Why Do They Feel That Way?
I have meet many Catholics who are shocked to learn that many Protestants hold their Church suspect and don't trust the word from Rome. Many modern Catholics don't understand why this is. One reason is because people have long memories, that often lasts for many generations, when wrongs are done to them.
The Catholics do have Martyrs from the Reformation era, but for every one Catholic martyr There were many times more Protestant martyrs who died horrible deaths with the nod of the Roman See. For every Sir Thomas More (who had Protestants in England killed for their Faith) there were many more Protestant Martyr's. I think of men like William Tyndale, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, John Hooper, John Bradford, Thomas Cranmer etc....
Roman Catholics can not pretend that the Church at Rome did not encourage that the sword, the stake and the Inquisition be used to suppress and destroy those that had broken with Rome. To say "That was then this is now" is not enough, especially if you claim to be the "true Church" and some amount of infallibility, as Rome does.
I want to see reconciliation in what is left of Christendom, but I am not foolish enough to think that will be easy. It want be, but we need to work for it and we need to be HONEST (a Christian virtue) when dealing with each other.
Some years back A Roman Catholic was offended when reading a copy of the Westminster Confession, because of some of the harsh things said about The Roman Catholic Church in it. My response was, "Have you read what the Catholics said about Protestants in the canons from the Council of Trent?"
In the religious disputes that racked Christendom after the Luther broke with Rome, there was wrong committed on all sides, but Rome was bigger and hit harder than any of its Protestant rivals were able to do. These things need to be dealt with and not simply dismissed as being unimportant because it was long ago. Wounds can last for millennia if there is no attempt at healing.
Coram Deo,
Kenith
2 comments:
>"...more Protestant martyrs who died horrible deaths with the nod of the Roman See"
Other than popular legend, and myth what proof have you?
Regarding Tyndale, the trouble was not his translation of the Bible, but his footnotes. Even Henry VIII, Defender of the (Protestant) Faith, condemned the Tyndale Bible. Tyndale was hug under civil law. I am unfamiliar, as are most Catholics, of the other people mentioned, but plan to study them.
>"the Inquisition be used to suppress and destroy those that had broken with Rome."
There were four Inquisitions of which three started before the Reformation. The fourth was the Protestant Inquisition in Germany whicj lived out the mythological atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition (3rd).
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/madden200406181026.asp
>"Rome was bigger and hit harder than any of its Protestant rivals were able to do."
While I grant that Rome was bigger and theoretically able to ht harder, I disagree that Rome did hit harder. The seizure of Catholic properties in England and Germany is unparalleled. Catholics never seized Protestant churches and property. The stripping of the altars and churches in Germany was also never matched by Catholics. Again, the 4th (Protestant) Inquisition killed far more and inflicted more destruction than all previous Inquisitions combined.
http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2007/03/protestant-inquisition-reformation.html
God bless...
Hello Timothy,
Thanks for your comments. I hope you don’t think that I was attempting to start a debate on this subject or attacking my Roman Catholic brethren, because I was not trying to do either. In fact, I had just returned home from 8:30 Mass when I found your comment and uploaded it to this blog.
I think you made a few historical error I your comments and I would like to touch on them before going on. First, Henry VIII was a defender of the Roman Catholic Faith and was given the official title (which English monarchs use even until now) of Fidei defensor (Defender of the Faith) by Pope Leo X. Henry wrote Assertio Septem Sacramentorum (i.e. Defence of the Seven Sacraments) in Reply to Martin Luther. For that work The Pope gave him the title of defender of the faith.
It was the Roman Catholic defender Henry VIII how had William Tyndale killed. It was this same Henry who appointed Thomas More Lord Chancellor of England. It was this same St. Thomas More who over saw the persecution of Protestants in England. He had their books burned and had Protestants burned at the stake as well.
Henry did break with Rome, but it was not because he turned to Protestantism. Henry broke with Rome because of his desire for a “legitimate” male heir meant he had to divorce his wife Catherine and marry someone else. Henry had Thomas More killed because More refused to go along with the king on this issue. More’s faith allowed him to torture Protestants and see them burned at the stake, but it would not allow him to agree to the kings divorce.
I will try to address more of your comment as time allows.
Coram Deo,
Kenith
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