Luther and Tradition

Luther deliberately rejected Church Tradition. Whatever he retained from Tradition he retained because he decided to retain it. Whatever he didn’t like about Tradition, he rejected. His own spirit became the umpire for his belief system. He became his own final authority. Here is how he defended the addition of a word that is not in the original Biblical text. See that he refused any and all correction. He appealed to himself as the final authority on the subject.

"But I will return to the subject at hand. If your papist wishes to make a great fuss about the word sola (alone), say this to him: "Dr. Martin Luther will have it so, and he says that a papist and a donkey are the same thing.”

- From Luther’s Open Letter on Translating

------------------------------------------------- I will add that no Bible translator in our day - Protestant or Catholic - would ever get away with adding words to Scripture in order to defend a pet doctrine. That is not acceptable at all, yet Luther did it and accepted no correction. So, yes, Luther set the tone for all Protestants. His influence is clearly seen in all denominations. Each denomination, - and then each individual within that denomination - feels free to pick and choose what doctrines it will accept and what doctrines it will reject. Hence the continuous infighting, and then divisions within Protestantism. Yes, Luther kept a lot of Catholic teaching, but so what? He did it because “Dr. Martin Luther will have it so.” Is that what Jesus intended for His Church? If it is, then prove from Scripture that the attitude Luther had was the one Jesus wanted His people to have. There is abundant Scriptural evidence to prove that Jesus indeed wants His Church to be one, even as He and the Father are one. (See John 17 and Ephesians 4 for starters.)

I couldn’t defend the divisions anymore. We are supposed to be one Church, not many.

Some like the idea that they are free to pick and choose whatever they wish to believe and still call it Christian. Some make better choices than others. Some are really seeking the truth, and not just an excuse to make up their own religion. I get that.

Freedom is a great gift. Some believe that being free means not submitting to an organized Church. It gets complicated. I understand that, since I was a Protestant my whole life until not long ago.

Many look for a denomination that will give them more structure than that. Few have the time or inclination to make up their minds about every point of doctrine. However, if all Protestant denominations claim the Bible as their final authority, why are there so many different denominations?

Maybe I just hope that some will take another look at the Catholic Church’s claim to being the one that Jesus founded.

...and so forth.

Jesus founded only one Church. Yes, Protestants are real Christians. I am not saying they are not. What I am saying is that Jesus did not mean for us to be so antagonistic towards one another.

I am also saying that, even with all her warts and flaws, the Catholic Church still has the right message about unity. I understand that not all want to come Home to Rome. I get that. Rome is still Home, and always has been since Jesus founded His One Church.

Maybe at least Protestants - and those of us who used to be Protestants :-) - and Catholics could try a little harder to accept one another as brethren? That would be a good place to start.

Pope Francis is trying to lead in the right direction, I believe.