There is a lot of history to be understood in order to comprehend the reach of the Catholic Church. Mainly, remember that as the Church flourished in Europe, the Catholics practiced infant baptism, so virtually everyone thought of themselves as Christian, no matter how little instruction they had received.

They were also almost all illiterate. The educated were Roman Citizens, so the language was Latin, which became the language of the priesthood. So, wherever a Church was established, the service was in Latin. The change to allow Catholic Mass to be observed in local languages has occurred in my lifetime. So, you see, the use of Latin in church was perhaps less sinister than you might think.

Martin Luther's break with the Catholic Church was triggered by the sale of Papal "indulgences" which were sort of "get out of purgatory free" cards. He challenged the concept, as well as being saved by good works. His great awakening was reading the scripture that said "The Just shall live by faith."

It is noteworthy that although Luther is credited as leading the Protestant Revolution, there was another group that already opposed the Catholic Church. It was a group called Anabaptists (Re-baptizers.) They rejected infant baptism and insisted that a Christian should be baptized when he had attained the maturity to make his own decision about becoming a Christian. To his discredit, Luther approved of burning Anabaptists at the stake.

I am a Baptist. One who believes that baptism should be after committing to be a Christian.

Carl in Tampa

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