Interesting suggestions. But many of the beliefs and practices of Protestantism are actually common to just about any of the earlier heresies: a rejection or weakening of belief in the Trinity, for example, or the rejection of the Eucharist and the sacramental priesthood. Others seem to be regular features of various heresies of "personal revelation," such as Mormonism, which frequently involve an attempt to adopt a distorted form of OT ritual law and a literal adherence to OT practices. As a result they often dabble in polygamy or adopt a decidedly pre-Christian view of women. Bear in mind that Islam developed in a climate that had been heavily influenced by Arian Christianity, and in which the divisions left by Arianism and other heresies made Middle Eastern Christians particularly weak in doctrine and vulnerable to attacks.
However, the idea of the Protestants' literal adherence to a book as being taken from Islam is something I'd never thought of before, and the author may be right on this. To my knowledge, there is no other, earlier Christian heresy that involves an attempt to cling to the literal words of a text. Perhaps it was Islam that suggested this to Luther's mind.
Beat me to it. See post #8!
Hey! Please leave us Mormons out of this. We are not Protestants, nor are we a party to squabbles between Protestants and Catholics.
That said, the posted article appears to be a hit piece on Protestants, not a serious discussion of Christianity or Islam. I see far too many articles on the Religion Forum that are intended to defame and insult rather than inform. This one happens to attack Protestants; others attack Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and so on. Enough is enough.
I was raised in the Episcopal church, but have been attending a Catholic church for the last several months, and am (and have been for a year or so) slowly becoming Catholic. I'll take the formal classes later this year.
So, I think I have a perspective that most don't have. When it comes to women, the Catholics seem to have a much greater respect for women AS women, while Protestants seem to respect women only when, and to the extent that, they are like men. For example, women can become Episcopal priests, but the only mention of Mary in the service is in the Nicene creed. I can't tell you what a shock it was to me the first time I showed up early for mass, and they were praying the rosary, and there were as many, if not more, men kneeling as women. Mary is revered for her role as a MOTHER, which is what most women want to be, to do, and to see men honoring that just amazed me. (For the record, I have never heard a women preach in the Episcopal church who didn't remind me of a kindergarten teacher-- I don't know why that is, but I really don't like it.)
The other striking difference in my experience of Catholicism is my view of heaven. As an Episcopalian, I always got the idea that heaven was kind of a lonely place-- God was there, and Jesus, but I just didn't have a much bigger picture of it than that. But with the Catholics, heaven is lively! God, and Jesus, and Mary, and all of the many, many saints, and all of the dead we pray for, all of the good Christians down through the centuries, and our own loved ones who have died. Heck, that's where the party is! It's where you want to go.
Just my $.02. ;)