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The Corruption Of Christianity And The Protestant Schism Within Christianity

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The Protestant reformation marked a drastic and irreversible schism within Christianity. As the middle ages progressed into the renaissance, the Catholic Papacy became increasingly wealthy and powerful throughout Europe. Starting in the early 16th century, the Protestant reformation aimed to mitigate the corruption within the church by making an attempt to revert back to the ways of early Christianity. However, as a result, Christianity diverged into Catholicism and Protestantism, causing perpetual tension between the two sects. Essentially, the Protestant reformation was a reaction to the increasing corruption of the Catholic church. This was caused by centuries of unchecked authority in the papacy, through their gradual amalgamation of spiritual and temporal powers. From early Christian figures like St. Augustine, through the middle ages with Pope Innocent III and into the early modern period, with Martin Luther and the Council of Trent, Christianity underwent a major transformation as it severed its ties with traditional Catholicism. St. Augustine was a prominent figure in early Christianity, who vouched for a strict distinction between temporal and spiritual powers in the time of ongoing Christian persecution. His work, On the Two Cities presents the importance of separating man-made governance from the divine. Early Christianity was a simple and relatively poor religion, that spread sporadically throughout the Roman Empire. They often faced persecution which

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