[Dr. Eckleburg]

if Luther can claim that he need only follow his conscience

Luther presupposed that God renews the conscience of those who are His.

"I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost" -- Romans 9:1

Roman Catholics don't read the bible so it's understandable they would not know this fact.

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" -- Titus 3:5

[Quix]

Thanks for your Biblical pings.

[Cronos]

Calvinism and Universalism (Unitarian Universalists) are two sides of the same coin --> both extreme opinions completely diverging from Christian thought.

As Calvin taught about his caste system with the elite elect caste and taught about his CalvinGod that made men do evil (since hypercalvinism means that men with no free will are mindless robots), there was the other extreme reaction to this -- Universalism.

In both of these failings, you see the errors by veering wildly out of Christian beliefs as taught by orthodoxy. And in both they end up in disbelief and in rejection of a loving, Christian God

[Cronos]

Calvinism and Universalism (Unitarian Universalists) are two sides of the same coin --> both extreme opinions completely diverging from Christian thought.

As Calvin taught about his caste system with the elite elect caste and taught about his CalvinGod that made men do evil (since hypercalvinism means that men with no free will are mindless robots), there was the other extreme reaction to this -- Universalism.

John Murray (1741 - 1815) believed that every individual shall in due time be separated from sin. Of Calvinist background, he was influenced by the Methodism of John Wesley but was converted to Universalism, the doctrine of universal redemption. He organized the first American Universalist Church in 1779 at Gloucester, Mass.

Hosea Ballou (1771 - 1852), a New England theologian and clergyman, formulated the basic tenets of Universalism. Upon reacting against the Calvinist position on salvation of the elect only, he began teaching that all people are saved (universal salvation) and that there is no eternal punishment.

In both of these failings, you see the errors by veering wildly out of Christian beliefs as taught by orthodoxy. And in both they end up in disbelief and in rejection of a loving, Christian God

[Cronos]

If one looks at Luther's errors more from an influence on secular history point of view rather than religious (where blame lies on Calvin and Zwingli and Servetus), one sees the real fallout leading from Luther's heavy influence on Germany right from his The Jews and Their Lies, where he wrote that the Jews are a serpent's brood and one should burn down their synagogues and destroy them...

Luther was a man at the time of Renaissance, not from the early middle ages (4th-9th centuries), so some of his thoughts are inexcusable, especially for a learned man and extremely so for a man who's influential shadow on Germany lies so long stretching right up to the Nuremburg trials and arguably even now to modern day Germany's distrust of Christianity.

Na przykład, quotes like

"As for the demented, I hold it certain that all beings deprived of reason are thus afflicted only by the Devil."

"Idiots, the lame, the blind, the dumb, are men in whom the devils have established themselves: and all the physicians who heal these infirmities, as though they proceeded from natural causes, are ignorant blockheads...." About children with disabilities, he had this to say: "Wenn man aber von den teufelsähnlichen Kindern erzählt ... so halte ich dafür ... dass es wahre Teufel sind" ('But when people speak of the devil-lookalike children ... then that's why I think .... that they are true devils'

The adverse reaction to this was the neo-paganism dating from Wagner's Nibelungen Ring saga. In the year 1940/41, people with disabilities who were entrusted to the evangelical institutions for the disabled in Neuendettelsau/Bayern were, with reference to Lutheran state teachings, finally handed over to the state authorities. That they were put to death, was known to those responsible.

Medieval Germany was in fact far more "democratic" than the other neighboring principalities with city states like Lubeck, Hamburg etc. all running themselves. Serfdom was unheard of and the power of the little princelings was kept in check by the twin competing influences of the Empire and The Church and the strong influence of burghers and tradesmen. Yet, post this, during the Peasants war we read

"As to the common people, ... one has to be hard with them and see that they do their work and that under the threat of the sword and the law they comply with the observance of piety, just as you chain up wild beasts."

"If the peasants are in open rebellion, then they are outside the law of God. Therefore let all who are able slash, strike down, and kill (those who rebel) openly and secretly, remembering that there can be nothing more venomous, harmful, or devilish than a rebel. It is exactly like killing a mad dog."

"[In] a like manner we must endure the authority of the prince. If he misuse or abuse his authority, we are not to entertain a grudge, seek revenge or punishment. Obedience is to be rendered for God's sake, for the ruler is God's representative. However they may tax or exact, we must obey and endure patiently." "Tribute to Caesar" sermon, from The Political Theories of Martin Luther, Luther Hess Waring

Luther's theories were influential on the secular errors that followed, but Calvin's errors are visible today in the barely Christian groups ranging from the OPC to others, with Calvin's Taliban-like rule over Geneva where when Calvin came to power in Geneva, he first established a set of "Ordinances," and a committee called the "Consistory" to oversee adherence to the rules. These "spiritual police" would knock on doors and ask questions, go through people's books and letters, and were not to be resisted. Once a month, everyone in town, old or young, rich or poor, was required to submit to questioning, as to whether they knew their prayers, or why they had missed one of Master Calvin's sermons.

Prohibition extended to theater, festivals, dancing, singing, cards, fancy clothing, jewelry, lace, extra buttons or bows, iceskating, and sports in general.

In Calvin's Geneva Any sculpture or public art was forbidden. A special permit was required to print anything for publication. It was forbidden to write letters abroad, and local mail was all read by the committee, coming and going.

Everyone was encouraged to spy on everyone else, children on their parents, workers against each other, servants against their masters.

"Most savagely of all were punished any offenders whose behavior challenged Calvin's political and spiritual infalliblity. A man who had publicly protested against the reformer's doctrine of predestination was mercilessly flogged at all the crossways of the city and then expelled. A book printer who, in his cups, had railed at Calvin was sentenced to have his tongue perforated with a red-hot iron before being expelled from the city. Jacques Gruet was racked and then executed merely for having called Calvin a hypocrite."

from "The Right To Heresy" by Stephan Zweig