History of the church

• after his resurrection Jesus gave the apostles authority to lead the church
• the apostles passed on their authority to new leaders (bishops) and this transmission of authority continued down the centuries- it became known as the apostolic succession
• in Western Europe, the bishop of Rome (known as the pope) was the leader of the church and everyone had to obey him
• in the sixteenth century, many christians rebelled against the pope's authority and they became known as protestants (because they protested against the established church)
• from the sixteenth century, there were two main christian traditions in europe:

  • the Catholic Church, led by the pope
  • the protestant church, which consists of many different denominations
• one of the key areas of disagreement between the traditions related to the authority given to the bible and the authority given to the church
• protestant view:

  • sola scripture: the bible alone has authority
  • believers interpret what it says to them in their situation through prayer and in the light of their conscience
• catholic view:

  • bible and tradition are equal in status
  • the magisterium (the teaching authority of the church) is the guardian and interpreter of both the bible and tradition
• reformation

  refers to the split in the church that occurred in the sixteenth century when individuals and groups protested against what they believed to be wrong teaching and corrupt practice in the Catholic Church
• the apostolic succession

  refers to the idea that the apostles passed on their authority to the bishops whom they appointed to succeed them. the passing on of authority from bishops to bishops has continued down the centuries
• the pope

  leader of the Catholic Church and catholics believe that the pope's authority can be traced back in a direct line to Peter
• sola scripture

  means 'scripture alone', which is the view of protestant denominations