I think it is more than apathy Naomi. It is all out apostasy. For example. The number of Protestant churches that have joined in signing various declarations of unity with Rome, such as the Joint Declaration of Justification by Faith between the Lutherans and Catholics in 1999....the "Declaration on the Way--Church, Ministry, and Eucharist", more recently, are two of many such documents being bandied about. This latest document is a further capitulation by Lutherans regarding the truth of the gospel.
Here are some examples of the fallacious so-called unity that is supposedly being negotiated...what they are as you will notice, is a complete turn-around from Reformation theology, soteriology, and several other "ologies". Not all Lutherans have signed on, but other faiths have signed similar documents with Rome, such as the Anglicans and the modern church in Europe that descended from Jan Huss.
In the first section, Agreements on the Church, it reads:
4. Lutherans and Catholics agree that the church is in every age apostolic because it is founded on the apostles' witness to the gospel, and it continuously professes the apostolic and evangelical faith while living by mandated practices handed on from the apostles. Thus we recognize both in our ecclesial communities the attribute of apostolicity grounded in their ongoing continuity in the apostolic faith, teaching, and practices. (p22).
9. Catholics and Lutherans agree that the church on earth is indefectible, because it is and will be preserved by the Holy Spirit in all aspects essential for salvation.
(The definition of indefectible is flawless...free of fault or decay.) Seriously? Lutherans agreed to this? Luther will be having apoplexy in his grave.
On Authority of Ministry it reads:
20. Catholics and Lutherans also agree that the office of ministry stands over against the community as well as within it and thus is called to exercise authority over the community. (This is medaeval Papacy confirmed. The dark ages and the council of Trent affirmed).
On Agreements on the Eucharist it reads:
Lutherans and Catholics agree that in the sacrament of the Lord's supper, Jesus Christ Himself is present: He is present truly, substantially, as a person, and He is present in His entirety, as Son of God and as a human being. What can I say?
Finally, after dealing with some of the more obvious compromises and capitulation of the Lutheran church, here is an outright lie, from section 4 under the heading of Church.
Drawing on the writings of Luther on the means of grace and marks of the church and on VaticanII regarding tradition, the church, and ecumenism, Lutherans and Catholics today "mutually recognize, at a fundamental level, the presence of apostolicity in our traditions". Luther contributed to this insight "when he insisted that a manifold Christian substance must be recognized in the Roman Catholic Church", for he perceived there the true holy scriptures, true baptism, the true sacrament of the altar, the true keys for the frgiveness of sins, the true office of proclamation, AND THE TRUE CATECHISM".
NOW LET ME QUOTE LUTHER.
..."nothing else than the kingdom of Babylon and of very Antichrist. For who is the man of sin and the son of perdition, but he who by his teaching and his ordinance increases the sin and perdition of souls in the church; while he yet sits in the church as if he were God. All these conditions have now for many ages been fulfilled in the Papal tyranny. (Martin Luther 'First Principles' pp196-197).
How can there be any harmony between what Luther actually wrote, and what is being promulgated in the fraudulent document above?
How can any true Christian align himself with Antichrist and remain true to the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
