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Differences Between Catholicism and Protestantism in the Reformation

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Differences Between Catholicism and Protestantism in the Reformation
Reformation Essay Revisions - Rahul Kalluri

The reformation was started when Luther wrote the 95 theses as a way to convey his disapproval for current Catholic behavior. The Catholics faced many problems with its clergy, mainly clerical immorality, ignorance, and absenteeism. Curing the Reformation, the Catholic and Protestant churches showed distinctly different doctrines and beliefs, as reflected by the aesthetics of their respective churches. The Catholics believed in 7 Sacraments, Veneration of Saints and elaborate church construction. The Protestants showed a drastically different system, with only 2-3 Sacraments, no honoring the Veneration of Saints, and a very simple church demeanor.
The Catholic Church was very much in need of reform because people weren’t pleased with the current state of its image. In the churches picture, the Catholic Church shows a very complex and elaborate structure, with tall pillars, engravings, and shiny metals, which are probably gold. This strongly reflected the churches doctrine, as it shows that the belief itself is very complex and very fanciful. Catholics thought money was more so the basis of the religion that the actual belief in God and the Bible. This is shown when Tetzel and Mainz tried to sell indulgences as a way for people to buy off their sins and also as a good source of revenue for the two cheats. Also depicted in the Catholic Church is the Veneration of Saints, with statues and paintings of the saints shown in the Bible. Veneration of Saints is where they basically pray to the saints and apostles in the Bible. Another curious fact is that there are 7 candles by the altar which symbolizes the number of Sacraments that the church believes in, which again in restatement, shows the complexity of this religion. The Church believed in a more literal interpretation of the Eucharist as a result of this, with the bread and wine acting as the real flesh and blood of Jesus, or consubstantiation. They were very

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