Christendom Sects

Up until Martin Luther, the Protestant church did not exist, and there was only the Catholic church. In the early sixteenth century, Martin Luther began questioning the Catholic church and some of its beliefs. (History.com) In October 1517, when a new round of Indulgences was announced, Martin Luther nailed the ninety five theses to a chapel door as a sign of rebellion. (Biography.com) Martin Luther was partially responsible for fractionating the Catholic church and leading the Protestant reformation. The Protestant reformation originated in Germany when Martin Luther began questioning the Catholic Church. (History.com)

To this day, the Greek church is so similar to the Roman church, they are practically sibling churches. Another major division is the Russian orthodoxy. This Russian division is one of the biggest and most powerful of all. In addition, another division is the Egyptian orthodoxy. The Egyptian's believe that they are the oldest Christian group because God sent someone to save them. The divisions of the Church happened because of differences in beliefs. One of the most important divisions in the history of the Church is the division started by Martin Luther. Luther was a German man who changed the course of history with his fascinating works of literature. One of his most renowned work of literature is what we call today the ninety-five theses. This document was revolutionary because it talked about everything the Roman Church was doing wrong. Moreover, the main issue during this time period is the fact that the Church was selling salvation. This form of salvation was through the selling of indulgences. In essence, of you have the money you can pay your way out of Hell according to the church. Naturally, Luther saw this as a problem and would not stand for it. Through his efforts, he founded his own church and invented the German language. However, even though Luther led a good life and fathered many children, he messed up. On his final days, he wrote 6 pamphlets explaining his discrimination on Jews. Additionally, Hitler used this as an opportunity to convince the masses about his "final

Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Catholics once included a solitary Christian church with two focuses of force, Rome and Constantinople. Known as the Great Schism, was the official split between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Church. The Church split along doctrinal, religious, phonetic, political, and geographic lines, and the central break as never been mended. Though the Church split because of their differences, they still had some things that were similar.

Christianity has been around for many centuries, and has varies groups that exist. Here I will discuss three major divisions within Christianity, which are Catholicism, Protestantism and Eastern Orthodox. These groups have similar beliefs in one God, that there is a Heaven and Hell, among other things. Although these groups have similar beliefs they also have many differences. Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox are both organized in a pyramid structure that is lead from top to bottom. The difference between the two is that the pope has leadership within Catholicism, and the Patriarchs system governs the Eastern Orthodox. Catholics are headed by one single person. Protestantism has no hierarchy, or a democratic government. All three have a difference

When dealing with the Christian denominations, we must go back and start with the reformation. This reformation, commonly referred to as the Protestant Reformation, split reformed Christianity from Catholicism. As a result of this reformation, Christianity broke off into four major denominations: Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists. Each one of these churches finds a different part of Christianity to focus on. The denominations do not stop there however. People have created even more offshoots of Christianity based on their interpretation of the Scriptures, some being valid, while others are completely bizarre. Over time, over forty-thousand different denominations have been established worldwide!

Europe was, for many centuries, a region unified by the single commonality of religion. Specifically, catholicism was universally accepted as being the singular of Christianity. On October 31, 1517, a professor of theology at Wittenberg University decidedly changed the manner in which Christianity could be understood. Martin Luther’s famed Ninety-Five Theses encompasses two major themes: Christians should look to scripture for guidance, and the belief in redemption through faith alone. By providing this alternative analysis of the Christian religion, Luther’s ideology dichotomized beliefs and challenged papal authority. By penning the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, Luther became the epicenter of a religious earthquake that would fracture a previously unified Europe.

There are several sects of the Christian church, include Catholicism, Protestantism, and Easter Orthodox. These religions started as one universal church that split for multiple reasons. Catholicism was the first Christian religious sect which the others diverged. Protestantism was initiated by Martin Luther in 1517, after nailing his theses to the church door. When he refused to recant some of the passages within the theses he was excommunicated in 1521. Luther continued to study religious theology, finding that the church had drastically altered the teachings of the Bible for their own benefit. Luther was angered and frustrated by how the Catholic Church was being governed, he refuted the sale of indulgences, sale of church offices, and moral

The Great Schism of 1054 that occurred in the Catholic Church has left a once united people separated because of conflict. These issues that tore them apart are still true today and the relations between Catholics and Orthodox Christians has yet to be repaired.

Over the centuries, Catholicism has branched out into two main parts: the Eastern Catholic Church, and the Roman, or Western Catholic Church.

Pope in Rome is the highest authority and Vatican is the seat of Christianity (for the Catholics). However, papal authority is on the wane as though he is still the figurative head in the west. He cannot advise for a change of leadership in any country even if he feels that the government in a country is moving in a direction not desired by the Church. Further, Latin remained the language of the Catholic Church for long. It is only after the second Ecumenical Council that Catholic Church has started to use native language for mass services. Also, the priests are not allowed to marry in Catholic Church. It was in 1054 AD that celibacy was forced upon all priests in Western Church. When you consider some of the beliefs of Catholics, the Catholics believe Mary to be one without original sin and hence appropriate to be the mother of the son of god. Also, the Orthodox Church did not accept the Roman language of Latin and preferred using native languages from the start. Coming to the belief on Mary, the Orthodox Church feels that Mary was ordinary but was chosen to be the mother of Jesus as she had led a virtuous life. One may be surprised that even the most important events in the calendar such as Christmas and Easter are calculated in a different manner by the Orthodox and Catholics. This is because Eastern Orthodox does not recognize the Gregorian calendar formulated by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

Prior to 1054 AD, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholicism were branches of the same religious body. In 1054 AD the first division of Christian faiths occurred. There had long been conflicts between the two churches that included the nature of the Holy Spirit, iconic worship, the celebrations of Easter, and cultural differences. Roman Catholicism separated itself from the Eastern Orthodox and began its own

an important distinction is one of the major differences between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches.

The significance of a branch or sect in a religion is that the usually stem from a minor difference in the religion, but the general concept stays the same. One example is the two sects under the Christianity, Orthodox and Catholic. The history centuries ago plays a big part in how the division started back when the Christian West and Christian East divided in 1054. Small differences such as changes to the creed by the pope furthered their differences. Now, Catholic ideology to Orthodox is seen as excessively legalistic while Catholics see Orthodox as vague.

People separate and then reunited; people quarrel and then reconciled. Similarly, Christianity also has separation reunion, argument and reconciliation. Christianity was started as one body, and then multiple factors gradually contributed to the split of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. Some of these factors are such as the different understanding of Christianity, the different point of views toward the authority of the Pope and the different ideas of governing the Church. All the different thoughts created the disagreement between the two branches of Church. In other words, the conflict came up, and eventually led to the Great Schism. The differences between these two branches of church were significant because

The Catholic Church, Catholic meaning universal is a church with unique practices, beliefs, and traditions compared to the Christian church. (5) The Catholic Church is the closest related to the Christian Church but is extremely different when it comes to rules and specific beliefs. The Christian church is more focused around the belief of followers of Jesus.(1) The Church is centered on the belief that their religion should be focused on the life and walks of Jesus the Son of God. The Protestant Church is a branch of Christianity and shares the belief of