Luther, et al. and the Eastern Orthodox Church

[chuckd]

It seems Luther's main point of contention with Rome was over papal authority. Since the Eastern Orthodox Church already split over this issue 500 years prior, why didn't Luther and other Reformers join that church after being excommunicated?

 

[RamistThomist]

It seems Luther's main point of contention with Rome was over papal authority. Since the Eastern Orthodox Church already split over this issue 500 years prior, why didn't Luther and other Reformers join that church after being excommunicated?

Several reasons:
1) The tried, but neither Patriarch Jeremias nor the Lutheran emissaries would budge, especially regarding justification.
2) The Patriarch of Constantinople was basically an Ottoman cash cow from 1453 -2017. The Patriarchate could only do basically what the Phanariot and Sultan would let him.
3) The Lutheran bodies would have to travel and communicate through the Ottoman Empire, which just wasn't feasible.

 

[Dachaser]

It seems Luther's main point of contention with Rome was over papal authority. Since the Eastern Orthodox Church already split over this issue 500 years prior, why didn't Luther and other Reformers join that church after being excommunicated?

I thought that Luther main ax to grind with Rome was not over the papacy, but over how a sinner is actually justified before a Holy God, as he rejected saved by sacraments?