Wow. Pope Alexander. He seems to be to certain FReeper protestants what the racism card is to Democrats. No matter what the issue, you can stop any serious discussion by pulling him out.
Like I stated at the very start of the thread, the purpose is not to launch an ad-hominem attack against Luther to undermine Protestant theology, but rather to present the gravity of the heresies which necessitated the Catholic response to Luther.
Actually, that is the first time in my life I’ve posted a comment on Pope Alexander. I vaguely remembered him from a biography of Luther I read 30+ years ago, along with Will Durant’s histories.