Best Answers

When I asked the guys at Old Life how they justified all the divisiveness in Protestantism, here are the best answers I got. I will summarize them. Well, I know the answers because these are the ones that I used for years to justify it.

1. People are sinners, so they are going to have fights and divisions. It will be that way until Jesus comes.

2. Catholics are divided, too.

I also asked where in Scripture Protestantism as it is can be found.

One person brought up the doctrine of the remnant. Israel lost 10 tribes because of division.

He tried to use that as an explanation of why there is just a remnant of Reformed Christians who have remained faithful to God.

I think that example would fit very well of what happened in Catholicism when the Protestants split from the Church. I mean, that example can go either way. I think it goes the Pope’s way better than it does Calvin’s myself.

The guys know that Reformed Christianity is on the ropes. Lutheranism has gone liberal for the most part. Sure, there is a strong, faithful remnant, but that remnant is small. Will they be able to rescue Lutheranism from total apostasy?  Actually, I hope so.

The same goes for Calvinism. Look at the Reformed churches. Look at Presbyterianism.

It looks to me like the 10 tribes of the Reformation split from Rome are just kind of disappearing.

Now, many are able to go along just fine thinking that Catholicism is just as divided as Protestantism. Of course, that is not true in the same way the divisiveness in Protestantism is true, but it is a way to cope with all the divisiveness we see in it.

Also, it is very true that our sinfulness is what causes divisions in the first place. However, where in the Bible do we ever see sinfulness as a justification for, well, sin?  That dodge - sinners are gonna’ fight and separate - is a lot like “the devil made me do it” excuse.

Our tendency to sin is an explanation. It is not a Biblical justification, obviously.

So, some of the guys did try their best to answer my challenge, and this is the best they could come up with. Again, how do I know? That is the best I could come up with after years of experience in Evangelicalism.

So, tell me again why Protestants left the Church in the first place?  To me, it is looking more and more like rebellion and not reformation.  They didn’t fix anything, reform, anything, or change anything by leaving.

Yesterday I said that Old Life is my Protestant detox. They have given me no reason, - not even based on their own principles of sola scriptura and the WCF - to return to Protestantism.