How did the Christian Church get where we are today? Churches older than Rome gradually formed the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Roman church became the only cohesive force in troubled Europe. Western Christianity became corrupt. Efforts to reform the western church were often brutally suppressed, until Luther, who found support among northern German states. Protestant Reformation gave incentive for Catholic Reformation, but it was too little, too late. While Protestants quickly formed their own traditions, Rome turned theories about Mary into "infallible" dogmas, greatly offending both Eastern and Protestant Christians. However, Christians are unified in the important areas: All believe that salvation is only available in Jesus Christ, that we must repent of our sins, be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit and that the most important teachings of the entirety of Christian history are those of its founder Jesus Christ.
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