Victor R. Claveau, MJ
Protestantism is a religion of fallible, private opinion. Denying the infallibility of the Catholic Church, a logical Protestant must necessarily be in the attitude of a seeker after truth. He usually says, “one church is as good as another” because he lacks the divine witness to the unique Christianity as formed by Jesus. He is often a doubter, who questions at times whether or not the old historical Church may be right. What is necessary is the intellectual integrity to question one’s strongly held religious beliefs.
Lutherans
This title designates the followers of Martin Luther. Lutherans prefer to date their church back to October 31, 1517, the day on which Luther supposedly affixed his notorious ninety-five theses to the door of the castle church of Wittenburg.
In actuality, according to noted historian Hubert Jedin, Luther sent the ninety-five theses to the bishops concerned on that date, the eve of All Saints. Only when these prelates did not reply, or replied in an unsatisfactory manner, did he, as he maintained throughout his life, distribute them to learned men in and outside Wittenberg.
“A posting of the theses at the Wittenberg castle church is incompatible with the statements of Luther. Neither Luther himself nor any other of the numerous contemporary sources refers to such a move. From that time on, until the final break with the Church of Rome, Luther protested over and over again that he was loyal to the See of Peter.”[1]
In any case, even the Lutherans admit that the church, which Luther founded, differs for the existing Catholic Church. The Lutheran Church is 1500 years too late to be the Church, which Jesus founded. Its very name designates it as a human institution, and history proves that it is nothing more.
In the wake of Luther’s so-called reformation came rebellion, bloodshed, and licentiousness. No reputable historian will posit the conviction that Protestantism brought peace and happiness. On the contrary, it is an undeniable historical fact that Luther by his inflammatory speech and venomous pen, particularly by publishing his Treatise on Christian Liberty destroyed peace and harmony throughout the Fatherland and caused the riotous and atrocious, most bloody revolt of 1525, known as the Peasants War.
When the lawful princes were about to crush the rebellion and to protect him from the ever-increasing fury of the mob, Luther turned against the peasants and urged the princes to exact dire revenge. “Prick, strike, strangle! Slay front and rear, nothing is more devilish than sedition, etc.” Such was Luther’s advice, which undoubtedly contributed to the slaughter of the deluded peasants.
This occasion provides some incite to the personality of Luther, the opportunist. This man, who is called the Father of Protestantism, was a sinful, prideful, insubordinate, apostate, who violated every oath he ever took as a priest.
Over one thousand castles and convents were plundered and demolished. Hundreds of hamlets were burned to the ground and thousands of defenseless people were mutilated and tortured by Luther’s disciples in the name of religious tolerance. The land laid waste while the homeless widows and orphans of more than 150,000 slain peasants went from village to village asking for a bit of food or shelter. Where formally people had been living peacefully together, came hatred and rebellion; despotism ruled with an iron hand. This universal curse of discord, devastation and despicable barbarism was the result of revolt against the Church. The pretentious cry for reformation and freedom of conscience; the plea of protesting against the Church cannot hide the real names: rebellion and intolerance. Listen to what Saint Paul says, “I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded.”[2]
Contrary to the doctrine of the Church, Luther denied the existence of purgatory and the efficacy of praying for the dead; he abolished the invocation of saints; denied the indissolubility of marriage; and granted permission to the Landgrave of Hesse to marry a second wife and ridiculed and renounced four of the Seven Sacraments, retaining only Baptism, Holy Eucharist, and Penance. Because his rank heresy of the justification by faith alone was diametrically opposed to what Saint James asserts in his Epistle, Luther would not even bend his stubborn neck to an inspired writer, but rejected that Epistle and inspired writer. He blasphemously called the Letter of James an epistle of straw.
The different Evangelical Lutheran churches that have sprung up so numerously since the time of Luther, agree in their interpretation of the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed and the Augsburg Confession. Lutheran ministers do not have a valid ordination and therefore cannot consecrate bread and wine, yet, they believe in the Real presence of Jesus Christ. They, however, differ with the Catholic Church in their belief that the bread and remains and Christ is in the bread (Consubstantiation); whereas the Catholic Church teaches what Jesus plainly said, “This is my body,” the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus (Transubstantiation). This much is certain, when a Lutheran minister attempts to consecrate, the bread remains bread and the wine remains wine, as it was before. When a Catholic priest consecrates at Mass, the bread and wine are changed in substance into the Body and Blood of Jesus. Lutherans do not have the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Without it there is no consecration. In some of their teachings and in many of their practices the Lutherans are similar to Catholics, for they have retained many of the good things, which Luther brought along from Catholicism. The Bible is one of these things. Unfortunately, they hold to a canon with seven plus books missing from the Old Testament. Thanks be to God that they at least retained most of the Bible.
Denying the efficacy of sacramental confession, they pin their hope of salvation to faith alone. Jesus said to His disciples and their legitimate successors, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”[3]
Entangled in the meshes of falsehood, it is difficult for them to extricate themselves from the tightly woven knit of prejudice and to recognize and love the Church.
Fundamentally, Luther’s theology removed the accountability for sin. As a result, sin and evil flourished. The same sad results invariably followed these doctrines wherever they have taken root. In Switzerland, France, Sweden, Denmark, Britain, and in the United States, there has been a general decline in public morality and virtue. The scope of this work will not allow the detailed array of facts pertaining to this subject. A simple review of the histories of each nation will amply corroborate this assertion. And an examination of the daily news media will suffice to show the rampant decline of morality in the United States.
Atheistic materialism is not only condoned by the political leadership but is broadcast on network television, screened in Hollywood movies and is created on Madison Avenue. The majority of our current political leadership, duly elected by the will of the American people, have supported and defended the wanton destruction of over almost sixty million innocent victims on the altar of abortion. U.S. foreign aid to third-world countries is usually predicated on the sterilization of the populace. Deviant sexuality is flaunted in gay-pride parades and pornography is sold openly. The state and federal prison populations are overflowing and the criminal justice system is overloaded.
Abortion, usury, divorce, drug abuse, child abuse, gang-warfare, drive-by shootings, murder, theft, white-collar crime, racial and religious hatred, euthanasia, etc., are all indications of the failure of the Protestant gospel — the “reformed” gospel that presupposes everyone will go to heaven, no matter what choices he or she makes, as long as a verbal declaration of allegiance to Christ has been made; the gospel that Christians can make individual evil choices yet retain a proper moral orientation.
[1] Hubert Jedin, and John Dolan, eds., History of the Church: Reformation and Counter Reformation, Vol. 5(New York: Crossroad, 1990) 47-48.
[2] Romans 16:17-18.
[3] John 20:23.