[HarleyD]

Whereas I'd argue that the Protestants broke away because of the invention of New Stuff but due to cultural and geographical reasons decided to 'roll their own' rather than return to the church proper.

That is your take. The Reformers simply said, "Don't believe us, read it for yourself." and handed out Bibles. That was never the history of the Orthodox or Catholics who withheld the entire scriptures from their followers, telling them to rely in their "votes". We didn't need father quoting father quoting father quoting father who aludes to one tiny verse of scripture or some philosophical belief, to tell us what something means. God is rather clear in the things to believe.

BTW The Orthodox have a perfect system of guarding against errors; gatherings of the entire church within the presence of the Holy Spirit making unanimous decisions

Having a bunch of men "vote" on what is or is not correct doctrine is, imo, hardly a perfect system. The Pharisees had the same method if you'll recall and used the same arguments. And while I will say that I do believe the Orthodox to be far more reserve in making decisions than their Latin counterparts, I suspect all decisions were not always unanimous.

[kawaii]

That is your take. The Reformers simply said, "Don't believe us, read it for yourself." and handed out Bibles.

Which they would not have if not for the Church Fathers. I have yet to hear one protestant explain how they know the books in the bible are authentic and those not in the bible are not. Did Christ make a special return trip to whisper into the ears of the reformers?

[kawaii]

Having a bunch of men "vote" on what is or is not correct doctrine is, imo, hardly a perfect system.

This from folks who beleive 20,000 different faiths each one crafted by an infailable 'Holy Spirit' manifesting itself in 'personal interpretation of scripture' (If you can even call the nonsensically bad translations protestants use scripture...) is some sort of corrective system.

Protestants have managed Satan's goal; from 3 churches prior to the reformation to tens of thousands today. Perverting God's word one infailable interpration at a time.

[kosta50]

We didn't need father quoting father quoting father quoting father who aludes to one tiny verse of scripture or some philosophical belief, to tell us what something means. God is rather clear in the things to believe.

No, HD, kawaii is perfectly right. The Protestants DON'T all believe the same thing. There are 33,000 plus divisions in that self-made world. In your world of Protestant belief, everyone makes up in his or her head what is "truth." It's relativism. Nothing is absolutely reue and nothing is absolutely false. God is not relative, HD.

Having a bunch of men "vote" on what is or is not correct doctrine is, imo, hardly a perfect system. The Pharisees had the same method if you'll recall and used the same argument

And having a bunch of men/women cackling what each verse means is WORSE, much worse.