>>Believers in what or Whom? All people believe in something. Are Lutherans and Mormons the same in their beliefs? No. Yet there were no Lutherans until 1520 - even though the Church already existed almost 1500 before them.
The Apostles Creed is a good reference for belief in what or whom.
Yes, Lutherans did not exist before 1520, but they exist as Christians after 1520. Where you worship isn’t very important when compared to who you worship.
>>A Church cannot be a sect. The two are mutually exclusive as words, ideas, and realities.
Then stop calling my church a sect. I am a Christian, just as you are a Christian. We are both part of the body of believers, the Invisible Church. For you to claim that Christ’s finished work on the cross is insufficient because we do not use the same rituals for worship is to deny Christ altogether. For you to claim that your traditions and rituals complete the work of Christ is ludicrous.
“The Apostles Creed is a good reference for belief in what or whom.”
Okay, let’s see if that works: Sola scriptura, sola fide, Consubstantiation. Three Lutheran doctrines. Show me where you see any of those three in the Apostles’ Creed. Oh, that’s right. They’re not there. The simple fact is the Apostles’ Creed is the barest of summaries of the faith and comes no where near summing up the beliefs of any Christian group.
“Yes, Lutherans did not exist before 1520, but they exist as Christians after 1520. Where you worship isn’t very important when compared to who you worship.”
Who said anything about “where”? The point is if Lutherans only started in 1520 - which you just admitted - then that means Christ didn’t start their sect.
“Then stop calling my church a sect.”
So you’re not a Protestant? Protestants have sects. Catholics and Eastern Orthodox have Churches. There are no Protestant Churches in the proper understanding of the word Church because they can only have sects. Remember, they’re all just recent man-made sects.
“I am a Christian, just as you are a Christian.”
Oh, we’re both Christians, but we are not the same. A sectarian cannot have the fullness of faith. This is not about anything personal about you or me. This is simply about the Truth which existed before us and is independent of us. Christ founded one Church. He founded no Protestant sect. They came 1500 to 1970 years later.
“We are both part of the body of believers, the Invisible Church.”
Christ established a VISIBLE Church. To ignore it is to reject part of the work of Christ.
“For you to claim that Christ’s finished work on the cross is insufficient because we do not use the same rituals for worship is to deny Christ altogether.”
When did I EVER claim Christ’s “finished work on the cross is insufficient”? You COMPLETELY made that up. You made that up out of thin air. I defy you, I DEFY YOU, to find a single time I ever said any such thing. You will utterly fail because I know I have NEVER, EVER SAID ANY SUCH THING. I have never once impugned the work of Christ. EVER. How can you just make up something like that? Seriously, do you not believe bearing false witness is wrong?
“For you to claim that your traditions and rituals complete the work of Christ is ludicrous.”
Again, WHEN AND WHERE DID I EVER SAY THAT? Seriously, how can you just make up things like that and call yourself a Christian in the same post? How can you do that?