:: recasting as the greatest of reformers he who had previously been seen as the prototypical excommunicated heretic ::
Luther would have declined any such “casting” of his efforts.
Luther would have declined any such “casting” of his efforts.
No doubt. OTOH, the Catholic Church ultimately responded to many of Luther's accusations by recognizing that Luther was right -- although not in so many words. For instance, when's the last time you heard about modern-day indulgence abuses? Catholics today are on Luther's side of the grand majority of the 95 theses.
The Catholic Church has a long history of veering off course and then getting pulled back to center. Luther may not have become a Catholic Reformer, but he certainly was a reformer, and I would hazard a guess he was an influence on many of those who did the work within the Catholic Church.
Although I admittedly say that as an outsider -- I consider myself Christian first, denomination second: currently Lutheran, never been Catholic.