Topic: How Orthodox are Luther's 95 Theses?

[Algernon]

My wife and I are considering a move from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy, and I have heard that Martin Luther, when he broke from Rome, was moving toward Orthodoxy, whether he realized it or not, and that a majority of his 95 Theses are, in fact, consistent with Orthodox doctrine.

Has anyone else heard this? Which of his Theses are particularly Orthodox/non-Orthodox?

Thanks,

A

[SolEX01]

I saw the PBS special on Luther which reported that the Ecumenical Patriarch invited Luther to "come home" to Orthodoxy except that Luther refused because he may have seen His All Holiness as another pope which Luther didn't want presiding over him.

[scamandrius]

Algernon,

I might direct you to Fr. Mastrontonis' Augsburg and Constantinople which is a translation of the dialogues between the Tubingen Theologians Martin Crusius and Jacob ANdreae (the second generation Lutherans) and Patriarch Jeremias II.  I think from these dialogues you can discern how Orthodox Lutheranism was.  I find it exceptionally valuable as I am a former Lutheran myself.

As far as the 95 theses themselves, much of it is unobjectionable.  But the Patriarch was responding to mainly the Augsburg confession and its contents, not to the 95 theses. See if that helps.

[lubeltri]

At the beginning, Martin Luther was merely a stubborn reformer. His 95 Theses are not that objectionable, even for Catholics. His heresies developed and deepened, however, as the years went on. Lutheranism is a different creature than Luther of 1517.

[Robert W]

Lutheranism is a different creature than Luther of 1517.

I AGREE WITH LUBELTRI!
I'm sorry but you are quite famous on this forum and to find myself agreeing with you is somewhat sensational. 

To make this discussion accessable to all I will provide a link to an English translation of the 95 Theses
http://www.ctsfw.edu/etext/luther/theses/theses_e.asc

I have been raised in a Lutheran home. It was my parents that introduced me to the Orthodox Church but they themselves are still Lutherans (on paper at least).
In my experience it is the Augsburg confession that might be more of a problem than the 95 theses.
The Augsburg confession is more or less a complete dogmatic compilation while the 95 theses are more like potshots against the Roman catholic church.

There seems to be quite a number of former Lutherans here (including me) please feel free to fire away with more specific questions.

[ozgeorge]

My wife and I are considering a move from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy, and I have heard that Martin Luther, when he broke from Rome, was moving toward Orthodoxy, whether he realized it or not, and that a majority of his 95 Theses are, in fact, consistent with Orthodox doctrine.

Has anyone else heard this? Which of his Theses are particularly Orthodox/non-Orthodox?

Thanks,

A

Welcome to the forum!
A great source of information is this page: http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/djw/lutheran-orthodox.html which deals with the correspondence between the Orthodox and the Lutherans in the 16th Century. Also you may want to keep your ears open for any news from the Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission

[PrincessMommy]

Welcome to the group Algernon. 

I'm a former Lutheran (although I wasn't one for very long) before becoming Orthodox.  I hope you'll find the answers here you and your wife are searching for.

[Algernon]

Thank you all very much for your responses.

A

[myrrhbear]

May I add my 2 cents as another former Lutheran. Do not base your information on tv shows such as on PBS and National Geographic, especially when dealing with Chrisitanity. They are often mistaken.