What were the issues the Reformers had with the Roman Catholic Church?

Question

in the 16th Century Reformation....

Answer 1

Deformers........not Reformers


Protestants being thus impious enough to make liars of Jesus Christ, of the Holy Ghost, and of the Apostles, need we wonder if they continually slander Catholics, telling and believing worse absurdities about them than the heathens did? What is more absurd than to preach that Catholics worship stocks and stones for gods; set up pictures of Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints, to pray to them, and put their confidence in them; that they adore a god of bread and wine; that their sins are forgiven by the priest, without repentance and amendment of life; that the pope or any other person can give leave to commit sin, or that for a sum of money the forgiveness of sins can be obtained ? To these and similar absurdities and slanders, we simply answer: "Cursed is he who believes in such absurdities and falsehoods, with which Protestants impiously charge the children of the Catholic Church. All those grievous transgressions are another source of their reprobation."

"But what faith can we learn from these false teachers when, in consequence of separating from the Church, they have no rule of faith? ... How often Calvin changed his opinions! And, during his life, Luther was constantly contradicting himself: on the single article of the Eucharist, he fell into thirty-three contradictions! A single contradiction is enough to show that they did not have the Spirit of God. "He cannot deny Himself" (II Timothy 2:13). In a word, take away the authority of the Church, and neither Divine Revelation nor natural reason itself is of any use, for each of them may be interpreted by every individual according to his own caprice ... Do they not see that from this accursed liberty of conscience has arisen the immense variety of heretical and atheistic sects? ... I repeat: if you take away obedience to the Church, there is no error which will not be embraced.

Source(s):

Against the Reformers
Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible online

Additional Reading

St Alphonsus Mary De Liguori (1696-1787)
Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Answer 2

In no particular order...
Salvation by Grace vs Works.
The selling of indulgences
The Pope claiming to be God.
Priests claiming the ability to forgive sins.
Worship of idols in the form of icons.

Those are the big ones. Check out any of the works by Luther, Calvin, Zwigly(sp?). Also, there is a great book by D'Aubigne entitled, "The History Of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century".

Answer 3

Martin Luther was the man most accredited for the protestant reformation in the 16th cen. He believed, among many things, that faith was through grace alone, and could not be recieved in indulgences which the Church was selling. In 1517 he nailed the 95 thesis to the door of the church stating his qualms.

Answer 4

The idea that the pope was the appointed head of the Christian Church on earth. The politics of the Roman Church using it's power to gain political and economic power. Differing interpretations of doctrines like the eucharist, the saints, and others. The idea of how one achieves salvation.

A huge part of the conflict was due to the renewal of humanistic learning, better education in Greek and Latin and classical knowledge, a renewed study of early Christianity and of the Bible.

Answer 5

There can be only one answer to your question. The issue had to cut deep and the elevation of its truth had to be paramount in order for such an upheavel of society of this magnitude to take place.

The issue is. . . the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church, the Body of Jesus Christ, must not loose the truth of the gospel rightly proclaimed. This gospel truth was in danger and therefore the Lord reformed his Church to re-proclaim His truth.

"The just shall live by faith."

Answer 6

Mainly, the role of Idol worship (the rosary, the pope's ring, etc) sacrament (Eucharist, confessional, baptism etc) , and *who* can absolve sin.