What do you imagine would have happened?

[Caelum]

If, the Catholics of Luther's time knew what they knew now? Do you feel he still would have been excommunicated? What do you think would be different, if anything?

[helmikaarina]

Luther was one of the Catholics of his time. So everything would have been different, also MLuther's thoughts. "You can step in the same river only once."

[KagomeShuko]

If, the Catholics of Luther's time knew what they knew now? Do you feel he still would have been excommunicated? What do you think would be different, if anything?
If Catholics practiced then what they do now? I think Luther would have had tons of different questions. However, I don't know that he would be excommunicated. I can't really say one way or another, but I think it would give the whole Lutheran church a different perspective, too. It's kind of scary to think about knowing about some of Luther's writings that we do not follow.

Stein Auf!
Bridget

[ByzantineDixie]

"You can step in the same river only once."This is quite a profound way of looking at it...I wholeheartedly agree!

I have absolutely no doubt that salvation by grace through faith would have surfaced and the response would be the same word play as there is in the JDDJ (is that what its called?).

But look at what Luther wrote...the small catechism and the large...and the Smalcald Articles. Luther's original concern was his own salvation...then he was concerned about the people God gave to him to shepherd. He was not out to make some kind of new denomination--he just wanted reform so his people would not be tricked.

There are some very "different" functional Catholic offshoots today...fully recognized by the Vatican as Catholic bodies yet their beliefs are quite "different". It wouldn't surprise me that if Luther were born today he could have ended up as one of this little offshoots somewhere doing its own thing.

Different river...different impact.-----R

[night2day]

If, the Catholics of Luther's time knew what they knew now? Do you feel he still would have been excommunicated? What do you think would be different, if anything?

A number of denominations today feel they're able to be some sort of a "big tent" where various views on a number of doctrines can be unofficially held, Catholicism included. Others hold a noose to the member's necks. (Which it seems some of the church hierarchy was actually doing.)

If we're speaking of a Martin Luther who still would have insisted on drawing attention to all the abuses and false teachings within the church, he probably still would have been excommunicated as a troublemaker methinks.

Times may change, but people tend to remain the same no matter what the age.

[SPALATIN]

What we have to remember is that Luther wasn't necessarily kicked out for his views on faith but on indulgences. Pope Leo X(a Medici Pope), was using the money from the indulgences to fund the Sistine Chapel. Luther and his theses went against this funding because the people would stop buying them if they knew that the indulgence they just bought held no spiritual value.

It was 4 years after he had nailed the 95 theses to the Church door in Wittenburg that he was excommunicated. And that was because he wouldn't recant his views on indulgences. It was not until after he was out of the Church that he began studying the other aspects of church doctrine and found the Pope to be wanting.

Had none of this happened we might still be buying indulgences to please the church's funding.