2007-08-19 21:02:55 · 10 answers · asked by franfran 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Martin Luther was 'catholic' in every sense of the term, even after being excommunicated. Its funny, Martin Luther gets blamed for either:
1. 'Splitting the church' as if 'the church' militant had never been split prior to the 1500's. Yeah there was a big east/ west split 500 years prior. Not to mention the craziest in the west with popes and antipopes.
2. Establishing the protestant church. As if that was his goal to begin with. The ‘Lutherans’ (we have Rome to thank for that name that they gave us) established churchly institutions after being cut off from Rome for so long. Also the 'protestant churches' were not cohesive or unified. The Calvinists and the Lutherans during the Reformation despised the Anabaptists. And the Lutherans and Roman Catholics put down (harshly) a revolt Muenster.
When you take a step back and look at Reformation history, you see that the ‘Protestants’ always held out the hope of reconciliation with Rome. It wasn’t until during the Diet of Augsburg and the official excommunication of ‘Protestants’ during the Council of Trent, didn’t these people see that reconciliation was just a pipe dream. Remember, it was the Pope the excommunicated Martin Luther, he didn’t leave.
But to answer your questions.
#1 Yes Martin Luther was catholic.
#2 No he didn’t not establish the Protestant church.
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Raxtonite-
Good answer!
2007-08-23 02:51:23 · answer #1 · answered by Martin Chemnitz 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, not only did he expose some abuses in the catholic Church, but he openly protested the authority of the Pope and the Catholic Church.
At the time of Martin Luther, if you were a Christian, you were a Catholic. Martin Luther was one of the first Catholics who separated from the Catholic Church and started separate Christian communities.
2007-08-20 08:40:04 · answer #2 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Not only was he Catholic, but he was also a Catholic monk who rebelled or protested against the Roman Catholic church and formed the Protestant Church. The Protestant Church itself is now divided into thousands of denominations. Martin Luther married an ex-nun breaking the laws of celibacy.
2007-08-22 10:05:52 · answer #3 · answered by Pat 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes, he was a Catholic. My version of the story is a little rusty, but it went something like this: Martin Luther was a monk who was super-serious about trying to please God. He was very aware of his sinfulness and was trying his hardest to be acceptable to God and do everything just right. As he was reading the book of Romans, he realized that the Catholic church was way off base. The Bible was saying that forgiveness from God wasn't a thing you earned and beat yourself up over, it was something that could only be gained as a FREE gift. That you could only be made right with God by trusting in Jesus' death in your place, and that God raised Him from the dead. Luther believed this and gained a real relationship with God. Realizing that the Catholic church wasn't teaching the Bible accurately, he attempted to start reforming the church, but they didn't want to hear it and called him a heretic. So what ended up happening was a breakaway group of people (the Protestants) who believed just what the Bible said, and not what the church said. That's my recollection of the story.
2007-08-20 04:44:41 · answer #4 · answered by Amaris 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Martin Luther remained a faithful Catholic all his life, even though the *Roman* Catholic Church rejected his reforms and excommunicated him against his will.
2007-08-20 09:09:14 · answer #5 · answered by raxtonite 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Martin Luther was a catholic. He wanted reforms because he saw that the Church was corrupted by politics and was selling false ideology to make money and gain power.
2007-08-20 04:25:03 · answer #6 · answered by CK 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
A funny thing about Martin Luther: Do you know how many heretics were put to death in Martin Luther's day? And he NAILED DEMANDS to the Church's door, and they just let it go? "Oh, he just wants to start a massive Reformation. We can let that slide..." ???
The so-called Protestant Church was created by the Vatican. They're two heads of the same beast, bought and sold by Satan.
Repent, all ye sinners!
2007-08-20 04:14:36 · answer #7 · answered by Sabrina H 4 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Yes.
2007-08-20 04:07:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
yes
edit: wow, that Sabrina girl above, has a wild imagination.
2007-08-20 04:16:34 · answer #9 · answered by Perceptive 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
of course
2007-08-20 04:25:47 · answer #10 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