The Protestant Reformation's Influence On The Catholic Church
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The Protestant Reformation had a significant impact on the Catholic Church, changing the perception that Catholics have on their beliefs and effecting the significance of particular areas of Christianity focused on by the Church in the long term.
To fully understand the impact that the Reformation had on the Catholic Church, it’s necessary to have an understanding of the context in which the Church situated in time when the Reformation began. Prior to the Reformation, the Church was extremely powerful, controlling most of the politics of the time, and having enormous influence over decisions and opinions of the age (Third Millennium Ministries, 2014). Catholics were able to purchase indulgences (written remission of after-life punishment signed…show more content… Throughout, and after the Reformation, the Church began losing power, which lead to nobles and local rulers gaining that lost authority (Education Portal, 2014). This meant that the Church lost some of its control over how people acted and thought, as they had less direct influence on people in general, unlike prior to the Reformation, when quite often they were one of the highest power-holders present in the community (Education Portal, 2014)(Third Millennium Ministries, 2014). However, as the Reformation grew, it also meant that peasants were no longer able to purchase positions of power within the Clergy, so there would have been less opportunity for those of lower social class to gain freedom from poverty and oppression, as they could no longer climb the social hierarchy as easily (Education Portal, 2014). The Catholic Church also began putting more focus into preaching from the Bible, and teaching that the Bible can be interpreted in more than one specific way (Education Portal, 2014). These changes in the Catholic Church were brought about by the Reformation and were the beginning of the Church’s eventual acceptance of Protestant