The splitting of the Catholic Church in the sixteenth-century can be greatly attributed to the Reformation in 1517. No longer dominating rulers as the church once had, it tried to hold control of the people by the way they viewed salvation and on how to achieve salvation. Martin Luther and Erasmus of Rotterdam both saw the discrepancies between church and the church teaching of the Bible and both sought changes. Erasmus tried to change the church, striving to convince leaders to be more peaceful, to tolerate and not condemn other's ideas. He believed religion was simpler and more scriptural than the church believed. Erasmus believed in fellowship with God and not indulgences. Luther led a more radical change wanting the church to correct errors in its doctrine with the practices of granting indulgences. He believed that an individual could be granted salvation by faith alone. Both Luther and Erasmus believed that Christianity was a matter of inner devotion to Christ.
Erasmus understood Luther's attack on indulgences, but disliked his attack upon the church. He felt that Luther should restraint his actions and verbal abuses, by lowering his voice and listening to the church. Luther believed that Erasmus put knowledge before the grace of God. Luther believed that the Bible, the word of God, was of primary importance in a Christian's life. He felt that over time man had through speculative reasoning distorted the accuracy and true meaning of the word. He thought that Erasmus preferred the Papal authority of the Church above God's Word, because his original intent was to only reach the elite.
The Bubonic plague hit in 1348-1349, killing one-third of the population (pg11). Because this plague kept reoccurring people began to question the church's rules and beliefs. The church found it difficult to explain why God had sent such a disease to the people. They led the people to believe that indulgences helped loved ones that had died, or forgotten to go to confession make it to purgatory.
