Re: The Mormon Church is "The Church"?
To clarify my statement about lipstick on a pig, the Reformation was in 3 stages:
1. The initial stage of liberty from Catholicism - this is what everyone wants the Reformation to be known for, this is where the Holy Spirit recovered truths.
2. Union of the church with the state and abandonment of religious liberty by the Reformers. Just like the Catholic church they fought in many battles. Alignment of church with state was just like Constantine and the Roman Empire.
3. Persecution of believers by Protestant state churches - by now these state churches look very much like the Catholic church.
By the end of the Reformation, there were entities which looked very much like the Catholic entity before. The difference between the two was only superficial. They all engaged in violence to solve their problems. They were all aligned with the state, notably, the Church of England.
If stages 2. and 3. did not occur, there would have been no need for the Puritan movement, the Pentecostal movement, the Brethren movement, and the recovery.
These are historical facts, you can read about them.
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