Lesson video

Hi, my name is Miss Minton.

Welcome to this lesson on "The Pope and Protestantism." By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain the division between Catholicism and Protestantism using examples of difference in belief and organisation.

Now, some of this learning might be new to you, but don't worry because I'm here to guide you every step of the way.

Now, there's some really important words that we'll be using quite frequently throughout this lesson.

So let's take a look at what those words are now.

We have authority, Church, infallible, Protestant and Protestantism, and finally, pope.

Now the word, authority, refers to having the power to give orders, enforce laws, and make decisions.

So for example, we might say that the king has authority or the prime minister has authority.

The word, church, when it has a capital C, refers to the community of Christians.

Now, if we were to see the word, church, with a lowercase C, that would refer to the physical building that Christians worship in.

But when we see it with a capital C, we're referring to a community of Christians.

The word, infallible, means to be incapable of being wrong.

Protestant or Protestantism refers to a branch of Christianity that began from a rejection of the Catholic Church.

And finally, the word, pope, refers to the leader of the Catholic Church.

Now, our lesson today will have three parts.

We'll start by looking at the pope and the Catholic Church.

We'll then move on to look at Protestantism as a rejection of the Catholic Church.

And finally, we'll look at the impact of the division.

So let's get started by looking at the pope and the Catholic Church.

Now, the Catholic Church is also known as the Roman Catholic Church.

And before we begin looking at the pope in the Catholic Church, it's important for you to know that the term, Catholic Church and Roman Catholic Church, mean exactly the same thing.

But for the purpose of our lesson today, I'm going to be using the term, Catholic Church.

Now, the Catholic Church is a distinct denomination of Christianity.

So that means that the Catholic Church is a separate branch of Christianity.

And the Catholic Church is very unique, and that's because it's led by a person.

And this person is believed to have authority that's given to them directly from Jesus.

And this person is known as the pope.

Now, the current pope of the Catholic Church is Pope Francis.

And here, we have a picture of Pope Francis.

And you might actually recognise him.

You might recognise him from the newspaper, from the TV, and that's because he is a really significant religious figure.

So in other words, he's a really famous religious leader.

Now, Pope Francis is not the first pope.

There's actually been 266 popes, including Pope Francis.

And each of these popes can actually trace their authority back to St.

Peter, who was one of Jesus' disciples.

Now let's check your learning so far.

Who is the current pope? Is it A, Pope Benedict, B, Pope John Paul, C, Pope Francis, or D, Pope Innocent? Pause the video and have a go.

Fantastic.

The correct answer is C.

The current pope is Pope Francis.

Well done.

Now, we've already mentioned that each pope is able to trace their authority back to St.

Peter, who was one of Jesus' disciples.

So what we're going to do now is take a look at why this is the case.

Now, St.

Peter declared his faith in Jesus as the saviour.

And after this happened, Jesus said these words to St.

Peter.

"And I tell you that you are Peter.

And on this rock, I will build my church." Now I'd like you to have a think about how this passage might be interpreted by the Catholic Church.

So pause the video and either think to yourself, talk to a partner, or talk to me.

Off you go.

So this passage can actually be interpreted to say that Peter and his faith in Jesus are the rock, or the foundation, of the Church.

And Jesus gave Peter the ultimate responsibility and authority of being the first leader of the Church.

And what that means is that St.

Peter was actually the very first pope.

Now, Jesus gave St.

Peter this authority, and this authority has been passed on to each pope since then.

And this idea that the authority has been passed on and on and on is known as apostolic succession.

So let's check your understanding.

True or false? Jesus made St.

Paul the first leader of the Church.

Fantastic.

That statement is false.

And why is that statement false? Well, it's because it was St.

Peter that Jesus made the first leader of the Church, not St.

Paul.

So well done for identifying that that statement is false and for identifying the reason why.

Now, the Catholic Church teaches that, because each pope has been given authority directly from Jesus, they are guided by the Holy Spirit in their words and actions.

And when the pope is being guided by the Holy Spirit, he's what we call infallible, which means he's incapable of being wrong.

And this makes the pope the person who has the ultimate authority within the Catholic Church.

So let's check your understanding again.

Which word means that the pope is incapable of being wrong? Is it A, ineffable, B, infallible, C, indescribable, or D, inadvisable? Fantastic.

