Nice try to get around my point…ain’t gonna fly, though!
Tempers were high during the Reformation - on both sides. And things were said, on both sides, that had been better left unsaid. If I suscribed to Luther’s “The pope is the Antichrist”-idea, I would not be inhere!
Yes, I realize that tempers ran high but Luther immortalized his hatred for the Church by branding her the “Whore of Babylon” (Did he not write sermons based on such things). Even till this day, certain Protestant sects claim the very same things that Luther did.
What has the CC done to Lutherans that can be likened to this?
I know you do not subscribe to this, and I have nothing against Lutherans (I think in fact that you are much kinder to us than most Protestant denominations), my issue is with Luther.
1: Actually, a lot of “Lutheran doctrines” was penned by Melanchton, although Luther gave his imprimatur.
Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, and other solas which at the moment allude me, were they not thought of and developed by Luther (were they not at the heart of the reformation), was he not the one who took 7 books out of the Bible. . .etc.
Not to mention the fact that the Book of Concord, which established Lutheran orthodoxy, wasn’t produced until decades after Luther.
But it is still based on Luther (i.e., the idea of Sola Scripturea, Sola Fide . . .etc.)
2: I am not denying that the old Luther was virulently anti-semitic. In fact, I think it was I who first used that very word (virulently) in this specific thread? What I’m saying is, that he didn’t catch this sentiment out of nowhere. He was a child of his time, and of the RC church.
Please read my post, I believe it’s #47
As for “virulently anti-catholic”, there are two things to say:
1: As far as I know, Luther continued to call himself “catholic” until his death. He just didn’t subscribe to the idea that the Church Catholic was identical to that branch of it which was governed by the Bishop of Rome.
He could have called himself “catholic” all he wanted, but in the end he did much to destroy what was Catholic.
2: THAT sentiment did not come out of nowhere, either. It was the result of a process - in which both sides made mistakes.