,
philanthropy, and liberal arts.
Worship Community
Redeemer
Episcopal
Church
241 SE Second St. Pendleton
(541)276-3809
www.pendletonepiscopal.org
Sunday Holy Communion 9:00 a.m.
Wednesday Holy Communion Noon
Weekly Adults Spiritual Life Group
All Are Welcome
Community
Presbyterian Church
St. Johns
Episcopal Church
Join Us
On Our Journey
With Jesus.
14 Martin Drive,
Umatilla, OR
922-3250
Scripture, Tradition and Reason
Worship: 10 AM
Sunday School at 11:30
N.E. Gladys Ave & 7th, Hermiston
Fr. Dan Lediard, Priest. PH: 567-6672
We are an all inclusive Church
who welcomes all.
Family service 9am Sunday
Come meet Jesus at
PENDLETON BAPTIST
CHURCH
3202 SW Nye Ave Pendleton, OR
541-276-7590
Sunday Morning Worship 11:00 AM
Sunday Bible Classes 9:45 AM
Sunday Youth Group 6:00 PM
Mon. Community Women’s Study
9:30 AM & 6 PM
Awana Kids Club (K-6th grade)
Wed Men’s Study 6 PM
MOPS meeting the 1st Thur of the Month 6 PM
FAITH LUTHERAN
CHURCH
in Mission for Christ LCMC
Bible Study.........9:00 AM
Sunday Worship......10:30 AM
Red Lion Hotel
( Oregon Trail Room )
www.faithpendleton.org
Grace Baptist Church
555 SW 11th, Hermiston
567-9497
Nursery provided for all
services
Sunday School - 9:30 AM
Worship - 10:45 AM
6:00 pm
Wed Prayer & Worship -
7:00 PM
“Proclaiming God’s word,
growing in God’s grace”
P eace L utheran C hurch
210 NW 9th, Pendleton ELCA
Join us Sundays
9:30
Sunday
Worship
9:30
am am
Sunday
Worship
10:30 am Fellowship
11:00 am Sunday School
& Adult Class
~Come and be at Peace ~
on 1290 KUMA noon each Sunday
We off er: Sunday School • Sign Language
Interpreters • Nursery • Transportation • & more!
Pastor Dan Satterwhite
541.377.4252
417 NW 21st St. • Pendleton, OR 97801
www.facebook.com/
PendletonLighthouseChurch
Worshiping God
OPEN HEARTS – OPEN DOOR
www.graceandmercylutheran.org
Sunday Worship 8:45 a.m.
Sunday School 10:00 a.m. (Nursery Provided)
Fellowship, Refreshments & Sunday School
Check Out our Facebook Page or
Website for More Information
FIRST SERVICE 8:30 AM
SECOND SERVICE 10:30 AM
712 SW 27 TH ST.
541-276-1894
www.fcogpendleton.com
541-289-4535
Tom Inch, Pastor
Grace and Mercy Lutheran Church, ELCA
(First United Methodist Church)
191 E. Gladys Ave. / P.O. Box 1108
Hermiston, Oregon 97838
LCMC
Wednesday Healing School
6:00pm
Sunday Service: 10am & 6pm
Tuesday Kingdom Seekers: 7pm
Wednesday Bible Study: 7pm
Faith Center Church
Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church
Sunday Worship
10:00am
PENDLETON
LIGHTHOUSE CHURCH
Sunday worship at
11:00 AM
420 Locust St. • Boardman, OR
541-481-6132
Colin Brown, Pastor
First United
Methodist
Church
Pendleton
352 SE 2nd Street, Pendleton OR
Sunday Worship 9am • 541-276-2616
Worship Broadcast on KUMA 1290 @ 11am
Worship Livestream at
www.facebook.com/FUMCPendleton/
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
Rev. Dr. Jim Pierce, pastor
Youth Classes: Nursery - 6th grade
Sun & Wed
Jr & Sr High Discipleship Program Wed
Overcomer’s Outreach
Tuesday at 6:00pm - Annex
A Christ-centered, 12-Step
Recovery Support Group
Pastor Sharon Miller
401 Northgate, Pendleton
541-278-8082
www.livingwordcc.com
To share your worship times call Terri Briggs 541-278-2678
Loving People
108 S. Main • 276-9569
Sunday Worship
10:30 am
Sr. Pastor,
Ray O’Grady
pendletonfaithcenter.org
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
-Presbyterian Church (USA)-
201 SW Dorion Ave.
Pendleton
Service of Worship - 10:00 am
Children’s Sunday School -
10:20 am
Fellowship - 11:00 am
www.pendletonpresbyterian.com
Open Hearted...
Open Minded
BAHA’I FAITH
“The Unity of All Mankind”
Pendleton Baha’i Center at
1015 SE Court Place
Devotions Sundays @
11:00am; Everyone invited!
(541) 276-9360 visit us at
www.pendletonbahais.org