Posted on 09/18/2010 6:52:16 AM PDT by NYer
Yes, indeed. God allowed the so-called reformation to happen so that the Church be stronger and purer. If Luther didn’t ask his questions, there wouldn’t be the Trent that answered them for all of us. All things work for the better in the end.
In fact, I would even argue we need a "reformation" every generation. I dont mean a "refight the thirty years war" type reformation you understand, but a rethinking of how we apply the truth of God to the people at this particular instant in time.
The Protestant reformation is not true reform of the Church, because it created splinter groups, heretical to various degrees. Genuine reform does not generate heresies. St. Benedict was a true reformer, so was St. Francis and St. Dominic, Trent and the counter-reformation movement, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and possibly — although the jury is still out — Vatican II.
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