“I think that you can agree with me that Martin Luther was no friend either of the pope or the Roman magisterium.”
That may be the case but he was a friend of the Roman Catholic Church and wanted to reform it not leave it. His argument was not with the doctrine of Mary, but justification by faith alone.
blue-duncan wrote:
“That may be the case but he was a friend of the Roman Catholic Church and wanted to reform it not leave it.”
Of course he wanted to reform it! Did Christ desire that we all be one or not? Would it have been better had Rome listened and reformed itself or not? Isn’t the will of God both that the truth be confessed and the unity of the spirit maintained? Man’s sin has, of course, wrecked all that. But shouldn’t we still desire what God desires? I will readily admit that truth trumps unity, for false unity destroys truth. But unity is still to be desired, if possible.
blue-duncan also wrote:
“His argument was not with the doctrine of Mary, but justification by faith alone.”
Luther’s argument with Rome was about far more than only justification by faith, although that is surely the chief point (since it is the chief doctrine of the Holy Scriptures). Read him and see.