Yes, that is unfortunate if it were true. How can we speak of a "reformed faith" as anything but an amalgam of individual faiths?
As always, I do not speak for all Protestants, but WE are FULLY bound to scripture...
...based on one's own, personal interpretation of Holy Scripture.
A Reformed Protestant, or for that matter any Protestant, is under no obligation to agree with any existing understanding of the Holy Scripture, but is perfectly free to interpret the Holy Script as he or she sees fit.
One can be a Southern Baptist and believe in free will, just as one can be a Southern Baptist and be Reformed, and deny the free will. So, when one says "I am a Southern Baptist" there is a entire spectrum of possible beliefs he or she may hold that may or may not correspond to other members of his or her congregation.
But as an Orthodox or Catholic believer, I don't have that luxury to cherry-pick what i want to believe and what i don't want to, and still call myself Orthodox or Catholic. I can't profess filioque and say that I am Orthodox. I can't profess Protestant redemption theology and remain Orthodox.
I do have the freedom to speculate and ask, as long as I, in the final analysis, always defer to the Church. I believe with all my heart everything the Eastern Orthodox Church teaches, even if my personal demons sometimes lead me astray.
Otherwise, if I believed anything I speculate as my true faith, and not as moments of demonic possession, I would cease being Orthodox in essence.
Since Protestants are under no obligation to follow any particular rule, but their own interpretation of the Bible, and their own conceptualization of the faith based on personal preferences, intellect, culture, etc., my statement that it is a man-made, tailor-made to one's individual taste and preference religion is not an "unfortunate lack of understanding of the Reformed Faith," FK, is it?
Not true. A Reformed Protestant is incomparable to "any Protestant". Our views are relatively distinct and definable. You have been shown confessions to which we adhere, along with the works of Calvin, Luther, and a number of authors of like minds. You have seen with your own eyes the consistency with which we post.
Churches which are explicitly Reformed have the power to "excommunicate" members who openly proclaim non-Reformed views.
One can be a Southern Baptist and believe in free will, just as one can be a Southern Baptist and be Reformed, and deny the free will. So, when one says "I am a Southern Baptist" there is a entire spectrum of possible beliefs he or she may hold that may or may not correspond to other members of his or her congregation.
Your first sentence is correct. Your second is completely false. You selected one difference among members of the SBC. It just so happens it is the largest difference of view, IMO. After that, you will be hard pressed to find significant differences in any way approaching the importance of the first. All SBCs are pledged to the Baptist Faith and Message, a confession that is compatible with, although a wishy-washy version of, many of the Reformed confessions. There is no "wide spectrum", as you say, on other fundamental issues. Your characterization is just not correct.
But as an Orthodox or Catholic believer, I don't have that luxury to cherry-pick what i want to believe and what i don't want to, and still call myself Orthodox or Catholic. I can't profess filioque and say that I am Orthodox. I can't profess Protestant redemption theology and remain Orthodox.
That isn't true either. :) Every time I say you guys are all programmed to follow like robots, you all come out to say how free you are to believe in whatever you want on issues that haven't been ruled upon yet by the Magisterium/Consensus Patrum. But now, when you need to show unity, then you don't have the luxury to cherry-pick. How convenient! :) It doesn't wash. The truth is that we both have some leeway to hold our own views within our respective faiths, and also that either of us could be kicked out of our churches if we pushed a certain type of view too far.
Since Protestants are under no obligation to follow any particular rule, but their own interpretation of the Bible, and their own conceptualization of the faith based on personal preferences, intellect, culture, etc., my statement that it is a man-made, tailor-made to one's individual taste and preference religion is not an "unfortunate lack of understanding of the Reformed Faith," FK, is it?
Since the premise is completely false, of course it is most certainly an "unfortunate lack of understanding of the Reformed Faith". But I've learned to live with it. :) You still appear to believe that any Christian who is not Orthodox or Catholic belongs in the same group. I continue to prove that it is not so, but yet to no avail. Oh well.
I do not think there is any such thing as the Protestant "religion". Christianity is about a relationship with Christ, period. That relationship can and does happen among members of many different faiths which call themselves Christian.