
A couple of posts back I received some detailed questions that I have just had time to respond to. They appear to be directed at my assertion that:
“There is no more systematic refutation of the vast errors of Lutheranism than the Canons & Decrees of the Council of Trent.”

I thought I’d take them in order, so here you go….
“I would be most appreciative of any summary you could provide of the vast errors of Lutheranism from "Canons & Decrees of the Council of Trent" or if you could point me to a good introductory manuscript on the subject.”
Answer: JT – it would seem that even a cursory reading of the “Canons & Decrees of the Council of Trent” would point to their position as refuting Lutheranism, and additional Protestant heresies that arose after him.
First, the Council of Trent was itself interested in getting the Lutheran heretics into the Council!
“SAFE-CONDUCT GRANTED TO PROTESTANTS
“The sacred and holy, general Synod of Trent,….to all and each one throughout the whole of Germany, whether ecclesiastics or Seculars, of whatsoever degree, estate, condition, quality they be, who may wish to repair to this ecumenical and general Council, the public faith and full security, which they call a safe-conduct,…. as also to withdraw whensoever they shall think fit. It hath furthermore seemed good to the holy Synod, that if, for their greater liberty and security, they desire that certain judges be deputed on their behalf, in regard of crimes whether committed, or that may be committed, by them, they shall themselves nominate those who are favorable towards them, even though the said crimes should be ever so enormous and should savor of heresy.”
Specific decrees aimed at the Lutherans are:
Decrees of the Fourth Session
DECREE CONCERNING THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES which partially reads:
“But if any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid; let him be anathema.”
DECREE CONCERNING THE EDITION, AND THE USE, OF THE SACRED BOOKS which partially reads:
“Furthermore, in order to restrain petulant spirits, It decrees, that no one, relying on his own skill, shall,--in matters of faith, and of morals pertaining to the edification of Christian doctrine, --wresting the sacred Scripture to his own senses, presume to interpret the said sacred Scripture contrary to that sense which holy mother Church,--whose it is to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the holy Scriptures,--hath held and doth hold;”
Decrees of the Sixth Session
One should read Canons 1 thru 33 “On Justification.” These refute the Lutherans and others.
Specifically, the notion that one is justified by “faith alone” is particularly condemned. These canons partially read:
“CANON XXXIII.-If any one saith, that, by the Catholic doctrine touching Justification, by this holy Synod inset forth in this present decree, the glory of God, or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ are in any way derogated from, and not rather that the truth of our faith, and the glory in fine of God and of Jesus Christ are rendered (more) illustrious; let him be anathema.”
Decrees of the Seventh Session
ON THE SACRAMENTS IN GENERAL, which in part reads:
“CANON I.-If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law were not all instituted by Jesus Christ, our Lord; or, that they are more, or less, than seven, to wit, Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; or even that any one of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament; let him be anathema.”
“CANON VI.-If any one saith, that the sacraments of the New Law do not contain the grace which they signify; or, that they do not confer that grace on those who do not place an obstacle thereunto; as though they were merely outward signs of grace or justice received through faith, and certain marks of the Christian profession, whereby believers are distinguished amongst men from unbelievers; let him be anathema.”
“CANON VII.-If any one saith, that grace, as far as God's part is concerned, is not given through the said sacraments, always, and to all men, even though they receive them rightly, but (only) sometimes, and to some persons; let him be anathema.”
“CANON VIII.-If any one saith, that by the said sacraments of the New Law grace is not conferred through the act performed, but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices for the obtaining of grace; let him be anathema.”

Decrees of the Fourteenth Session
ON THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF PENANCE – Canons 1 thru 15.
Decrees of the Eighteenth Session
SAFE-CONDUCT GRANTED TO THE GERMAN NATION
Decrees of the Twenty-First Session
DECREE ON COMMUNION UNDER BOTH SPECIES, AND THE COMMUNION OF INFANTS
Decrees of the Twenty-second Session
DOCTRINE ON THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

Decrees of the Twenty-Third Session
THE TRUE AND CATHOLIC DOCTRINE, TOUCHING THE SACRAMENT OF (HOLY) ORDER(S)
Decrees of the Twenty-Fifth Session
DECREE CONCERNING PURGATORY
(DECREE) ON THE INVOCATION, VENERATION, AND RELICS, OF SAINTS, AND ON SACRED IMAGES

I would finally exort you to read over the decrees themselves, they are in excruciatingly clear language.
I use the website:
http://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent.html
“I was just checking to see if JT would get an answer. I was curious myself. Perhaps LL98 overstated his case. Trent, after all, did fix a myriad of Roman abuses that should be mentioned.
And what's wrong with a Catholic bishop admonishing people to live "God centered" lives?”
Answer:
Constantine– WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
The Council of Trent did not “fix a myriad of Roman abuses.” The Council of Trent was "Rome," in the person of the Bishop of Rome, the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ on Earth, and a Council which he called, fixing the abuses of the Church in Europe, many of which sprung up IN THE ABSENCE OF STRONG PAPAL AUTHORITY.
Bishop Bodes admonition to live “God centered” lives is of little value when mixed with egregious error, e.g., with a fundamentally flawed understanding of the heresies of Luther.

In the words of the crass maxim: “I can take a quart of the finest ice cream, mix it with a quart of manure, and I’ll give you one guess what it will taste like!” You want to focus on the quality of the ice-cream, I on the “essence” of the fertilizer.
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“I've been checking back, too. In light of the exposure of the ELCA's historical critical nonsense, I'm in a mood to learn if the Lutheran ideas were doomed from the start, or if the modern issues are of their own creation.”
Answer: Lutheranism, like all the Protestant heresies, was doomed from the start.
Luther was doomed from the start - he a priest who renounced his vows, (who married a nun who renounced her vows), he who denied the Real Presence, he who denied the Seven Sacraments, he who denied the totality of the canonical Scriptures, he who denied the veneration of icons and relics, he who denied the existence of Purgatory, he who denied the authority of the successor of St. Peter, he who denied the necessity of good works…AND ON HIS OWN AUTHORITY.
I have no idea if you and/or Constantine are Protestant? From the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church, the true Church, Luther was (and his followers are) in gross error.

"And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven." - Matthew 16:18
Put your trust in Holy Mother Church.

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