At the time of the Reformation, the sale of indulgences had become a major financial boon for the Catholic Church, and a German monk by the name of Johann Tetzel was charged with the task of raising money for the rebuilding of St. Peter’s in Rome. Martin Luther saw the selling of indulgences as not only nonbiblical but another obvious example of the corruption in the Catholic Church, which included the office of the pope. Martin Luther made Johann Tetzel famous—or infamous— because of Tetzel’s nondisputed quote: “As soon as the gold in the casket rings; the rescued soul to heaven springs.”

The history of baptism in the church is interesting and typically one of the most controversial teachings. By the fourth century, Christians generally associated baptism with the forgiveness of all sins. As a result many people would delay their baptisms to gain maximum effect.

For hundreds of years, both Catholics and Protestants have taught that it is sinful, harmful, and dangerous to get too close to each other. This is so unfortunate, as there is so much we can learn from each other. The Bible clearly tells us there is only one church, with Jesus as the head

The Nicene Creed has an extraordinary history. It goes back to the time of Constantine, who was the emperor of Rome and a convert to Christianity. He wanted his empire unified and was alarmed by a number of disputes, schisms, and even heresies that existed in the church at the time.

During the first few centuries of the church, people began to remember, honor, and even venerate many saints. As time went on, there were a number of unexplained, miraculous, or, at least, fortunate events attributed to requests made or venerations of particular saints. The Roman Catholic Church has canonized more than ten thousand named saints, the vast majority of them within the past one hundred years.

According to many Protestants and detractors of the rosary, the rosary encourages both vain repetitions in prayer as well as prayers directed to the Virgin Mary, a practice the reformers in the sixteenth century discouraged. Some claim the history of the rosary is closely related to the development of the Muslim Tisphi, or worry beads, that have been popular since the ascent of Islam in the seventh century.