The Great Schism And The Protestant Reformation

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During the Protestant Reformation the Catholic religions was question. Martin Luther created agitation through his “95 Theses” and prompted a new religion, Protestantism. Two major effects that the Protestant Reformation had on the Catholic Church were changing the roles of the Pope, it divided the Christians which is also known as the “Great Schism”. To begin, the Roman Catholic Church was very powerful institution and it was involved in the lives of individuals from birth to death. It maintained its power because the Christians believed that it was the key to salvation. It taught practices that an individual could only go to heaven if they performed good works (good works that the Pope believed were good) and received the holy sacraments. …show more content…
According to Bill Pitt, a historian that published an article about his view of The Great Schism, stated, “The old wine skins could not hold the new, and the church divided.” (Pitt, 2013). Christianity divided into three major groups: the Protestants, Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism. This impacted many. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity, specifically Catholicism, was widely recognized in Europe. Once Christianity was divided it, many questions about the practices and the values of the Catholic Church arose. It was criticized that individuals who believed in purgatory would have their time spent in purgatory decrease through purchase indulgences from the church. Protestants spread their beliefs of certain practices that the Catholic Church did which evoked different opinions from members of the congregation of the Roman Catholic Church about whether or not what they have been taught about religion is actually justifiable. According to Bill Pitts, “Protestants stressed their two major principles by the formulas sola fide/sola gratia and sola scriptura” (Pitts, 2013). The formula “sola fide/sola gratia” means by faith along or by grace alone and the formula “sola scriptura” means by scripture alone. This was directed toward the Catholic Church because the Protestant religion thought that some things were exaggerated to benefit or …show more content…
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”e (Bible Gateway Passage: Romans 1:16-17 - New International Version, 2011)

Through examining this part of the scripture, Luther concluded that the righteousness that he was searching for was by faith and faith alone (sola fide/sola gratia). Through Luther’s practice, he concluded the righteousness that God demands, is also the righteousness that God grants for that reason popes were not considered to be able to grant this righteousness. The Protestant Reformation had many effects on the Roman Catholic Church. Two of the major effects that it had was the dividing of Christianity (The Great Schism) which made the Catholic Religion no longer dominant, and it changed the power and the roles that the Pope had in the Church. These changes are evident in today’s society as well as the divison of the Catholic Church from Martin Luther’s “95 Theses”. Many of religions have also divided now and we are in a world of widely diverse religion that each individual is able to practice based on their

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