Christianity was invented early in the Roman Empire. (For the scoop on early Christianity, catch Stockmyer in Western Civilization I). Christians borrowed concepts from other mystery religions of that day. But they couldn't keep everybody together and split into the Roman Catholics in the West and the Greek (Eastern) Orthodox (stationed in Constantinople).
Original Sin: Adam and Eve desired the knowledge of good and evil and got punted out of Eden. Their sin was passed onto their heirs and on down to us. As sinners you're sent to Hell to be roasted at 480 degrees Centigrade. So, basically, original sin is inherited sinfulness from Adam and Eve. But God sent his son to act as a scapegoat and take away original sin. Or to explain it another way–it's just a black mark we start with as babies.
Petrine Theory of Papal Supremacy is based on 2 passages in the Scripture (Matthew 16:18,19), a special understanding and literal translation of these 2 passages, and traditional practices:
AND I SAY ALSO UNTO THEE, THAT THOU ART PETER, AND UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH; AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.
AND I WILL GIVE UNTO THEE THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: AND WHATSOEVER THOU SHALT BIN ON EARTH SHALL BE BOUND IN HEAVEN: AND WHATSOEVER THOU SHALT LOOSE ON EARTH SHALL BE LOOSED IN HEAVEN.
In other words, Jesus said to Peter (one of his best disciples): "You are the rock on which I build my church." and "Peter, I give you the keys to Heaven–that which you lock on earth, I lock in Heaven and that which you unlock on earth shall be unlocked in Heaven." It sounds like Jesus is going on vacation and leaving Peter temporarily in charge. Peter journeyed to Rome and founded the 1st Christian church in Rome. He became the 1st Bishop of Rome. When he died, he passed on his powers to the next bishop. This is tradition-based–there is no written evidence of the powers passing on to his successor. These are the passages whereupon the Pope gets his power. Protestant churches usually interpret these passages as being metaphorical rather than taking them literally.
A Sacrament is an outward sign of inner grace, holiness, and spirituality. It's an outward sign of inner change for the better. All sacraments are miracles–aids to get you into heaven. There are 7 sacraments in the Catholic Church, all of which are considered to be miracles–they are aids to get you into heaven:
1. Baptism–a miraculous washing ceremony with water in which God works a miracle and removes your original sin so you can go out and sin on your own. (Why he hung it on you in the first place is not asked.)
2. Confirmation is a strengthening process in the formative years. It is a strengthening of youth and commitment to the Catholic church. It's done in your teen years after a study of the church doctrines. During the Middle Ages, it took place in the teen years. After study of church doctrines, you make a commitment to remain in the Church.
3. Penance–removes part of the consequences of sinning. It involves you in Confession. By stating your sins to a priest (God's intermediary–apparently, God doesn't have time to listen directly or else gets bored by your piddling sins), the priest gives you something to do to show you're sorry, and thereby earn your forgiveness. Now, Penance is a series of prayers to be done in the proper spirit. But back then, it could be giving so much $$ to the church or whipping yourself or wearing a sackcloth or any number of things to make you suffer.
4. Ordination–converts an ordinary man into a priest or a monk. It is irreversible. There is no miracle to convert women into someone special (it figures!).
5. Holy Eucharist–the last supper of Jesus. Jesus passed wine and bread and said "this is my body and blood." Catholics interpret him literally. Transubstantiation ("Substance goes across") is when the priest blesses the ordinary bread and wine and it becomes the real body and blood of Christ. Most Protestants believe Jesus was using a metaphor (except for Lutherans, etc.). It is also called "Communion" or "Last Supper."
6. Matrimony–unites a man and woman into one whole. It's permanent.
7. Extreme Unction–the removal of part of the consequences of sin before you kick off (die). Some of the crud from your sinning clings to you and is taken care of in Purgatory.
A saint was a man or woman who had lived a particularly holy life. If, after a couple of hundred years, no bad things were dug up about the person, and if miraculous healing had been done in the previous person's name, the church guaranteed that person was a saint in heaven in a chief bureaucratic position and could be prayed to. Saints are on the out now. Most of the saints in the Middle Ages were heathen gods taken into the church as saints to get more barbarian converts. A martyr is someone killed because he/she was a good Christian. Martyrs supposedly went straight to heaven.
Relics were something which was closely associated with a saint or martyr–usually a piece of clothing or a bone. They were usually kept in a shrine. Traveling to these shrines was supposed to cleanse you and was sometimes commanded as penance. The only power the relics have is psychological. The church never said they had power but they didn't ever say they didn't have any power either. The church didn't disturb people as long as they don't bother the basic doctrines of the church. Actually, pilgrimages could be good psychologically.
Mary is a big figure in the Catholic church but not in Protestantism. Why? She wasn't mentioned much in the Bible (which is where most Protestants form their doctrines). But the Catholic church was formed in the Middle Ages (as far as traditions and setting down doctrines), where peasants compared God to their local warlord; therefore, God was fearful, cruel, etc. Women are thought to be more kindly than men (Stockmyer suggests this may be untrue). Mary was the major woman mentioned and is compared to a universal mother figure.
Christians believe people come in 2 parts: body and soul. Catholics say what the body wants is usually bad for you (food, sleep, sex, etc.). To free up your immortal soul, deny the body pleasures. Therefore, if you torture your body with fasting or flagellation, it does the soul even more good!
