Discussion: Catholic or Protestant

"what's the question?"

"Are you asking if we members are catholic or protestant? Or do you want to know what the differences are between catholics and protestants? Sorry but your question is not clear."

"LOL, I just wanted to start a interesting thread. I love to read all of your quotes. I don't know much about history, or other religion other than Baptist which my church is coming from that title and just want to be noticed as Christians. Anyway I guess explanation of both would be a good question, but I wanted to know if you were back in those Tudors times which one of the two would you sway??? I think I'd be protestant then there is the question would I have swore to the oath......does this make more sense???"

"As an important side note, I think it is important to mention, too, that more than your own personal convictions could affect whether you considered yourself a loyal Catholic or a new Reformer. Certainly, though, personal convictions, ie. you believe the clergy has become too abusive of their power (sale of indulgences!), purgatory does not exist, the Church is too showy, etc., could make you decide to become a Reformist. Of course, other, more selfish reasons can make you decide to "claim" to be a Reformist, too. For instance, you may believe that the King, as divinely appointed by God, should have complete say over England. Nobles really went for this one, especially since because when Henry declared himself head of the English Church, he seized church lands. At the time, the Roman Catholic Church were the largest landowners in England, and when he seized on their massive wealth, he distributed it to some of his nobles for their loyalty. So when a ruler like Mary came along, who wanted to give property back to the Church, she was not received warmly at all by the new converts to the Reformed faith! :-D"

"I think this is an excellent summary of factors that could determine personal religion. I know when I was reading this question, on my black berry on the subway to work, I was thinking that although I know my modern self is firmly Protestant, I can't be sure what I would have been in the sixteenth century. For starters, like most of my ancestors who were farmers or merchants I would have probably been illiterate, with limited understanding of the Bible and would have needed a priest to interpret the written word (in whatever language it was) for me in both literal meaning and analysis. Plus as a woman of child rearing age, I probably would need to yield to my husband's religious philosphy while also maintaining a high moral example for him and our children (unless I wanted to behave like Anne Askew and risk disownment). So as SemperEadem states, one has to face the historical circumstances of the average 16th century person and many of which weren't free to make up their own mind or atleast express themselves without great risk."

"Oh Ms. Squirrly, if I want to read more on Tudor history which books should I purchase??? I noticed you all were saying which books or more biast than fact, so what books or authors would be more accurate towards history?"

"I am one of those people who thinks there are many viable paths to God. The important thing is to be a good person. I've always had a hard time understanding how people could kill each other over religious differences. Isn't the whole point to learn from your religion to love and accept others?
One of my favorite quotes from Elizabeth I has to do with how Protestant and Catholics fought so much over doctrinal differences: It goes something like this: "There is one Jesus Christ. All the differences are merely trifles."
I know I did not get that exactly right. I'm too lazy to go look it up. The point is that it is a waste of resources to fight over minor differences in doctrine.
I would change Elizabeth's quote a little to say: "There are many paths to a God. What's most important is be a godly person."
Okay, that's my sermon for the day. Time for a glass of wine."

"As for books, we have started a new page especially on this topic. Its still in the early stages but a couple of our well-read members have already posted their reviews of books that you might find interesting. I have to say my personal favourites are books by Eric Ives, David Starkey & Antonia Fraser.

You can find the page at : http://tudorswiki.sho.com/page/The+Tudors+Book+Reviews+%26+Recommendations"