What was the result of the decline authority of the church?

Answer 1

To my mind it was Protestantism or dissent in one of its many forms!

Answer 2

The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, as such it has always held ultimate authority on earth. However, this authority is not something that it forces, as with its divine Master, the Church offers its authority and those who accept it reap salvation. Thus the Church's authority only "declines" when less people are accepting of it and following it. Its authority remains the same, but its perceived authority is lessened when people ignore the Church as the ultimate authority in their lives. Many things contributed to this decline: one of the first was the Great Schism at the end of the fourteenth century when there was more than one claimant to the papal throne. This resulted two centuries later in the protestant revolt, which was a huge decline in numbers as secular rulers removed whole countries from the Church's influence (like England and northern Germany). The result has been massive increase in the number of people who are denied basic access to salvation and the sacraments. God offers His salvation to every person, but the salvation are necessary helps without which it becomes practically impossible to live the moral life necessary to attain heaven. The ultimate result is in more people being denied the helps they need to reach salvation.

Answer 3

in the 14th and 15th centuries the churches authority got "eroded" by the kings of the germanic states and a while after the reformation the princes of the different kingdoms chose what religion that their kingdoms these chices consisted of catholic or protestant

Answer 4

To my mind it was Protestantism or dissent in one of its many forms!