Sunday, April 28, 2013

Protestantism and Ecumenism

This is a continuation of Shoe's post on Schisms in the Catholic Church.


Our last section in Theology class was largely over Protestantism and Ecumenism. Protestantism, given its name by the Protestant Reformation, happened predominantly in the 15th century and was started by Martin Luther. Martin Luther started this Reformation because he was fed up with the Catholic Church's selling of indulgences. In turn, he created a new Church the "Protestant" Church. Nowadays, this Protestant Church has over 30,000 different Churches and continues to splinter.



Therefore, Ecumenism, or bringing back all of the Churches into the one true Church is necessary. One of the Four marks of the Catholic Church is its Oneness, meaning Christ created one True Church on Earth. However, this does not mean we call Protestants "Non-Christians". These generations of Protestants are called "separated brethren" meaning they were born into the Protestant faith through no fault of their own.

 



Currently, the Church is closest to bringing back the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Some Anglican Churches (parts of the Protestant Churches) have come back to the Catholic Faith. However, the end goal is 100% coexistence in the one Truth.


-atohme

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