Early Christianity In The 19th Century: A Thematic Analysis

Protestantism is one of the forms of Christianity that started in Europe in the XVI century as a reaction to the doctrines established by the Roman Catholic Church. The first theologians who promoted the changes in the Church worked in the context of Roman Catholicism, so their works were mainly based on the criticism of the doctrines and practices of the day and eventually led to schism, which was a rejection of unity with the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015).
Some prominent figures that contributed to the development of Protestantism were John Wycliffe who criticized the indulgences, the worship of saints, and the moral standards of Catholic priests; Jan Hus who stated that Christ was the only head of the Church and not the Pope; Martin Luther who taught that the salvation could not be earned by the good deeds; John Calvin who stressed on the significance of the scripture for the Church and the necessity of a moral discipline in the community; etc. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2015).
In the XX century the ideas of Protestant theologians were generalized into three core principles: scripture alone, faith alone, …show more content…
Therefore, Christianity was based on the Roman Catholic beliefs and norms until the Middle Ages when there were some dramatic societal changes in the European countries. The Protestants tried to reform the Roman Catholic Church, but soon they realized that their ideas could not be realized within the Roman Catholic Church. As the result, a large number of independent branches of Christianity emerged. Nevertheless, the Protestants and the Catholics agree about some central beliefs. Topmost, they believe in Trinity of God and affirm resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, there are much more similarities than differences between Protestantism and Catholicism after the schism in XVI