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To: Dr. Eckleburg
Good post, Dr. Eckleburg. The things which are most distinctive in Reformation Protestantism (such as the "Five Solas") are not compatible with Catholicism.

As far as I can see, each of these (Sola gratia, Sola fide, Sola scriptura, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo gloria) could very well have a catholic and orthodox interpretation, but this is an interpretation I have never heard from a Protestant source. (That could probably lead to a discussion much more subtle and detailed than I am able to participate in. I know my limitations!)

I do want to directly dispute one point. You said:

"William Tyndale... was burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English against the dictate of the Romanists."

Not exactly. Numerous partial and complete English translations of the Bible had been made from the 7th century onward. From 950 to 970 the monk Aldred produced an Anglo-Saxon version of the Lindisfarne Gospels. You can see this for yourself in the British Library: the first Bible translated into English, over 1,000 years ago!

These translations were produced, preserved, and treasured by the Catholic (or, as you say, "Romanist") Church. Centuries later, when the printing press made books much more widely available, English-speaking Catholics exiled on the other side of the Channel published the Douay-Rheims English translation one year before the King James Version.

I just wanted to correct the over-broad generalization that the Catholic Church was opposed to the translation or publication of the Bible.

One other thing: besides translating the Bible, Tyndale also held and published views which were considered heretical, first by the Catholic Church, and later by the Church of England which was established by Henry VIII. His Bible translation also included notes and commentary promoting these views.

Furthermore, Tyndale published an essay in 1530, "The Practyse of Prelates," which opposed King Henry VIII's divorce and remarriage. This infuriated the King. Thus Tyndale had to flee England; went into exile; was betrayed; was imprisoned on the Continent; and was hauled back to England and martyred in 1536. It was not, as you say, "at the dictates of the Romanists" --- the "Romanists" weren't in a position to "dictate" anything in the court of Henry VIII. Tyndale was strangled to death, and his body burnt, at the instigation of agents of Henry VIII and the Anglican Church.

81 posted on 05/18/2006 12:05:45 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o (What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?)
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To: Mrs. Don-o; Dr. Eckleburg; Full Court
Minor quibble:

was hauled back to England and martyred in 1536.

I don't believe this is correct, I believe he was executed in Belgium. The man who "fingered" him to the church court in Belgium an Englishman and agent of King Henry.

Very odd that Tyndale, that hero of the Reformation, would likely never have run afoul of the Church in Belgium but for his opposition to the English Protestant King (thereby -- believe it or not -- siding with the Pope!) on a matter of Catholic doctrine.

85 posted on 05/18/2006 12:47:58 PM PDT by Campion ("I am so tired of you, liberal church in America" -- Mother Angelica, 1993)
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