When in dialogue with non-Protestant friends, I often press this definition of Protestantism as the removal of accretions in pursuit of catholicity. Sometimes the response is, “But Protestantism has accretions, too!” This I happily concede. Accretions are inevitable. In an imperfect world, the intrusion of errors will be a constant possibility and frequent occurrence. The difference is that Protestant accretions are not enshrined within allegedly infallible teaching.
