ch 16

Christianity spread to many countries in the western part of the world and started to become very popular between 1450 and 1750.   At the same time, Christianity was beginning to be challenged by science.  The scientific theories were starting to confuse the beliefs in Christianity.  The crazy thing about scientific evolution coming into play in this time frame is that people would have to be willing to face major sacrifices to even put a scientific theory out to the public.  People did not like finding out that their beliefs of how the world has come about and evolved might not match up to science.  i can understand how this might startle people because it can make someone feel like they have been living a lie.  It can make people question everything they have ever known.  That would make me feel lost and confused.  This topic is interesting because the dilemma between whether religion or science is right is still going on in the Western world today.

Christianity was mostly in Europe in 1500.  There were some divisions within the Christian community.  The main one was between Catholics and Protestants.  Catholics had power while the Protestants protested against them for various reasons.  Some of those reasons included how they disagreed with the luxury life of the Pope.  Only priests could interpret the Bible  for Catholics.  This surprised me.  Something that didn't surprise me too much was how a lot of tax money was used to build big beautiful Cathedrals.  This is mainly because I have known about several massive and gorgeous Cathedrals.  Everyone could interpret the Protestant Bible.  However, both are Christian.  Another big difference was how the Protestants didn't like how the Catholic church had "icons" because God should be the only one worshipped.  They didn't understand that the icons just help the people have a way to relate to them because they were real people that became saints through their righteous acts in a way that Jesus would have.  They are icons but not worshipped as if they are another God.  They are recognized for living a life through God, the way He would want.  Saying that the saints are icons being worshipped like another God is like saying that the Sisters of Notre Dame are worshipped as Gods.  Something that I strongly disagree with was how Catholics were thought to be polytheist because they think that the "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" was considered as not having "One God" as compared to the Protestants.  What they did not understand is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all one in God.  They are all one God in different forms.  Hearing that misconception really bothered me.