Sad at priests ordination party, and Mandator Celibacy

[CowboyAndy]

A lot of Reformation churches in Europe accept female clergy and gay marriage.

Pope Francis and Bartholomew aren't exactly saints...

 

[ArmyMatt]

Are all the reformers responsible for the existence of the numerous cults in Protestantism?

to some degree, yes. they started the trend of splitting off over and over again.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I read a few letters some reformers exchanged with Greek Orthodox. It sounded like they wanted to decide for themselves what scripture said, even making the lame excuse of 'letting scripture interpret scripture'. Nonsense.

I read the correspondence too. Sadly, the time to send a letter and receive a reply was so extended back then. It seems Luther, for example, progressed too much in his own interpretations to be willing to listen to anything else. I don't know if the possibility of direct exchanges would have made a difference since I don't know his thoughts and personality. Not mine to judge.

At any rate, the shattering and divisions within denominations has been a sad result, even though I can hope that most of it was at least motivated by a desire to more purely approach the Gospel as once for all delivered to the saints.

 

[AMM]

to some degree, yes. they started the trend of splitting off over and over again.

To an extent. That being said, like you pointed out in a different thread - when the Great schism occurred, Rome excommunicated Constantinople, and an Orthodox deacon begged to be received, he didn't want to be excommunicated from Rome. Pretty much the same thing happened with Luther. He didn't leave, he got excommunicated. Not sure about the other reformers, since I haven't studied them

 

[AMM]

I read the correspondence too. Sadly, the time to send a letter and receive a reply was so extended back then. It seems Luther, for example, progressed too much in his own interpretations to be willing to listen to anything else. I don't know if the possibility of direct exchanges would have made a difference since I don't know his thoughts and personality. Not mine to judge.

At any rate, the shattering and divisions within denominations has been a sad result, even though I can hope that most of it was at least motivated by a desire to more purely approach the Gospel as once for all delivered to the saints.

They're fascinating to read. Some Lutherans I know think it would have ended differently if it had been different Lutherans writing the correspondence. It occurred about 30 years after Luther's death, and I've heard that the Lutherans who wrote (the Tubingen theologians with Jakob Andreae) to the east weren't as well-versed in Greek or the church fathers as some contemporaries (like someone named Martin Chemnitz).

To your point about Luther himself. He personally was pretty set in his views. I feel like his personality wasn't the best for... shall we say, polite theological dialogue, especially as he got older. But the Lutherans as a group are a different story, and they weren't actually just following everything he wrote. Only 3 of Luther's works are considered doctrinally binding/official in confessional lutheranism, the rest is (usually, with exceptions) considered good but you're not gonna be considered a heretic for not accepting his other stuff.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I’d be more concerned about him being in Catholicism than pitying the celibacy!

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

Luther hated baklava and hard liquor. He’d have been a terrible fit!

Personally it seems to me that they were right to oppose many of the issues of Catholicism. In those ways we are closer to some Protestants.

I still wonder sometimes how it would be if Luther (and maybe others) had returned to Orthodoxy.

 

[eastcoast_bsc]

So I'm still in the Western Catholic Church. I went to a younger priests ordination party, and I was sad.

I listed to the story of how his mother told him jokingly somewhat - I'm not sure how much, to not be a priest as she wanted grandchildren. The family had lost their only other child, so he was it.

He ended up becoming a priest. But I just thought, it's a choice that shouldn't be mandatory - but they must choose one or the other. He may have made a great dad, and raised a wonderful Catholic family.

It just makes me sad that they have to choose, and it's become a big hang up for me with our massive lack of priests. I'm sort of tired of the explanation of "it's discipline, not dogma" - it seems like an excuse to do things out of line with Scripture and history.

Am I just wrong, or am I just too called to the East? Just trying to reflect, and looking for some help.

Life is about choices and the road taken. We all pick up our crosses and follow Christ on the narrow road. Why be sad, he made the choice and is probably happy with it.