[Mad Dawg]

The disagreement, if any, was in characterizing the pope-lessness of us'ns and them. As I saw it, and I am notoriously myopic, you were saying every one was his or her as the case may be own Pope. But Forest Keeper et al. were saying we don' need no feelthy steenkin' Pope. I think that's a very big difference. I think the implications of the difference being one's own Pope and not thinking that one can have authoritative font of doctrine are very important. At least, I won't say to myself,"I am my own Pope" if I don't think Popes are desirable or possible.

Is that less obscure?

[annalex]

I think the implications of the difference being one's own Pope and not thinking that one can have authoritative font of doctrine are very important.

I am bringing the reader's attention to the dissonance here: the declaration is that the Protestants have zero popes, but the actual behavior is that they have a dosen thousand of them, if not more. If the declaration of zero-popes were followed, we would not have the spectacle of others telling us what veneration of saints is or what the Mass is, or the Scripture is. I understand there is a difference that you point out in theory, but I don't see that difference in practice.