Posted on 10/31/2025 8:41:01 AM PDT by ebb tide
Today, October 31, marks “Reformation Day,” which commemorates the unfortunate split between Protestants and Catholics in 1517. When we look back at the upheaval of the 16th century, we tend to picture the Protestant Reformers as men who rejected Catholicism in its entirety. Yet a closer look reveals something more nuanced—and even ironic.
Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and Thomas Cranmer all held to beliefs that were profoundly Catholic, many of which are denied by modern Protestants. Their own writings show that the first reformers were not so far removed from Rome as their spiritual heirs often assume.
Take the doctrine of the Eucharist. Today, many evangelical Christians interpret Christ’s words “This is my body” (Luke 22:19) as merely symbolic. But the very founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, never viewed it this way. Preaching on John 6, Luther declared: “There we have the flat statement which cannot be interpreted in any other way than that there is no life, but death alone, apart from His flesh and blood if these are neglected or despised” (That These Words of Christ, “This Is My Body,” Still Stand Firm Against the Fanatics, 1527).
For Luther, while he rejected the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, he believed that Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist more than a symbol. The Lord’s Body and Blood were truly given and received. Thomas Cranmer, the architect of Anglican liturgy, also affirmed that Christ’s sacramental presence was “real and effectual” for the believer. Compare this with the view of many modern Protestants—who see Communion as little more than a memorial meal—and the irony becomes clear: the reformers were more sacramental than their heirs.
Indeed, every Christian for the first 1,500 years after Christ believed Jesus was truly present in the Holy Eucharist.
Another striking continuity concerns devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. For many Protestants today, Marian devotion is dismissed as “too Catholic.” But the reformers themselves honored her in ways that might surprise modern evangelicals.
Luther praised her as “the highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ.” John Calvin admitted that she was granted “the highest honor” by God in being chosen to bear the Son. Zwingli went further, insisting that esteem for Mary should grow alongside love for Christ.
It is worth noting that none of the reformers questioned her perpetual virginity. Zwingli wrote with force: “I firmly believe that Mary…in childbirth and after childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin” (An Exposition of the Faith, 1524).
Even Luther, in 1544, called it “an article of faith” that she remained a virgin after Christ’s birth. By contrast, many modern Protestants recoil at even the suggestion of her perpetual virginity, showing just how far they have drifted from their founders.
Confession is another example. Luther, who as a monk sometimes confessed multiple times daily, never abandoned the practice. In his Smalcald Articles he insisted: “I will allow no man to take private confession away from me, and I would not give it up for all the treasures in the world” (Smalcald Articles, 1529).
For him, the comfort of hearing personal absolution in the name of Christ was essential. Compare this with today, when most Protestant traditions have abandoned sacramental confession altogether, replacing it with vague notions of “going directly to God.” Here again, the reformers sound more Catholic than their successors.
It is also telling that the magisterial reformers—Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli—did not discard sacramental theology. Luther retained Baptism and the Eucharist as true sacraments instituted by Christ. Calvin recognized Baptism, the Eucharist, and even a form of Penance. None of them suggested that sacraments were empty symbols, as many evangelical churches do today.
Even more striking is their respect for tradition. Luther, while rejecting abuses, appealed to the Fathers of the Church. Calvin filled his Institutes with references to Augustine. Zwingli acknowledged the continuity of the Virgin Birth and apostolic teaching.
The Papal Encyclical Exsurge Domine was the official response from Pope Leo X to Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in 1520. The response dutifully addresses 41 topics of concern raised by Luther. The remaining 54 topics were of no concern to the Holy See, as there was no scandal involved. Thus, no explanation was required. The topics in question were addressed, and they have since been corrected by the Church.
The immediate flashpoint was not devotion to Mary, belief in the Eucharist, or confession. It was abuses surrounding indulgences, the papacy, and questions of authority. These abuses were acknowledged and rectified by the Church. The division should never have happened. It’s time for our Protestant brothers and sisters to return and come home.
Ping
Luther was not trying to form the Lutheran church, and he wasn’t trying to revolutionize the church in general. He was trying to discuss (hence “theses”) what he saw as anti-Scriptural works of the church, so that the church could be brought back to what it was intended to be by Christ.
The Vatican needed reformation then; it needs it even more so now, as most FReeper Catholics freely admit.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. Just because they hung onto some of the unbiblical aspects of Catholicism, doesn’t mean they were right. Like most, they were right about some things, and wrong about others. The good news is that God doesn’t care in what denomination we worship, as long as we love Him and accept the redemptive work of Jesus. He knows we’re all flawed, and can’t see everything clearly for now.
But he did rebel, refuted his vows and started his own church made in his image.
Then the breaks started happening and haven’t stopped since then.
According to whom?
Meanwhile we should pray for FReeper ebb tide, who seems to be suffering from PDS -- Protestant Derangement Syndrome.
The good news is that God doesn’t care in what denomination we worship, as long as we love Him and accept the redemptive work of Jesus. He knows we’re all flawed, and can’t see everything clearly for now.
AMEN
It’s time for our Protestant—and Roman Catholic— brothers and sisters to return and come home—to the Holy Orthodox Church!!!!
It often takes time for wrong and unscriptural beliefs to change with a new believer.
Their adherence to some Catholic teaching means nothing more than that.
No thanks.
Rome is home.
Luther made a very strong case for calling Confession a Sacrament and a fairly strong case for calling Ordination a Sacrament since Ordination makes the other Sacraments possible.
So it could and should be said that Lutherans have “three and a half” Sacraments!
Reformation is not the work of one day or two. (cf Ezra 10:13) Meanwhile, based upon the preoccupation of some RCA's, one would think it was Luther's judgment on the canon that was a main issue, as if Exsurge Domine even cited it.
It is revealing that the Prots that are closest to Rome are usually those with a liberal view of Scripture, while distinctive Catholic teachings are not manifest in the only wholly inspired substantive authoritative record of what the NT church believed the only wholly inspired substantive authoritative record of what the NT church believed (which is Scripture, and with Acts through Revelation especially revealing how the NT church understood the gospels).
The original church, founded by the Lord Jesus Christ, only baptized by immersion in the name of Jesus.
JESUS is the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
The Son of God was given a name that is above every name. He inherited his name (prove me wrong).
And from Whom did the Son of God inherit the name of Jesus from, if thou canst tell?
The Holy Ghost is sent in the authority of one name. What name would that be?
Where in the scriptures is prayer shown made to the mother of Jesus Christ’s fleshly body (not the soul, no mother makes the soul)?
That’s just a few of the hard facts which show your Roman church has been built on many vain immaginations for over 1700 years.
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