Has the world gained or lost by the separation of Christians into Protestants and Catholics?

Answer 1

• Lost.. Any division of any purpose separates man[kind] from man.. No religion has ever unite mankind, although most religion professes "Love thy Neighbors." And all Holy Scriptures of all religions asserts that theirs are the sources of all truths....
• Luther criticized the RCC for its undeniably corrupt practices like selling "indulgences". Protestantism not only separated many Christians from that corruption, but prompted the RCC to start cleaning up its own act in the "Counter Reformation". In this sense, mutual competition drove positive religious developments on both sides.
• The RCC had been deeply into politics, dominating much of Europe's governance. One may view the Popes of the period as emulating Roman Emperors more than any disciples of Jesus. Therefore, the Protestant Reformation may owe more of its energy to political rebellion against imperious Rome than to theological fervor. The theologians get most of the ink in the history books, but the kings led the wars and anonymous soldiers did most of the bleeding.

  The reforms came at a terrible price. Therefore, one's opinion on whether the split was good or bad depends on whether one thinks the reforms were worth the price. Given that there were inquisitions and wars even before the split, I see the price of reform, though terrible, as no worse than the price of inaction. Therefore, I aver that the split was and still is a net positive both theologically and politically.

• I suppose it only matters for those who divide far enough to no longer worship the 3 persons worshipped in Catholicism. So therefore... the answer would be hopefully better.

• The diversity of thought and opinion suggests a gain, in the sense that one is free to analyse and choose rather than blindly "doing what you're told." This is likely a good thing.
• The world has lost by the separation. Why, because Protestants, those who protested the church, left what Jesus built here on earth. Most of the Christian religions are based on "sola scriptura", meaning "scripture alone". They believe that is all that is needed in order to get to Heaven. What they don't realize is that there was the universal Christian Church approximately 300 years before they put the bible together. Universal means Catholic, or vise versa. Jesus said "Go forth and teach all nations". He did not say "Go forth and write a book". However, you will find more scripture in a Catholic Mass than in any other Christian service.

  So, when Martin Luther split from the Catholic Church in 1517, followed by John Calvin (Calvinism) in 1536, that started the Protestant Reform. Unfortunately, I don't think that Jesus needed his Church to be "reformed". Some Protestants, which most agree the Catholic Church was the first, will argue that it may have been the first, but it has changed and is no longer the Church Jesus meant for it to be. When Jesus began His Church, He stated to Simon, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." So, if you agree with the Protestants, then either Jesus lied, or we are all doomed and nothing matters anyway.

• In every country where the Roman Catholic religion of that country is over 85% of the population, there will usually be more problems than an equivalent country with a strongly-protestant history. Such a Protestant country :-

-strongly promotes literacy and education in order for the people to be able to read the Bible for themselves,

- has a better infrastructure of public hospitals, orphanages, doctors, teachers, schools, and social-workers,

-Literacy and education for the masses

-Greater civil liberty and free-press.

-Puritan work ethic

-A stronger middle-class (not just the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.)

-Less poverty

-Bible-reading encouraged, not just permitted.

-More community-driven-and-controlled welfare programs

-Higher standards of justice

-Government for all the people

-Personal accountability and responsibility

-greater social cohesion

-Allegiance to their own country, not to a foreigner ( ie Pope)

-Do not have to worry about a "5th column" in society in time of war. (Dictators usually kill Roman Catholic priests, clergy, and often laity because they are seen as a threat to their own power.)

• Tyndale, Ridley, Latimer, Cranmer, and the other martyrs would roll in their graves if they could see just how utterly pagan this Post-Christian and now-pre-Reformation world of today has become. Just as the world today has definitely lost by the re-acceptance of Roman Catholics by Protestants (many of whom don't know their history and see no difference between the two), so the world had originally definitely gained by the separation of the Protestants and Roman Catholics.