[quote:k9ajc1c8]I see many churches in Protestantism that are amazing. [/quote:k9ajc1c8]
[color=darkblue:k9ajc1c8]So do I. I hardly bump into a catholic that feels there is nothing to learn from brothers in the Protestants Churches.[/color:k9ajc1c8]
[quote:k9ajc1c8]Many have searched history, Scriptures, Tradition very thoroughly and cannot come to grips with the corruptions the Catholic Church has endured. I may be one of them. [/quote:k9ajc1c8]
[color=darkblue:k9ajc1c8]This is not a catholic phenomenon. But a human problem that has infected those inside the Church and outside of it. Corruption is nothing new, and I don’t expect it to go away. Christ promised to protect truth, not the actions of men. [/color:k9ajc1c8]
[quote:k9ajc1c8]The idealism of the Catholic Church for me is wonderful, if it only it were as simple and good as you say it is. [/quote:k9ajc1c8]
[color=darkblue:k9ajc1c8]I’m sorry, but where exactly did I give that impression?
Idealist approaches are usually of the most complex and often requires one to hit the “I believe” button.[/color:k9ajc1c8]
[quote:k9ajc1c8]As you say many Protestants have become so Catholic in their thinking that they do not know it. Luther was one of them. [/quote:k9ajc1c8]
[color=darkblue:k9ajc1c8]I would argue that Luther had rather peculiar perspectives of Catholic doctrine while being a catholic. Because Luther had a very profound negative association of failing beyond what most of us would experience he was a perfectionist in his spiritual life. To most of us being a perfectionist would not be such a bad thing; especially if it deals with God’s will. But for Luther it had a whole different affect. It eventually affected his understanding of salvation and the rest is history.[/color:k9ajc1c8]
[quote:k9ajc1c8]Why did so many break away from Luther? Because he was seen as more Catholic than the Catholics… The mass became hungry for the Church prior to the Roman control; a church without corrupted liturgy, a church without indescriminate baptism (a horrible tragedy of the RC that many still cannot forget, though it would be good if they forgave and forgot), secular bishop rule, the sexual sins of the popes, the list just keeps going on and on. [/quote:k9ajc1c8]
[color=darkblue:k9ajc1c8]Although exaggerated by some, it does no good to argue for the sins men. I simply say guilty and move on. So how do I deal with these realities you pointed out? Well I ask myself questions like:
Does corruption in a Church imply that they are not teaching the truth?
Although Luther was somewhat justified in complaining to the Church hierarchs, was it ok for him to separate himself from an organization that contained truth but had some bad men in it?
What justifies a separation?
How did the early Church resolve issues? Hint: See Acts 15[/color:k9ajc1c8]
[quote:k9ajc1c8]I find the Catholic Church so compelling, as does one of my other friends of whom I have spent my time studying theology with. However, there is an incredible amount of things that we have trouble coming to grips with (see above). [/quote:k9ajc1c8]
[color=darkblue:k9ajc1c8]It is not your burden to “come to grips” with it. Why do you feel you have to?
As I said above Christ established a Church as an objective channel to protect and teach truth. No corruption or bad act can mess with that. That is what I hold on to. The fact that you have had men screw things up and still have truth remain in a 2,000 year rather impresses me. Left in the hands of men alone, they would have drove it to the ground in the first 100 years. [/color:k9ajc1c8]
[quote:k9ajc1c8]One thing I am certain of Protestantism, it has saught to re-establish Christian worship in the way it was originally prior to Roman rule. [/quote:k9ajc1c8]
[color=darkblue:k9ajc1c8]I pray they do.[/color:k9ajc1c8]
[quote:k9ajc1c8]And since the Reformation Christians everywhere have taken more seriously not only the Scriptures but what the Scriptures teach us. [/quote:k9ajc1c8]
[color=darkblue:k9ajc1c8]I hope you pray this for both Catholics and Protestants.[/color:k9ajc1c8]