The correct answer is B.

Infallible is the word that means the pope is incapable of being wrong.

And this happens when the pope is being guided by the Holy Spirit.

Now, with the pope as the leader, the Catholic Church has a very clear structure of authority.

And below the pope are cardinals.

Cardinals are a small group of senior church members who advise the pope and also have the special responsibility of electing the new pope when the current one either chooses to retire or passes away.

Now, below the cardinals are archbishops and bishops.

Now, bishops are responsible for overseeing large areas of the country that contain multiple churches and they're also responsible for overseeing the priests who are in charge of those churches.

And archbishops are senior bishops who have more responsibility and authority.

Below the bishops and the archbishops are priests.

Priests are responsible for a church, sometimes more than one.

And in their church, they're responsible for leading worship and celebrating six out of the seven sacraments.

The six sacraments that priests celebrate are baptism, holy communion, the Eucharist, reconciliation, marriage, and the anointing of the sick.

Holy orders is a sacrament that's carried out by bishops.

And an important piece of information about the Catholic Church hierarchy to keep in mind is that the pope, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests are all male.

So let's check your understanding.

Fill in the blank.

Blank are more senior bishops that have more responsibility and authority.

Fantastic.

The missing word is archbishops.

So archbishops are more senior bishops that have more responsibilities and authority.

Well done.

It's now time for you to have a go at a task.

I would like you to label the church hierarchy with the following information, the name of each person or group and a description of what they are responsible for.

So pause the video and have a go.

Well done for your hard work during that task.

So you were asked to label the hierarchy of the Catholic Church with the names of the person or group and a description of their role.

So let's take a look at what your response should look like.

At the top of the hierarchy, we have the pope, and the pope is the leader of the Catholic Church.

Below the pope are the cardinals, and the cardinals advise the pope and they elect a new pope.

Below the cardinals are the archbishops, and the archbishops are senior bishops.

We then have bishops, who oversee an area of churches, and the priests, who lead those churches.

And then, finally, we have the priests, and the priests lead worship and celebrate the sacraments.

So well done for your hard work during the activity.

We're now moving on to the second part of our lesson, which is to look at Protestantism as a rejection of the Catholic Church.

Now, Protestant Christianity emerged when the Catholic Church's role as a connection between humans and God was challenged.

And this took place during a movement known as the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s.

Now, prior to the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church was the dominant Christian Church in Western Europe, but the Protestant Reformation changed this.

And we're going to start looking at the Protestant Reformation by taking a look at its name.

So here, we've got the words, Protestant and reformation.

And if we look at the word, Protestant, you might notice the word, protest, within the word.

So I would like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself about what it means to protest.

Off you go.

So to protest means to make it known that you disagree with something.

So to make it very obvious that you do not agree with a particular topic or issue.

If we then move on to the second word, reformation, you might notice the word, reform, within the word, reformation.

So again, I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself about what it means to reform.

Off you go.

So the word, reform, means to change.

And what we can see from these two words is that the Protestant Reformation was a disagreement and rejection of the Catholic Church with the aim to bring about changes.

So let's check your understanding on this so far.

The movement away from the Catholic Church is known as A, the Pope's Reformation, B, the People's Reformation, C, the Popular Reformation, or D, the Protestant Reformation.

Well done.

The correct answer is D, Protestant Reformation.

So the movement away from the Catholic Church is known as the Protestant Reformation.

Now the Protestant Reformation was initiated by German theologian, Martin Luther.

Now it's important to note that Martin Luther, who initiated the Protestant Reformation, is not the same person as Martin Luther King, who you may have heard of due to his significant role in the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther, who initiated the Protestant Reformation, did so in the 1500s through his writing of a document called the "Ninety-Five Theses." Now, the "Ninety-Five Theses" were a list, or collection, of 95 questions, or ideas, about the Catholic Church.

Now, at the time he wrote these, it was very controversial because he was questioning some of the beliefs and practises of the Catholic Church, which was the dominant Christian Church in Western Europe at this time.

Now, one of the key ideas that Martin Luther raised in this document was the Catholic practise of indulgences.

Now, indulgences were a cancellation, or reduction, in the punishment for sin.

