Renaissance, Reformation, And The Roman Catholic Church

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The Various Views of Christianity Near the end of the middle ages, there was a lot of discord in the Christian communities within Europe. Much of this discord came from competing views of the church. There were several competing views of the Church from a few different groups. Usually, these differing views on the church are because of key issues relating to religious reform with Christianity. Some disagreed on certain practices within the church, who had authority and how much authority they had, and the apparent corruption within the Roman Catholic Church. This essay will analyze the competing views of the Renaissance, Reformation, and the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformation was a period in which some groups had differing views of the …show more content…

However, as I mentioned, Humanists were passionately religious. Humanists appreciated the work of the early church. Despite appreciating the early church, Humanists would criticize the Roman Catholic Church for their corruption and the unsavory practices that developed after the classical period. One of the most outspoken Humanist critics of the Roman Catholic Church was Desiderius Erasmus. Like the Reformers, Erasmus believed the Roman Catholic Church had strayed from its roots since the early church. The church was now full of unnecessary items and questionable practices and rituals. The Humanists also witnessed the apparent corruption of members within the Roman Catholic Church. While Desiderius Erasmus did not become a Protestant, he shared several views on the Roman Catholic Church with the Protestants. In truth, the Humanists and Protestants were not too far in belief from each other. The two groups often shared the same grievances with the Roman Catholic Church. While the two groups were undoubtedly different, their similarities are quite interesting. Firstly, the Reformation and the Renaissance both challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. Humanists and Protestants realized the corruption and problems within the church and questioned the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Additionally, the two groups focused heavily on how the individual could be saved. Instead of looking to rituals, the two groups began to look for ways to obtain personal salvation. Secondly, the two groups sought to understand more about the religion by translating and reading early texts of the Bible; this was not as common within the Roman Catholic Church. Lastly, both Humanists and Reformers were working against the spread and use of scholasticism in Christianity. Despite both

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