Berean Call Newsletter

REFORMATION DAY is observed annually on October 31. It was on that date in the year 1517 that a 33-year-old Augustinian friar named Martin Luther nailed his Disputation on the Power & Efficacy of Indulgences (also known as The Ninety-Five Theses) on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther did this knowing it would be widely viewed the next day in the heart of the Holy Roman Empire1 on the Roman Catholic holy day of All Saints’ Day.

Luther’s letter had its desired effect: it was widely read and eventually led to his excommunication by Pope Leo X on January 3, 1521.

Endnotes 

1. What is now Germany was in the heart of the (Roman Catholic) Holy Roman Empire, of which Voltaire famously said, “…is neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire….”

2. The even more famous statement, “Here I stand. I can do no other,” is disputed, but may also have been among his expressed sentiments.

3. Martin Luther, Disputation on the Power & Efficacy of Indulgences Commonly Known as The Ninety-Five Theses (first published 1517; Merchant Books, 2015), Thesis 7.

4. Council of Trent, Session 22 (17 September 1562), “Canons on the Sacrifice of the Mass,” Canon 3, in General Council of Trent: Twenty-Second Session, Papal Encyclicals Online, https://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/twenty-second-session.htm.

5. Martin Luther, Ninety-Five Theses, Theses 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 25, 26, and 29.

6. Luther, Thesis 18.

7. Luther, Thesis 25.

8. Luther, Theses 38, 41, 42, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 64, 69, 70, 71, 73, 75, 77, 78, 81, and 91.

9. Luther, Thesis 71.

10. Luther, Thesis 73.

11. Probably not these exact words, as he was speaking German, and the English rhyme would not be relevant.

12. Luther, Ninety-Five Theses, Thesis 75.

13. Luther, Thesis 77.

14. See Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997), nos. 881–82.

15. Luther’s Works, Vol. 34: Career of the Reformer IV (Concordia Publishing House, 1960), pp. 336–37.

16. Martin Luther, On The Jews and Their Lies (first published 1543; CPA Book Publisher, n.d.), p. 26. [This is the non-scholarly version, omitting long theological dissertations.]

17. Luther, On The Jews, p. 17.

18. Luther, On The Jews,p. 33.

19. Luther, On The Jews, pp. 39-42.

20. Luther, On The Jews, p. 49.

21. Luther, On The Jews, p. 56.

22. Luther, On The Jews, p. 57.

23. Luther, On The Jews, p. 57. 

We can truly say with Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). All we who love Christ deeply talk with Him constantly; He is our Lord, dearest friend, and Savior. We have authenticated His Word over and over in its archaeological, historical, internal, external, and prophetic proofs, and in its witness to our conscience. Times without number we have experienced the fulfillment of its promises to us in our daily lives. Nothing could ever justifiably shake our trust in Him.

Yet even some Christians are plagued with doubts and in need of encouragement from other believers through God’s Word. There are non-Christians, too, who sincerely seek answers to legitimate questions. They ask us for solid reasons for our faith, and we must be “ready always to give an answer…” (1 Peter 3:15).

BEFORE MAN WAS CREATED, Satan had already rebelled and taken countless angels with him. How many angels and how long before, we don’t know. Tragically, the insurrection spread from heaven to earth. At Satan’s enticement, the first man and woman defied their Maker, bringing destruction and death upon this new race which God had created in His image.

This mutiny had not caught God by surprise but was proceeding exactly as He had foreknown. He was still on the throne of the universe. How could man rebel against God’s absolute authority? Clearly, God had sovereignly given man the ability to submit to Him willingly in love. The ability to say yes, however, was meaningless without the equal ability to say no. Thus, the door God opened to loving submission could be slammed shut in willful revolt—as Adam and Eve had done.

Some Christians suggest that God willed for Adam and Eve to break His commandment not to eat of the tree of knowledge. Yet sin of any kind is contrary to God’s will. He must therefore have allowed sin to enter this world in order to further His ultimate purpose for mankind, all of whom He loves with an infinite love—the only kind of love that God, who is love, bestows.

