For centuries the rich bequeathed their wealth to the Catholic Church. Being childless and done without pay, the work of the priests, monks, and nuns enriched the monastic orders greatly over time, even with the hospitals, orphanages and charities they ran.

Here's where things are difficult to hear for my Protestant brothers in Christ. But....

The Reformation wasn't wasn't really about theology except for the rubes they fooled for popular support. It was a looting operation of the Church, which was richer than kings, by the nobles and Jews who used theology as justification.

This looting operation happened in England, when Henry the VIII took all the church land and gave it to his most loyal supporters, but as he lay on his deathbed sick from syphilis, he had a Roman Catholic priest give him last rites. Ever wonder why "Downton Abby" has no nuns in it? Because the ancestors of the upper crust took it from the Catholic Church.

Likewise, do you know why so many of middling class supported the radical French Revolutionaries? Because, they got fantastically wealth on seized church property.
Only Napoleon, a dictator, could be the one to restore the Church, which is what he did. But to this day, all Church property is owned by the French government.

I'm sorry if this bothers well meaning Protestants. Nor does discount the problems the Catholic Church had, and has, which are numerous.

But your Protestant origin story isn't one of a noble theological disagreement...no that could have been solved by a Council. The elites, many of them Jews, got out their knives and forks to have a hearty feast. And once they enriched themselves with church lands, they used their theology to justify the theft.

For centuries the rich bequeathed their wealth to the Catholic Church. Being childless and done without pay, the work of the priests, monks, and nuns enriched the monastic orders greatly over time, even with the hospitals, orphanages and charities they ran.

Here's where things are difficult to hear for my Protestant brothers in Christ. But....

The Reformation wasn't wasn't really about theology except for the rubes they fooled for popular support. It was a looting operation of the Church, which was richer than kings, by the nobles and Jews who used theology as justification.

This looting operation happened in England, when Henry the VIII took all the church land and gave it to his most loyal supporters, but as he lay on his deathbed sick from syphilis, he had a Roman Catholic priest give him last rites. Ever wonder why "Downton Abby" has no nuns in it? Because the ancestors of the upper crust took it from the Catholic Church.

Likewise, do you know why so many of middling class supported the radical French Revolutionaries? Because, they got fantastically wealth on seized church property.
Only Napoleon, a dictator, could be the one to restore the Church, which is what he did. But to this day, all Church property is owned by the French government.

I'm sorry if this bothers well meaning Protestants. Nor does discount the problems the Catholic Church had, and has, which are numerous.

But your Protestant origin story isn't one of a noble theological disagreement...no that could be been solved by a Council. The elites, many of them Jews, got out their knives and forks to have a hearty feast. And once they enriched themselves with church lands, they used their theology to justify the theft.