Michael – you may consider it nit-picking but I think it would make for an interesting mind opening study- altho not direct theology. The term ‘Protestant’ has become widely accepted, if not generic for non RCC and non Orthodox Christians. I don’t think this will really change. The term ‘protestant’ in religious terms did actually have political and social roots. The Original Protestants were Germanic Lords/Earls etc who Protested at the treatment of Luther, who by this time had adopted the cause ‘keep your money’ and give it to the local church rather than to Rome- so they were hoping to have some monetary benefit from abandoning Roman Catholicism. Ultimately they were not really ‘protesting’ about religion per se. There are those who would hold that protestantism is just an umbrella term for Christian they believeing (erroneously) that the RCC are not ‘christian’

I think the tendency in the Reformation was to be minimalist in the vision of the Christian life. The questions that Luther raised are really due to religious scrupulosity and not to problems inherent in medieval Christianity.

Anyways, I’m headed to Orthodoxy, tired of a minimalist version of the Christian faith. I’d rather have the cosmological maximalist Christology of Orthodoxy (Christ didn’t just become incarnate as a man, he became incarnate in the creation, in the Church as his incarnate body, working to the divinization of the created order so that God will be “all in all”), than reducing Christ to the guy that saves me individually from Hell because God is the cosmic moralist. What is missing in Protestantism is appreciation of the Sublime and the Numinous behind the Incarnation.

Hey Michael,

There’s two other things you forgot to mention which are very important. First, Catholics have a very complicated theology regarding free will while Luther, as seen in his “Bondage of the Will”, denies such a concept. This is especially highlighted in Luther’s dispute with Erasmus.

Second, Catholics deny Atonement Theology.

But overall, great post. I like it how you don’t fall into the whole “Catholic and Protestants are essentially the same” idea. People need to realize the sharp differences that exist between Catholics and Protestants and how important these differences are. Not that I have anything against Catholics personally. I’m an avid reader of Thomas Merton; he’s one of my most favorite spiritual writers!

Excellent post!

Michael, I enjoy reading your material. As much as I would like to “de-categorize” myself, when I read the scriptures and formulate my theology I discover at the end of the day that I fit somewhere within the Wesleyan-Arminian heritage.

I have been greatly affected by Calvin Reformers who consider me “barely saved” and call me out right “anti-christian” and “semi-pelagian” and so on. As a result my own blogs have become – uncharacteristically – sarcastic sometimes when referring to the Calvin tradition.

While (obviously) I don’t share all of your views above, I do appreciate the “grace” with which you write and would aspire to share my understanding of God’s word and the Christian faith with that same grace.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for this.

I am all for listening to and learning from church history, but as I see it, Scripture is above church history, not a servant/slave to it.

Good thoughts, Martin. But what about more sectarian groups such as Seventh Day Adventists, or maybe those who have universalist leanings? Just interesting to ponder where we might go. I believe we need to listen and dialogue, which allows for both sides to be heard. It’s just that finding the ‘line’ is not always so easy, yet we know there is one.

ScottL: In regard to your pondering about opening the door to cults, I think it’s foundational to recognize that, as CMP pointed out, the primary point of common ground between Protestants and Roman Catholics centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ. To my knowledge, that is the exact point at which virtually every cult departs from biblical orthodoxy. I see no way to establish any common ground with a group that would deny those essential beliefs.

In all, though I would classify myself in the broader terms of Protestant evangelical, I am glad for the major steps we have taken even in the past couple of decades to learn to listen to one another. It is no longer the majority opinion that the other group are ‘hell-bound’ and ‘hell-bent’. That, to me, should encourage us. Maybe it is due to the more modern (by that, I mean, post-modernism of the past 15-20 years) that has opened that door of listening. I take stands on certain biblical-theological issues, but I don’t want to anathematize those who are Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic. I can even learn from them.

My only pondering is whether we might consider opening the door to other groups that have usually been considered non-orthodox – maybe cults, maybe sects, maybe those with universalist-inclusivist leanings, etc? I am not arguing slippery-slope here. I am just pondering.

I agree that the reformation was needed and salvation by faith is something that should still be upheld. I actually think that Catholics may be coming around on that issue. This is an article detailing a speech (sermon?) the Pope gave on faith and works which seems to be very close to my evangelical sentiments: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14450

Great post, Michael. Living in a predominantly Roman catholic country (Brazil) I would say that one other thing is as divisive as the two you mentioned: the veneration (worship) of Mary as the “queen of heaven”. Although they say they only practice “dulia” (veneration) and not “latria” (worship), there is no practical difference between what they do to God and what they do to Mary: they bow down to her statues, pray to her, make offerings to her, and she is supposed to “pray for us sinners, now, and in the hour of our death”. They also call her “our mother” and “our queen”. This comes straight from the Vatican and is not only a Brazilian form of catholicism, as it is found in many other Latin countries. I don’t know how it is in the USA, though.