Elevating Man to the Level of God: Just Do It! :: Philosophy essays

Elevating Man to the Level of God Just Do It   decision making what to believe in was easy for Westerners before the Protestant Reformation. There was truly only one option in the religion market-- Roman Catholicism. The eastern Orthodox church servicees were also in existence for part of the pre-Reformation period, but they had a different geographical sphere of influence, so pile in a given area had little choice of faith. The Church was a mesomorphic force in more than races spiritual lives it was often involved in politics, science, art, and other secular affairs. Excommunication (exclusion from the Church) was one of the most severe punishments at that time.   Before the Reformation, society was like a child. Children accept any beliefs that their parents accomplish them because they pick out no experience of their own to make judgements with. Children have no real sense of right and wrong. When they behave well, it is not push through of utter(a) impulses o r a desire to do the right thing, but out of fear of reprisal from their parents or an immature desire to please the people who have such a large amount of power over their lives. Finally, children adopt parents to tell them what to do so they dont burn their hands on the stove, plight Liquid Plumber or fall off a drop-off and die.   Pre-Reformation society was childlike in many ways, and Roman Catholic clergy were the parents to the pre-adolescent society. Religiously, people relied on the clergy to tell them how to act and what to believe, because they had never had to think about whether they concur with the teachings of the Pope-- the thought of not agreeing never really entered their minds.   When Martin Luther nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg in 1517, he began more than he intended or even knew intending to reform the Catholic church, he thrust wide readable the door to freedom of thought and belief, which had been ajar since the Renaissance. With other religions in the market, people had to scrutinize what they had always been told and decide what they really believed. Some people maintained their Roman Catholic beliefs, while others became Lutherans, Unitarians, Jehovahs Witnesses, Methodists, Baptists, Mormons, or joined with any of some(prenominal) hundred other Christian denominations. The division of the western Christian church, begun in 1517, is still continuing today.