Monday, September 22, 2025

It is the 22nd of September 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A very happy Monday and a show, finally, written and recorded just before its release! We have 4 “regular” shows this week and then two weeks of the smart and talented Sam Leanza Ortiz- I have a hard time handing over the show but am always comfortable with Sam sitting in the chair to give me a spell as I’m traveling again and you’ll get the history, the Bible readings and I’ve told her she needs to make as many jokes about me as possible.

I received a good question from Steve in Marshall, Wisconsin… Steve… there are 3 Marshalls, Wisconsin? I’ll place you in the most populous- the village once known as “Bird’s Ruins” and one time “fastest growing community in Dane County”. Also, the home of the original Augsburg University before it moved to Minneapolis. Steve asked:

“Would it be fair to compare Catholic Orders with Protestant Confessions?  Or maybe Protestant Denominations would be better?  Or not.  If so, I have to wonder if the political climate was different in the early 14th century, would Lutheranism just be another Order in the Catholic Church?”

I like the general concept- but let’s break it down into similarities and dissimilarities.

Catholic orders are fundamentally different in that they, for lack of a better term, are all “professional Christians”, that is, they take vows and their vocation is tied up in that vow. There are “tertiaries” (that means “third thing”), which are those who have taken the vows who are neither monks nor nuns but follow an abridged version of the “rule”. These are sometimes called “secular orders” or “oblates”.

And so the number of official adherents is going to be very different. There are some 14,000 Jesuits, which makes them the largest single male order. But there are no nuns or tertiaries.

The Benedictines number approximately 6,000 monks, 13,000 nuns, and some 25,000 tertiaries, placing them above 40,000 worldwide.

But the Franciscans take the cake- and it’s not close. They have something like 30,000 monks and nuns, but between 300 and 400 thousand tertiaries. Being that the tertiary orders amongst Franciscans are some 800 years old, they have had time to develop.

But, compared to Protestant denominations that would put them in the ballpark of the Presbyterian Church in America, the second largest Presbyterian denomination in America.

To put this in perspective- globally there are some 70+ million Lutherans, 85 million Anglicans (these numbers have to be ballpark!) and, while the number is elastic, perhaps as many as 1 billion Pentecostals, cut that in half and it’s still the fastest growing Christian group by a mile. Why is this? That seems like another mailbag question for another time.  

What makes the Protestant denomination and Catholic order similar is that they are groups within the larger group that trace a distinct historical narrative with founding traditions- Lutherans have Luther, Franciscans have St. Francis, the Reformed have St. Reformus… something like that.

They also tend to have distinct education and missionary arms and emphases.

But, typically of us wily Protestants, there can be a really diverse interpretation amongst adherents- ask a conservative or progressive Lutheran or Presbyterian what they think of those that share their name.

But what about that second part of the question, Steve? In a different world, could the Lutherans or Methodists or others have been seen as an order within the broader church, say, in the 1400s? The 1400s are an interesting choice- because this was the last time the Roman Catholic Church (as we call it) played with a different authority structure. There were those called “conciliarists” who sought to place authority in the councils above the Pope. Once this movement was defeated and ultimate authority was placed in the Bishop of Rome, it killed the opportunity for anything like an order that placed authority in a different source (whether it be in a council, Scripture, etc).

The 15th and 16th centuries saw a consolidation of power in one office that killed the model in the high Middle Ages of “diversity with little adversity,” a model that showed promise within the model of Western Christendom before power, authority, and money did what they unfortunately have tended to do.

I don’t wear rose colored glasses when it comes to the reality of competing (and sometimes necessary) confessions and groups, but I’ll remind myself that Jesus’ last prayers in John 17 were for unity amongst his followers, and I believe that this will be the reality where we are all headed.

Thanks for the question, Steve, in one of the Marshalls in the Badger state- America’s dairyland and home of Gillespie in exile.

 

 The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and, speaking of church growth, Acts 4:

The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.

5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 22nd of September 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who reminds you that Wisconsin still has various anti-Margarine laws on the books- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who has recently been in Germany and can appreciate Wisconsin’s laws prohibiting charging for public restrooms- I’m  Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.