“I think its just a difference in thinking. Catholics quote Luther to us as if we look to Luther/Calvin in the way Catholics look to Popes, Catechisms, the Vatican, etc. We don’t. Luther/Calvin may have originated the movement but they were just as likely to make mistakes as you, or I, or the Pope. They were not doctrinally infallible.”
Sir, this article is from a Protestant who was a protestant and converted over. Many Protestants do look at Luther and Calvin and Zwingli as authoritative, which is why they call themselves Lutherans and Calvinists. Or Mennonites as the case may be.
Now, you are quite right that Protestants don’t have an overarching authority besides their own conscience. So in a sense, everyone picks and chooses what they want to believe and have in essence their own, personal theology.
If you sincerely believe that you can be in error, why are you a Protestant? What happens if you’ve misunderstood scripture and gotten it wrong? Won’t you be doomed to Hell because you’ve not properly understood what is going on?
Those that follow Calvin and Luther to the letter have done so by their own election, and because they personally find agreement with Calvin and Luther ... not because Protestant doctrine sees infallibility in Calvin or Luther.
Doctrinally, I think we’re all probably wrong about something. There are just too many instances of justifiable differences in Biblical interpretation for any one man or group of men to be right about everything. I am a Baptist because I believe the Baptist interpretation is the closest to the right one.
For the big picture ... so long as we’re getting the essentials (which most Christian denominations seem to be), honest doctrinal misintepretation is simply one of many sins for which can be forgiven through Christ.
SnakeDoc
They are not our popes, unlike the pope they are not "infallible prophets "
If I were catholic I would worry more about being damned to hell for accepting the heresies of the church without question..