Steadfast,
Well, it would be pointless to try to post enough of those other threads in order to give you the entire context. Yes, you can nit-pick the statemens and find where they fail to meet a textbook definition of relativism.
But after some time of seeing a pattern develop out of their responses, I am beginning to be convinced that the Protestant denominations depend on some relativism.
No, my O.P. was not intended to be taken as a literal accusation that Protestants invented relativism, or that protestantism is entirely relativistic. But I intended to check if my observations of a connection between relativism and Protestantism are correct.
In the first quote, you seem to miss the emphasis on IMHO, which stands for “In My Humble Opinion.” I could tie up bandwidth with thousands of such references. They seem to have a hang-up with personal opinion. Doctrinal interpretations are always relegated to IMO or IMHO. Which can be indicative of relativism which relegates all truth to matters of opinion. The IMHO is in fact a way of saying “but you guys could be right too.” They are stating that the consecration of bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus is In My Humble Opinion a memorial. Well that’s his opinion, and the understood is that our beliefs are merely our opinion too and therefore can’t have any more merit than his own opinion. Relativism.
In the second quote - that is relativism too. What the author is insinuating is that Catholics and Mormons are the only ones with the audacity to say they’re right and everyone else is at least partly wrong. I don’t know what you’re talking about with respect to our responses to baptism and accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior. I’m not aware of any Catholic response that sounds like what this man wrote.
In the third quote - yes it is an expression of relativism. These people have made the claim that it doesn’t matter what you believe - so long as you believe that Christ is the Son of God and Savior of Man. It’s as if the only concrete objective belief they hold is this Divinity of Christ and his role as Savior.
All else is relative to them.
it may be truer to say that, in some sense, “relativism” caused the Reformation rather than vice versa.
Well OK, then, Did relativism cause protestantism? I’m not so concerned with the nit-picky details of which came first, but I’m more concerned with my observance of a relationship between Protestantism and Relativism. No Protestants are not relativist through-and-through.
But it seems like they’re blind to the fact that the ugly child they seem to hate - when it comes to labelling all morality as relative - actually is a close kin to Protestantism.
When confronted with various doctrines and dogmas that separate them from the Catholic Church, they trot out the IMHO mantras. However, when it’s a doctrine that they are united with the Catholic Church on, it’s simple fact.
