Is it against the will of the Spirit that there be Protestants?
I was really inspired by reading Luther’s argument that the burning of heretics is against the will of the Spirit, which I consider to be the greatest moment of the whole reformation when Pope Leo denounces that view.
But now I would like to pose the question back to Luther (or Protestants as a whole): is it the will of the Spirit for there to be Protestants, not in the temporary as a resistance movement against Papal abuses, but in the permanent? I’m not simply asking whether the Reformation was justified, but whether the grand schism and the dozens of schism of schisms following it is grievous to God?
Appealing to Scripture, it was Christ Himself that prayed “That they may be One, as We are One.” Not once but twice in John 17 (Our God! How great is our God!) And “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”. So that same will for the Church in Heaven is the will of the Spirit on earth, and that will is that we be One even as Christ is one — that is, one in perfect unity and will, which seems to mean a unified body.
This line of thinking has directly led me to inquiry into the Orthodox Church, because if this is against the will of the Spirit, certainly that means every Protestant everywhere has an obligation to recommune with the apostolic traditions and be members of one body. This is evident in that anything against the will of the Spirit is influenced by demons and is to be rejected at all costs.
And yes, because Protestants broke apart from the One Catholic Church it is clear they would be called to recommune rather than vice versa.