Posted on 09/25/2008 4:37:57 PM PDT by NYer
I have always been fascinated with Luther and I certainly understand his issues with the Church (it’s worth noting that Benedict XVI is somewhat of an expert on Luther), I simply disagree with him breaking from the Church.
Medieval history has always been among my favorite subjects and it is clear that there was A LOT of political pressure from the German nobility to break from the Papacy and Luther was very probably pushed to do things he wouldn’t have done on his own.
As far as Luther’s devotion to the Blessed Mother, it is worth noting that Thesis #75 actually uses the phrase “mother of God.” I do not see why any find it odd that our Lord would not extend Salvation to His mother as an act of grace. In the Magnificat, Mary refers to God as her Savior in the present tense, this indicates that her salvation has already been accomplished and it could not have been because of any belief that He died for her sins, because He wasn’t even born yet.
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