Katzpur
Not your average Mormon
Many Protestants today believe that, while the Catholic Church had strayed markedly from the Church Christ established during His ministry, the Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries resolved the doctrinal and organizational disputes of the prior millennium and a half. That the great reformers recognized the need for a return to the pure form of Christianity the Savior had established while on the earth is evident in their comments to that effect:Merlin said:Protestants are called this because they protested about what they saw as the excesses of the Roman papacy. You will all know the story of Martin Luther pinning his objections to the local church door.
Many Protestant sects believe that all of the church statues of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and many saints are the equivalent of worshipping idols, and should not be allowed. So they tried to bring a version of Christianity which they claimed would revert to the original.
I have sought nothing beyond reforming the Church in conformity with the Holy Scriptures. The spiritual powers have been absolutely destroyed I simply say that Christianity has ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it. (Martin Luther, as quoted in Luther and His Times, page 509)
[There is] no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any church ordinance, nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the great head of the Church, for whose coming I am seeking. (Roger Williams, as quoted in Picturesque America, or the Land We Live In; edited by William Cullen Bryant; 1872)
It does not appear that these extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were common in the Church for more than two or three centuries . From this time the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost were no longer to be found in the Christian church The Christians only had a dead form [of Christianity] left. (John Wesley, as quoted in John Wesleys Works, volume 7)
Notice that none of these men claimed the authority to establish a new Church. They simply believed that many of the early Church's doctrines had evolved over time, and they were trying to reform the existing Church. But authority is essential. That is the one thing that Roman Catholicism and Mormonism have in common. We recognize this. Luther's Church taught what Luther believed to be true. But Luther never claimed to have the keys of authority given to Peter. In fact, he and Roger Williams both implied, at least, that they were in no position to be able to actually restore the primitive Church. They appear to have understood that divine intervention would be necessary in order for this to take place. They did, however, definitely recognize that an Apostasy had taken place.