The history of Christians and Protestants and their perspective on Mercy and Truth dates back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The facts and statistics about Christianity were disconnected between the beliefs upheld by Christians and Protestants. The religion of Protestants wanted to prove how charity was a sign of Christianity. Moreover, the subject of Mercy, truth, and charity was preached before King Charles the Fifth to persuade him of the reasoning behind the Christians and Protestants' school of thought on the matter. Protestantism had just been introduced in the mid-seventeenth century. Protestants believed that actions such as good deeds and faith in God were required to get to heaven. However, Catholics believed otherwise that there was more to Christianity and Protestant view of charity was skewed and biased. 

The discourse of Mercy and Truth examines the Catholics, and Protestants' perception of Mercy and Truth. Christopher Potter shared an opinion on what was considered truth and Mercy from a religious perspective. In this case, Potter noted that there exists only one true Church, and people should desist trying to change that perspective (Knott, 1582-1656). The writer indicated that Protestants mistook the concept of charity. Therefore, Knott (1582-1656) claimed Catholics blamed Protestants for the destruction of salvation by changing the perspective of charity without emphasizing truth and Mercy. Equally, People started shifting their belief that joining the protestant Church would be the source of salvation. 

Nonetheless, Chillingworth (1674) thought otherwise and demonstrated that education diluted the meaning of Mercy and truth since it leads to errors in thinking encountered by hundreds of people. Therefore, despite what people were led to believe, the analysis of Mercy and truth wanted to prove that being a protestant was not necessarily the road to salvation as people were led to believe. Finally, the discourse on Mercy and Truth also led to analysis of various issues linked to the Church and leadership. For instance, an analysis examined if the Pope made an error in his decrees or whether issues about faith should be based on the scripture (Knott, 1582-1656). Such issues impacted relationships between Catholics and Protestants in massive ways. Therefore, the early writings and reasoning about charity were debated and controversial in the religious context creating misunderstandings among Catholic and Protestant churches. Eventually, one group wanted to prove they were right, resulting in conflicting ideologies raised by both parties. Overall, the competition led to the realization that Catholics and Protestants had different ideologies about Christianity and its relation to charity despite believing in the same God.

The Annotations in Mercy and Truth explored by Edward Knott were based on the book of Psalms. The annotations proved that salvation was possible outside the Catholic Church since people were programmed to believe that the Catholic Church was the only true way to salvation. Equally, Knott questioned certain beliefs relating to faith. For instance, Knott (1582-1656) wanted to understand why the Church could not create new articles about faith, he asked the question of who can create these articles. It was also established that the Catholic Church believed in the Pope as someone could not error demonstrating a false annotation of Mercy and Truth. Overall, the annotations prove that Knott was critical in his analysis but seemed biased against the Catholic Church and what they believed. 

The annotations were made to help readers understand Mercy, truth, and charity from different perspectives. As noted earlier, the Catholic Church and Protestants had varied views about salvation and what it meant concerning truth, Mercy, and charity. Equally, the annotations were made to help a reader engage with the writer’s critiques on the subject. Eventually, people unlearn information that cannot be supported by facts and acquire new knowledge based on an author’s persuasiveness. Annotations were also made to clarify certain points further. For instance, before creating the Protestant religion, the Catholic Church controlled what people thought and knew about Mercy, truth, salvation, and faith. However, when the Protestant party emerged, people started questioning the Pope’s errors. Overall, the annotation of the passages helps readers create conclusions on the subject. 

The annotations suggest that the work is credible and reliable. The annotations were first-hand information from the people that impacted Catholics and Protestants religions in the stipulated timeline. Additionally, the annotations also portray the authors' works as reliable because they combined different information from various experts such as the Pope, kings, and emperors, to name but a few dignitaries in that era. The annotations also prove that human beings make mistakes and only Gold has all answers that human beings can never fathom. Finally, the annotations prove that credible arguments do not have to be condescending. Instead, they should be informative and descriptive in informing the audience about the findings.

 Annotations have been used to either support or disagree with opinions upheld by people on the subject of Mercy, truth, and charity from the Catholic and Protestants viewpoints. In this case, the validity of any argument should be supported by facts and statistics, as achieved by Knott and Chillingworth. Another role of annotations in arguments is to reduce biases that may arise when a writer uses a subjective tone. Personal opinions are not bad, but they can be biased and stereotypical. Therefore, avoiding this problem requires objective views, which are achieved by annotations in arguments. 

Overall, Knott and Chillingworth’s arguments were linked to the thesis. For instance, they argued that Catholics and Protestants had limited views about salvation because they made it seem like an issue linked to a particular religion. Another argument from the texts suggests that Catholics blamed Protestants for mistaking the meaning of Mercy and Truth since they disapproved of the Pope’s way of teaching. Finally, the Protestants disintegrated from the Catholic Church because they believed in salvation from a different perspective. For this reason, avoiding the errors of the Catholics required a different environment and research.

Works Cited

Knott, Edward. “Annotations in Mercy and Truth.” Calisphere, UCLA, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, 1634, calisphere.org/item/ark:/21198/n1g303/. 

Chillingworth, William. 2012. Religion of Protestants. Rarebooksclub Com.

Locke, John. n.d. The Works of John Locke in Nine Volumes. London Rivington; Egerton; Cuthell.