Good Shepherd Community Church

In the early 1500's the various church reform movements led by Luther, Zwingli and Tyndale tore apart the political landscape of Europe. Although many recognized the corruption and moral laxity of the Roman Catholic Church, they only advocated clean- up actions within. Why was it necessary to separte from Papal Rome-- At an Imperial Diet at Speyer John Calvin's letter to the Emperor Charles V was read. In it he sets forth the necessity of reformation and why the Protestants are not guilty of schism. On the contrary, the Papists had so corrupted the church in the vital areas of worship and salvation that a total reformation was needed. The church needed to return to the Bible as its standard and authority. So the Protestant Reformation was a necessity in order to rescue the church from the fatal disease of extraneous doctrine and practice that had engulfed the Roman Catholic Church.