How to Stay Above Deception Part 8

THE CHURCH REFORMATION

By Apostle Felix

I give you the name Peter, a stone. And this truth of who I am will be the bedrock foundation on which I will build my church—my legislative assembly, and the power of death will not be able to overpower it! Matthew 16: 18

The emergence of the Roman Catholic church introduced church liturgy to the church. The church became more of an organization than an organism. The Roman Catholic established some good things and some bad. The good thing the Roman Catholic established was the Creed, under Constantine at Nicaea to resolve the dispute in the church which had resulted from wrong teachings, such as Arianism which rejected the doctrine of Trinity. The Nicene Creed established the distinct personhood of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The church at large has strong inclinations towards the Nicene Creed.

The Roman Catholic diverted from the initial doctrine standpoint of the church. They begun to introduce teachings and practices that opposed the doctrines of the church. The Roman Catholic was the mainly recognized church by the government of the time. It was a state church. The Bible was only in Latin and only in possession of the clergy. The church introduced indulgences, which were not scriptural. The Roman Catholic demanded that the recipient of an indulgence must perform an action to receive it. This is most often the saying of a specified prayer, but may also include a pilgrimage, the visiting of a particular place (such as a shrine, church, or cemetery), or the performance of specific good works. The church literally, relegated grace and exalted works. These indulgences were later translated into money, and the church became extremely wealthy.

A man by the name of Martin Luther, was a German priest, theologian, author, hymn-writer, professor, and Augustinian priest. Today, he is referred to as a reformer. He rejected several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, in particular the view on indulgences. He authored ninety nine theses to refute the Roman Catholic Teachings, especially on indulgences. The ninety nine theses launched the Protestant Reformation and gave birth to Protestantism. Luther’s document contained an opposition to what he saw as the Roman Catholic Church’s abuse and corruption by Catholic clergy, who were selling indulgences, which were certificates supposed to reduce the temporal punishment in purgatory for sins committed by the purchasers or their loved ones. In the Theses, Luther claimed that repentance is faith in Christ and His finished work rather than merely performing external works. He argued that indulgences led Christians to avoid true repentance, believing that they could simply be forgiven by obtaining an indulgence.

To be continued…