Campbell Restoration sounds pretty Reformed to me so it sounds like it comes out of from Calvin Zwingli based on the beliefs of baptism and the Eucharist.
Actually, according to the “The Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope” by is part of the
Augsburg Confession, the Pope is a considerd a anti-christ (not The) as he claims to be the vicar of christ on earth and to act as Christ on earth..Basically what Luther had to endure and corruption of the Catholic chruch I could understand why he felt that way.
Today, even though it still part of the confessions of the church, Lutherans do believe the Pope is THE ANTI-CHRIST... Actually, as confessional Lutheran, I have more in common with and appreciation of theCatholic Church than I do with American Protestants or American Evangical Christians
I am actually
Calvin, Zwingli and John Locke all were an influence on the Campbell-Stone Restoration Movement of the early 19th century which used sola scriptura as it's base. However, the 'Pope as anti-Christ', is contrary to the Restoration Movements slogan (one of many used over the past 200 years) "Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent."
I'm not familiar with all the tenets of Lutheranism so I cannot discuss the denomination with any degree of credibility. I only know what I believe and what I've learned over many years as an evangelical Christian. Folks like me see Catholics as fellow Christians (believing in Christ as Savior) that have been led astray by the Church's man-made rules and customs that have little to do with salvation and are not supported by scripture. It's a long list. Obviously, the establishment of a Pope and his designation as 'Christ on earth' is on that list - but that's as far as it goes. While the anti-Christ is not viewed as plural (as Luther apparently believed) no Christian I've known has referred to the Pope as an/the 'anti-Christ'. Apparently, Lutherans do. I disagree, as most evangelical Christians would. So what?
Your expressions of feeling more commonality with the Catholic Church than evangelical Christians are yours to hold and, frankly, have nothing to do with the issue of Michele Bachmann, her association with the Lutheran Church and their theology and view of the Catholic Pope. We're way off the subject of this thread with this exchange and while it's of some interest to look at church history - and I respect your knowledge of that subject - the only reason I responded to your original post (#200) to me that advised me to 'read up on my church history' and referenced 16th century Reformation leaders that have only a tangential relation to current day evangelical Christianity that I am a part of, seemed a bit supercilious and I thought deserved a response.
However, lengthy exchanges centered on relatively obscure religious doctrines of centuries ago (albeit carried into the 21st century) get tiresome rather quickly and seem a bit misplaced on a website forum dedicated to politics, which is what normally brings me (and others) to FR. On that basis, I choose to leave this exchange as a cordial, mildly interesting discussion of Protestant theology/history that ultimately goes nowhere and adds little to the basis of the thread. Should you desire to add a coda to the exchange I'll be happy to let that serve as it's finale.