And before the Protestant Reformation, indulgences could be purchased so that a person could essentially buy their way out of or significantly reduce their punishment for any sins that they'd committed.

Martin Luther challenged this practise and challenged the authority of the Catholic Church to grant forgiveness for sins.

And in doing so, Martin Luther also challenged the tradition that the Catholic Church acted as a link between God and ordinary people.

As well as this, Luther also taught that the greatest source of authority for a Christian should be the Bible.

And at the time he wrote this, the language of the Bible was Latin and church services were also conducted in Latin.

This meant that ordinary people relied on figures of authority within the Catholic Church, like priests or the pope, to help them understand the Bible and church services.

Luther disagreed with this, and yet again challenged the Catholic Church's role as a link between ordinary people and God.

So let's check your understanding of Martin Luther.

True or false? Martin Luther wrote a document called the "Fifty-Nine Theses." Fantastic.

That statement is false.

Now why is that statement false? Well, it's because the document was actually called the "Ninety-Five Theses," not the "Fifty-Nine Theses." So well done for identifying that that statement is false and the reason why.

Another check.

Martin Luther challenged the language of the Bible and church services.

True or false? Fantastic.

That statement is true.

And that statement is true because Latin was the language of the Bible and church services at the time Martin Luther was writing.

And Luther challenged that because ordinary people could not understand Latin and they needed a priest or the pope to help them understand the Bible and church services.

Now today, Protestant Christianity is actually the second largest Christian group in the world with the Catholic Church being the first.

And although Protestant Reformation began in Europe with the teachings of Martin Luther, there are actually Protestant Churches all over the world.

And it's estimated that 37% of individuals who identify as Christian are actually Protestant Christians.

And this figure really demonstrates how influential Martin Luther's teachings were and how widespread Protestant Christianity is today.

So let's check your understanding.

Fill in the blank.

Protestant denominations all share the rejection of elements of the blank Church.

Fantastic.

The missing word is Catholic.

So Protestant denominations all share the rejection of elements of the Catholic Church.

Well done.

It's now time for you to have a go at task.

So I would like you to use the sentence stems to explain how Protestant Christianity began.

So pause the video and have a go.

Well done for all of your hard work during that task.

So you were asked to use the sentence stems to explain how Protestant Christianity began.

And your responses should look something like this.

Number one, Protestant Christianity began during a movement known as the Protestant Reformation.

Number two, the movement was initiated by Martin Luther, who wrote the "Ninety-Five Theses." Number three, this was controversial because the Catholic Church was the dominant Christian Church in Western Europe.

And number four, today it is estimated that 37% of all Christians are Protestant.

So well done for your hard work during that task.

We're now moving on to the final part of our lesson, which is to look at the impact of the division.

Now, Martin Luther has influenced the beliefs and practises of Protestant Christianity as we know it today.

And this took place through the Protestant Reformation.

Now, the Protestant Reformation led to the emergence of Christian denominations that place emphasis on the authority of the Bible.

And this happened because Luther referred to the Bible as the true treasure of the Church.

Now, I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself about why Luther placed emphasis on the authority of the Bible.

Off you go.

So Luther placed emphasis on the Bible because the Bible is considered to be the word of God and God's word really is the ultimate source of authority.

So let's check your understanding.

What source of authority is emphasised in Protestant Christianity? Is it A, the Bible, B, the "Catechism," or C, the pope? Fantastic.

The correct answer is A.

The source of authority that is emphasised in Protestant Christianity is the Bible.

Well done.

Now as a result of Martin Luther's teachings, many Protestant Christians see the Bible as the sole source of authority.

So in other words, the only source of authority.

And this belief is known as sola scriptura, which is a Latin phrase for by scripture alone.

Now, I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself about what are the benefits and limitations of relying on the Bible alone? Off you go.

So let's take a look at some of the benefits of using the Bible alone.

So firstly, the Bible is God's word, which means using the Bible as the sole source of authority means that a person is accessing God's word directly.

It also means that everyone has access to the same information.

So rather than having multiple sources of authority, having just the Bible means anyone who's using the Bible is accessing exactly the same information as everybody else.

And finally, going to the Bible directly means that there's no possibility of misinterpretation being widely spread because, again, everyone has access to the same information.

Now, let's take a look at limitations of using the Bible alone.