The first law of thermodynamics states that energy, the stuff of which the universe is made, can neither be created nor destroyed. Two conclusions follow:

1. The total energy in the universe remains constant, and

2. Energy must be self-existent and eternal—exactly what the Bible says about God.

Is science promoting energy as “God”?

The second law of thermodynamics states that while total energy remains constant, usable energy and order continually decrease as entropy increases. Common sense tells us that all fires eventually burn out. Neither our sun nor the other stars could have been burning forever. There must have been a time when neither stars nor the energy of which they consist existed. Clearly, the universe had a beginning, as the Bible declares: “In the beginning...” (Genesis 1:1).

Throughout the Old Testament, God warns the children of Israel of the consequences associated with their rebellion against Him. As the end of the divided monarchy approached, He said through Jeremiah, “…my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jer 2:13). Because of their sin, which included God’s commandment to observe a sabbath year, the children of Israel were taken into a 70-year captivity in Babylon (Jer 25:9-13; 27:6; 32:28; Dan 9:2, etc.). Israel was warned that her continual rebellion against her loving Lord would lead to her becoming a proverb and a byword among the nations of the world (Deut 28:15,37; 1 Kings 9:7, etc.), and so it happened. The children of Israel have faced unique persecution, a persecution worse than that experienced by any other people.

It is imperative that everyone who follows Jesus Christ understands that we are in a war. It's a war that is spiritual, but it may have physical consequences. If you're not aware that you are in that kind of war, you very likely have already been taken captive. If you are a pacifist in this war, you have been at least effectively neutralized. Neutrality is capitulation. There is no fence-sitting as the battle rages. Jesus said that he who is not with Him is against Him (Matthew 12:30).

So, if we are indeed in a war, what's it all about? It's a war for the hearts of humanity—and the adversaries are God and Satan.

"Tom, are you serious? Are you telling me that God couldn't defeat Satan in a heartbeat—that one of His created beings is a match for Him?" No. I know that God could wipe out Satan in an instant and, for that matter, all the rest of God's created, rebellious beings collectively, should He so desire. He did it once before, save eight.

The war on God's part is not about defeating His adversary. It is a battle over the prize. It's about winning the hearts of mankind. "My son, give me thine heart" (Proverbs 23:26).

[Dave Hunt’s “A Call to Repentance” cites numerous Christian leaders and dozens of passages of scripture as it indicts 21st-century Christianity. It is as compelling today as it was when first published. We hope that it blesses you as it has us.]

It is now nearly 500 years since October 31, 1517. We need a new Reformation—this time more biblical and thorough. We are drowning in “political correctness.” Having changed from a president who couldn’t define “is,” we have one who persists in calling Islam “peace” in the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary. What the Bible clearly calls sin is whitewashed as “alternate” styles of living. Nothing is wrong, so nothing is right. The church has joined the world, the gospel has been compromised, and we think God doesn’t care. Elijah’s words come across 3,000 years of history to rebuke us as he did Israel:

How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. (1 Ki 18:21)

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

—1 Corinthians 4:1-2

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true...honest...just...pure...lovely…[and] of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

—Philippians 4:8

The Ten Commandments (except for keeping the Sabbath)1 are written in every human conscience. Most of us were caught in lies as children, and “Thou shalt not bear false witness” has been emphasized (sometimes with a well-deserved paddle) even to those of us not raised in Christian homes.

We have stated that one of our purposes at The Berean Call is to preserve the writings of Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon. We have no right to edit their writings to fit current sentiments or trends. Others are entrusted with a similar duty...

…This word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book….

On November 4, 2025, the Roman Catholic Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document titled Mater Populi Fidelis (MPF, Latin for “Mother of the Faithful People”). Signed by Pope Leo XIV, its primary purpose is indicated in Paragraph 22: Roman Catholics are no longer to refer to Mary as the Co-Redemptrix.

This is a step in the right direction, but the title “Mother of the Faithful” alone indicates that this document is not Biblical. The Bible only knows one mother of all believers: “…Jerusalem which is above…is the mother of us all” (Galatians 4:26). Additionally, MPF favorably cites dozens of documents from the Magisterium that allege dozens of unbiblical doctrines regarding Mary. The meaning of MPF is also still a matter of debate within the Catholic Church.