Catholic Church: Pomp Power,
The Catholic Church has always been a figurehead of pomp, power and piety, on further investigation; one can see that that deep in the ashes of a forgotten history and in the dust of a past era, there lies something else in the life of the church. The power, pomp and piety are still very much there, but hidden in the background also lies a vice of tradition and a rod of wrath to control and manipulate European society. One can see this easily by peering through the windows of the past and carefully observing Europe's monarchs, religious persecutions and the censorship of its educational writings. Through these means the church attempted to salvage it's position of authority while suppressing Luther's fierce opposition from immediately affecting the rest of European society. Up until the reformation and shortly thereafter, the church upheld questionable doctrine while maintaining their influence through the effective use of ignorance. It seemed the aim of the church was to keep those faithful to their cause, and even more so those who opposed it, in a state of controlled intellectual darkness. In this way, if the church could direct one's scope of understanding, and hopefully limit freedom of individual thought, they could al
" Protestant writings of Wycliff, Jan Huss, Calvin and many other reformers were continually condemned. O Box 424, Rockford, IL 61105) While censorship and printing bands attempted to prevent minds from being "polluted" by reformist principles, reinforcing the catholic faith required more than just a filtration system. org/history) Luckily, Luther was "kidnapped" by Fredrick of Saxony and taken back to his castle, where he continued his defiance in safety. Perhaps it was this fear that threw the church into a frenzy of panic, in which they resorted to ruthless persecution tactics in order to quell opposition and reinforce power. com) However, this pursuit of education was not just "a matter of scholarship, but also of combating heresy. Under the banner of the Inquisition, hundreds were placed on trial, often times, for crimes they never committed. Anyone who dared to defy the decrees were "anathematized, cursed or condemned to Hell". A continuous flow of persecution not only included measures against heretics such as Luther and John Huss, but also incorporated forms of physical persecution such as torture and imprisonment-often associated with Spanish Inquisition, and of course - the infamous St. If one was well practiced in the scriptures and discovered, as Luther had, that the practices of the Church defied the scriptures, the Church could be challenged with it's own sword. There these men had gathered to preach salvation through grace, a teaching punishable by death. Yet the Catholic Church, even in the early stages of the reformation, ruled with an iron fist.
Common topics in this essay:
Catholic Church,
Ultimately Church,
England Catholics,
Church Furthermore,
Encarta Catholic,
St Bartholomew's,
Council Trent,
Index Initially,
Jesuits Jesuits,
Indeed Catholic,
catholic church,
catholic faith,
protestant movement,
council trent,
st bartholomew's,
st bartholomew's day,
john huss,
position authority,
various regions,
european society,
bartholomew's day,
1546 council trent,
|
Acceptance Essays
