So #1 Son tells us tonight that at "Mommy's" church (supposedly Lutheran and actually her husband's, not hers), his Sunday class learned that the Lutheran church came about because Martin Luther didn't believe in tithing. Um, don't you mean indulgences? No, he's certain they said tithing.
((Here Scone pinches her eyes together and rubs her aching head but does not actually quote Malachi 3:8-10.))
Well, that would explain a few things Miss Thing has said. It explains why their biggest point of doctrine seems to be that churches that teach tithing are evil and that all their members are going to hell and should therefore be screamed at. On the other hand, it doesn't explain how this group can teach whatever they want and still call themselves Lutheran. Our dear friends down the street are quite strongly Lutheran and have never heard of such a thing in their church. Is that normal? These congregations are less than 100 miles apart, not on opposite sides of the world or anything. Anybody know what's up here?
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Although I have no idea how it relates to tithing, there is the much larger American Lutheran denomination called the ELCA, and the much smaller, highly conservative (and whacko in the opinion of many) Missouri Synod, although it isn't confined to Missouri. For them, you must present a card saying you're Missouri Synod before you can receive communion. I was the ELCA version of Lutheran for many years.
Go visit Renee, she's linked on my blog and she's Lutheran. I'm sure she'd be able to answer that question. She actually only lives about an hour and half from you in Parker, CO.
Funny, I always remember Chris (may bees pee upon him) telling me that it was the sale of indulgences in the Catholic Church that got Luther's pants in a bunch.
I remember him making a big deal about that when he was trying to convince me of the superiority of his religion, and it kind of took the wind out of his sails when I asked him what an indulgence was. I honestly never heard of one before that. Even my dad was a bit rusty on that concept, and he was Mr Knight of Columbus.
We don't tithe, so I don't know where they came up with that. But hey, what do I know about Catholic theology, right? ;)
I'm pretty sure that history is clear on Luther's list of objections; high up there was certainly the sale of indulgences. We ended up having a long discussion last night about the ignorance running rampant in the Dark Ages because people just accepted whatever was taught to them in church and never read the Bible or anything. Of course, people back then didn't have much of a choice.
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