If our Salvation is not based in our denomination how come Martin Luther started splitting the Church?

Question

Why do many Protestants label the original Universal (Catholic ) Church a denomination?

Answer 1

He saw all the corruption in the Church and instead of working to heal it with God's love, which in hindsight would've been the better choice, he decided to start his own denomination based on what he thought was true and right.

Answer 2

The Church didn't split at first because of Luther or his teachings. There was the Great Schism of 1054 AD (look it up in a reliable church history text) and other people who believed the Roman Catholic Church of their era was moving further and further away from the New Testament. Examples: the Lollards, Waldenses, Albigensians, Wycliffeites, Brethren of the Common Life, and others could be named.

True, salvation is not based on which denomination you attend. People have come to faith, saving faith, in the finished work of Christ from many such denominations and will go to be with the Lord when their life ends. Just so, many will open their eyes in Hell because they believed in something other than what Jesus did. He said MANY will say, "Lord, Lord, didn't we do . . ." and He will say, "Depart from Me, I never knew you". But your question leads to something much different than what you started with.

Answer 3

very good question, I never thought of that.

Up until 1054 throughout the world, "church" was synonomous with the Catholic Church.

Similarly, in Western Europe until 1500, when one said or thought of the word "church," it was in reference to the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus the Lord, and presided over by the Bishop of Rome.

Why do people assume that Luther was the first Reformer? That is false. The Catholic Church has a long list of reformers, including saints Thomas Aquinas, Francis of Assisi, Catherine of Siena, Ignatius of Loyola, Charles Borromeo, Anthony Zaccaria, just to name of few. Some of these saints preceded Luther by a few hundred years, and others were his contemporaries. The difference between these Catholic Saints and Luther was the the former chose to honor their vows to God, while the latter decided to break his vows, and create a man-made church in disobedience to the Church.

Answer 4

Martin Luther never intended to split the Church, only correct it of what he saw as wrong. It was the Church that kicked him out. A thesis submitted to Loyola School of Theology (a Roman Catholic seminary) argues that Luther was just born at the wrong time. The writer believes that if Luther had been born at another time in history, the Church would have canonized him (made him a saint)!

Answer 5

Luther was not splitting a church. Luther was trying to get the church to see the errors of her ways and reform and go back to the Biblical edict that salvation is STRICTLY by grace, and not by works or paying the priest.

The reason why the church split was because many people were convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit because of their sins and wanted new spiritual life, and saw Luther as an opportunity to once again draw close to God without all the additional trappings of paying for your sins with money, etc.

Luther also had some things wrong, but he got closer because he followed the teachings of the Bible rather than the indulgences required by the priests, which were TOTALLY corrupt by the time Luther came along.

The bottom line for salvation is not which denomination you attend, or how much penance you make, or indulgences you pay, but whether or not you belong to Jesus and you have repented of your sins. It is all by the blood of Jesus, and NOTHING else. "For you are saved by grace, through faith. And that, not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast."

Answer 6

I don't believe in denominations as no church has dominion over me, only God himself. No where in the bible does it state that one has to be saved by a denomination.

While Jesus was talking about a church, he was talking about a community of faith and not a church based on denominations. For those who follow Luther, the Pope, the Bishop of their church, read below.

"You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you are you not acting worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I will follow Paul" and another, "I follow Apollos," you are not mere men?
In other words, follow Jesus not the messenger.

In James, the brother of Jesus, goes on to explain in James 1:27 "Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unpolluted from the world"

You see being saved isn't based upon any religion because they are all man made creations. Being saved relies upon accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and savior and not belonging to a certain denomination; because all the denominations have done is created in fighting which is the last thing Jesus wanted, he wanted unity among the believers not religions.

Answer 7

The church is the body of God, not the denominations that we see to day. Everyone who believes the Truth of God is a part of the Church. The Truth is Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He died to save THE WORLD!

Answer 8

Our salvation is based on Jesus' death and resurrection. It has nothing to do with denominations. Neither is the Catholic Church representative of Christ!

Answer 9

TRUTH:
There is ONE God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
TRUTH:
God the Son became man: Jesus Christ
TRUTH:
Jesus promised, "I will build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18), and only the Catholic Church has existed since the time of Jesus. Every other Christian church is an offshoot of the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox churches broke away from unity with the pope in 1054. The heretical protestant churches were established during the Reformation, which began in 1517. Only the Catholic Church existed in the tenth century, in the fifth century, and in the first century, faithfully teaching the doctrines given by Christ to the apostles, omitting nothing. The list of popes can be traced back to Peter himself, the first pope. Here is the list:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm

Jesus’ Church is called catholic ("universal" in Greek) because it is his gift to all people. He told his apostles to go throughout the world and make disciples of "all nations" (Matt. 28:19–20). For 2,000 years the Catholic Church has carried out this mission, preaching the good news that Christ died for all men and that he wants all of us to be members of his universal family (Gal. 3:28).

LINKS FOR TRUTH SEEKERS.....
On the Church:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Pillar.asp
On Purgatory (includes lessons in Real Audio):
http://www.fisheaters.com/purgatory.html
On the saints:
http://www.catholic.com/library/mary_saints.asp
On the Pope:
http://www.catholic.com/library/church_papacy.asp

Answer 10

There is a question among protestants, Baptists and others about the Roman church being original or universal.