[Faded]

Essentially, the hangup you keep coming back to: If the Protestant Reformation produced false doctrine, then calling it inspired is contradictory. Fair enough. We feel that the Protestant Reformation occurred to bring about the purposes of God. The Reformers had many excellent teachings and truths, but they were not a direct dispensation of eternal knowledge from God. As such, we fully expect that they would make mistakes. Let's be frank, it is absolutely impossible for every teaching of the Protestant Reformation to be true because the varying different Protestant movements directly contradict one another on a very long list of teachings. It was God's doing to change the world sufficiently to make the Restoration possible. It was God's will that the Bible no longer be withheld from mankind. It was God's doing to get mankind looking to Him for answers and understanding rather than relying entirely upon the Roman Catholic Church for absolutely everything.

The following are conclusions and assertions found within the Protestant Reformation movements that we agree with:
1.) Rejection of the sale of indulgences.
2.) The greater focus on an individual relationship with God.
3.) Rejection of the reverence and worship of Mary.
4.) Rejection of the practice of praying to Saints.
5.) Rejection of the practice of keeping everything in Latin.
6.) Lesser dependance upon confession, greater dependence upon reconciling with God directly.
7.) Less complexity to the process of worshipping God. More of a common-sense approach.
8.) Rejection of infant Baptism.
9.) Separation of Church and State and the rejection of enforcing a State Religion by force.
10.) Rejection of the practice of celibacy among the Priesthood.
11.) Rejection of the belief in transsubstantiation.
12.) Rejection of the reverence of holy relics.
13.) Rejection of the authority of the Pope and the Catholic Church in general.
14.) Acceptance of the Biblical writers as the last (aka most recent) authoritative recipients of the will and word of God on Earth.
15.) Rejection of the bulk of all ritualism practiced by the Catholic Church.

The list goes on and on. Not every Protestant denomination accepts each of those things, but the point is that the Reformation is the beginning point to change on these issues.

Erik, can you answer my question then? Why do Protestant faiths stop short of completely denouncing the Catholic Church? Doing anything less than that is fence-sitting. Essentially, they are willing to accept the Catholic Church as the true "Body of Christ" passed down from the Apostles, yet they reject the Catholic Church and separate themselves from it. So is the Catholic Church right or is the Catholic Church wrong? Protestant denominations seem to like to have it both ways. How does that make any sense?

The number one point you have focussed on in virtually all posts, and you're primary reasoning for absolute rejection of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Trinity. This is one of the aspects of fence sittting that I'm talking about. Protestants seem quite happy to claim that "By Scripture Alone," yet the doctrine of the Trinity is not in the Bible. It is one possible interpretation of the Scriptures, but the Bible is never definitive enough to establish the Trinity as an absolute. If Protestantism can merrily reject a large list of long-held doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church, how can they hold the Trinity to be an absolute truth that can never ever be questioned no mattter what?? If the Catholic Church was wrong about so many other things, why can't they be wrong about the Trinity?

Lastly, does Protestantism reject the Catholic Church or don't they?