Did Martin Luther believe the Church needed to be reformed before the Great Schism of 1054AD, or after?
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I think its safe to say that Martin Luther, being one of the fathers of Protestantism, was primarily at odds with the *Roman* Church. He posted his 95 theses to confront what he thought to be corruption that centered around Roman Catholic indulgences. Later on he became convinced that the Pope was the Anti-Christ.
> Nevertheless, since few know this glory of baptism and the
> blessedness of Christian liberty, and cannot know them because of the
> tyranny of the pope, I for one will walk away from it all and redeem
> my conscience by bringing this charge against the pope and all his
> papists: Unless they will abolish their laws and traditions, and
> restore to Christ's churches their liberty and have it taught among
> them, they are guilty of all the souls that perish under this
> miserable captivity, and the papacy is truly the kingdom of Babylon,
> yes, the kingdom of the real **Antichrist**! For who is " **the man of sin**"
> and "**the son of perdition**" but he that with his doctrines and his laws
> increases sins and the perdition of souls in the Church, while he sits
> in the Church as if he were God? All this the papal tyranny has
> fulfilled, and more than fulfilled, these many centuries. It has
> extinguished faith, obscured the sacraments and oppressed the Gospel.
> (*Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Page 536, chapter 3* - emphasis added)
From what I understand, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are basically the same doctrinally, with the exception of a few points, such as the Filioque, Papal Supremacy, etc. I also understand it to be true that it is an historical fact that, before the Great Schism, there was only *one* Church consisting of both the "Eastern lung" and the "Western lung."
My question is this:
Did Luther believe that the Church needed to be doctrinally reformed even before the Great Schism? **If not then why didn't he just embrace Eastern Orthodoxy, and in turn direct his "reforming" constituents toward the East?**
I haven't read *all* of Luther's works to know whether or not he conscientiously protested Rome exclusively, or the sacramental lineage of the unified East/West Fathers and ecumenical councils of the early Church *altogether*.
Asked by user5286
Sep 6, 2013, 05:25 AM
Last activity: Apr 13, 2016, 09:42 PM
Last activity: Apr 13, 2016, 09:42 PM