Responding to an inquiry about baptism from two pastors, Luther critiqued the Anabaptist practice of rebaptism. His rationale for this position reveals his view of the status of the Church of Rome: There is much that is Christian and good under the papacy. . . . In the papal church there are the true holy Scriptures, true baptism, the true sacrament of the altar, the true keys to the forgiveness of sins, the true office of the ministry, the true catechism in the form of the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the articles of the creed.26
If there is so much good in Rome, then in some aspect the Reformation failed because it was not able to achieve its goal of ammend the acumulated errors within the Church.
Why leave?