How was the church organized? Glad you asked. The bottom was the parish priest. It was usually a serf who has memorized the Latin mass cuz he can't read or write. His family had to pay a tax to his lord to become a priest (after all, the lord is losing a good hand). The priest is usually good and tried to help his fellow man since he understood the poor so well. Bishops came from noble families. They collected the $ from the parishes. Maybe they could read. They trained the priests. An Archbishop was a super-bishop who controlled several bishops (the diocese was the region). Cardinals could read and discussed and decided doctrine. The Cardinals elected the Popes. The Pope was top dog.
The church was the biggest money-making organization in the Middle Ages. Everybody owed a tithe–10% of all goods (notice: owed, not a free gift). You could, of course, give more than 10% and earn brownie points towards heaven, if you so choose. People could will their land to the church and go straight to heaven, do not pass go, do not land in Purgatory. But wealth can corrupt and it corrupted the medieval Catholic church.
Crusades: The Moslems are taking over Africa and Asia Minor. The Greek Orthodox Christians begged the Pope for troops. In 1096 was the 1st Crusade. It worked!! The Western knights defeated the East. They both fought the same, with lances on horseback. The west was big Christians on their heavy horses against the smaller Easterners on their Arabian horses. After the victory, most of the Christians didn't go home cuz life was much more civilized in the East. They made serfs out of the local population. The Christians began to fight amongst themselves and the Moslems knocked them over. The 2nd Crusade was a disaster cuz disease broke out. The 3rd Crusade was in 1189. It was the biggies called the "Crusade of Kings" cuz 3 kings went in person. The king of England was Richard the Lion-Hearted, who was strong and stupid. The King of France was Philip Augustus who was normally England's enemy. The King of the Holy Roman Empire (roughly, Germany) was Frederick Barbarosa, who fell in a river with his armor on and didn't quite make it to Moslem-land. The Christians were expecting another run of Crusade #1. But the Moslems had wised up. Their leader was Saladin and he used guerrilla tactics against the Christians. The big oaf-y Christians would charge and the Moslems would retreat to the next hill and annoy the Christians with their pithy little arrows. Eventually, Philip got bored and went home with his troops and Richard eventually left, too. There were many more Crusades. In 1212 was the Children's Crusade. The kids went cuz apparently the knights were too wicked to win. The kids go to the ports and didn't have any $ to be ferried to the war so the Italians took them and sold them for slaves. (Things are not going well!) The Italians were getting rich running the shipping for the Crusades. The results of the Crusades: made the Catholic church look bad, brought the Eastern and Western cultures together, and made the Northern Italians who controlled the Mediterranean shipping rich.
The Catholic church law comes from different sources: Scripture (or the Catholic church's interpretation of it), decrees from the Popes (statements of morality, etc.), and decrees from the church councils (church biggies making policy statements). The Ten Commandments were considered good. You were told not to be a witch, etc. Usury (the loaning of money for interest) was illegal.
What if you didn't believe in the Catholic church? Then you were a heretic! Heresy was the obstinate adherence to beliefs and practices other than ecclesiastical beliefs and practices. If you deliberately were believing something wrong or not believing the right things, it's illegal. It was punishable by all sorts of delicious tortures and deaths in an effort to get you to convert.
For punishment, the church used Excommunication. It cuts people off from the services and sacraments of the church. If you die while under it, you go straight to hell. In the Middle Ages, if you're excommunicated, nobody was supposed to talk to you or have anything to do with you. If you were noble, the vassals' oaths to you were invalid. If you're murdered, nobody was to help you or worry about it. If you had any enemies, they could kill you and not worry about it.
If you were a king, the pope would put your whole country under Interdict. It was a blanket excommunication. There were no sacraments, legal marriages, burials in sacred ground in your whole country. Armies from other countries can invade you with the Pope's blessing. The whole country was in trouble.
Purgatory is only found in the Catholic faith. It has no Scriptural basis. It's a middle ground between the tingly bliss of heaven and the 480 degrees of Hell. Only the most holy and the most wicked deserve to go straight to their eternal homes. In Purgatory, you learned how sinful you had really been and get the evil burned out (purged). After a couple of thousand years (give or take some), you were finally clean enough to go to heaven. But, if you were lucky, your relatives back on earth were praying as hard as you were that you'd get out of there and their efforts could knock some of your Purgatory time off.
The church did have its specialties. Monks were groups of regular clergy who lived by special rules and who walled themselves in monasteries to keep the evil world out. They worked, copied books, and tried to get to heaven. They followed communal living. Ascetics lived in caves to avoid people. Saint Simon built a 60-foot pillar and stayed on top of it praying for 30 years. He became a tourist attraction and was asked to pray for others cuz he's closer to God. After 30 years, he wasn't getting any of his own prayers in so he came down and dissolved into the crowd. There were some strange orders of monks. Some militant orders had license to kill the infidel Moslems. Mendicants were vagrant, beggar-like corner preachers similar to Jesus and his disciples.
The Popes used their power to try and assert their secular authority. Pope Gregory VII (1025-1085) was the pope while William the Conqueror was king of England. He was zealous and tried to wheel and deal with the big powers of the day.
Simony was buying or selling church offices or power. It came from the New Testament times when Simon the Magician tried to buy cures from the disciples. Lay investiture was when a layman (not a church official) gave somebody church power. Kings kept loyal people in high positions. Gregory VII tried to crack down on simony and lay investiture. He put the Holy Roman Empire (roughly all of Germany) under interdict and the nobles revolted. He tried to get William the Conqueror but William was too much stronger than he was.