So sometimes the Bible actually needs human interpretation to understand possible meanings.

So for example, if there is a story that might have a hidden meaning, it might be necessary for a person to read and interpret the meaning behind that story and then pass that on to others.

Also, it might be important to consider the context that the Bible is written in.

And the context that the Bible was written in is very different from today's context.

So it might be necessary to have other sources of authority that can help people understand the Bible in today's context.

Finally, the Bible is read in translation, which means that many people who are reading the Bible today are reading it in a language that's not the original language.

This means that the Bible has been translated from its original language, and sometimes when text is translated, it can lose meaning and meanings can be hindered.

So that's an important factor to take into consideration when thinking about using the Bible alone.

Now, although we've just looked at how translations of the Bible can be a possible issue and limitation when it comes to using the Bible alone, ultimately, the only way for the Bible to be widely understood and widely accessible is if it is translated into different languages for people to understand.

Now, this started with Martin Luther.

And Martin Luther translated the Bible from Latin to German, which allowed German-speaking people to understand the Bible.

Now, I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

Why do you think this was significant? Off you go.

So this was significant because translations allowed the Bible to be understood by many more people in comparison to how many people could understand it when it was written in Latin.

And actually, Luther's German translation allowed for further translations, which meant that people who spoke many different languages could finally understand what was written in the Bible.

So let's check your understanding.

True or false? Luther first translated the Bible into French.

Fantastic.

That statement is false.

Now, why is that statement false? Well, it's because Luther translated the Bible into German, not into French.

So well done for identifying that the statement was false and that's the reason why.

Now, because Protestant denominations view the Bible as the sole source of authority, it means that they don't agree with the idea that a human leader can be infallible.

And this makes Protestant Christianity a distinct and separate denomination from the Catholic Church.

And this is because Protestant Christianity does not follow the guidance or the authority of the pope.

Now, Asher is a Protestant Christian and he's explaining his belief about using the Bible as the sole source of authority.

He says, "As a Protestant Christian, I believe that relying on the Bible alone allows me to have a more personal relationship with God." Now, I'd like you to have a think about this idea of having a personal relationship with God.

And I'd like you to consider whether you think that using the Bible alone makes it easier for someone to have a personal relationship with God.

So pause the video and reflect on that question.

Okay, so during your reflection, you may have drawn upon some of our earlier learning and considered the benefits and limitations of using the Bible alone.

Maybe you considered benefits, like the Bible being God's word or the Bible allowing everyone to have access to the same information.

Or perhaps you considered some of the limitations, like thinking about the context that the Bible was written in and how that's very different from today.

Or you may have thought about how translation can sometimes hinder meanings and considered what that means for using the Bible as the sole source of authority and how these things can have an impact on a person's personal relationship with God.

So let's move on and take a look at a task.

So Sofia is explaining the impact of the division between Catholicism and Protestantism.

Sofia says that, "The Protestant Reformation led to the existence of many Christian denominations who reject the leader of Catholicism.

Instead, this branch of Christianity views the Bible as having sole power and disagrees with the belief that there is one person who is incapable of being wrong, like there is in the Catholic community." Now, Sofia has used her own wording instead of the lesson keywords.

I would like you to have a go at finding where the keywords fit and replace Sofia's wording with them.

So pause the video and have a go.

Well done for your hard work during that task.

So you were asked to find where the keywords fit into Sofia's explanation and replace her wording with them.

And your response should look something like this.

"The Protestant Reformation led to the existence of many Christian denominations who reject the pope.

Instead, Protestantism views the Bible as having sole authority and disagrees with the belief that there is one person who is infallible, like there is in the Catholic Church." So again, well done for your hard work during that task.

We've now reached the end of our lesson today.

But before we finish up, let's take a look at some of the key things that we've learned throughout this lesson.

So we've learned that Catholicism is a distinct denomination of Christianity led by the pope, and that there's a clear structure of authority within the Catholic Church.

We've also learned that Protestantism began from a rejection of the Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation, and that this was initiated by Martin Luther.

We've also learned that Martin Luther's ideas led to the emergence of Protestant denominations that reject the authority of the pope and they view the Bible as the sole source of authority.

So I'd just like to say a huge well done for all of your hard work during this lesson.

It's been wonderful learning with you today.