BW/012 'Healing of the Church'

Sequel to BW/010, this explains Luther's aversion to contemplative prayer in terms of his chronic depression which led him to shun solitude. Reformation Protestants such as Dr Francis Schaeffer have followed him in elevating scripture over contemplative prayer as a channel of the knowledge of God, often at the expense of mystery and paradox.

One such paradox is to be found in the fact that the New Testament presents not one but two gospel messages (bundles of good news): the gospel of the kingdom taught by Jesus right up to the Last Supper, and that of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus' blood [by faith alone], taught by Jesus at and after the Last Supper, and in detail in the writings of Paul. Some Christians have majored on one of these, some on the other. If the planet is to be rescued from disaster, the Church needs to reunite the two, rediscovering the mystery of God in the process.

The substance of this report is now incorporated in Martin’s book Peacemaking in God’s Church, described in Section III