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The Counter-Reformation, led by figures like Ignatius Loyola who founded the Jesuits, spurred a burst of creativity in Catholic Europe, influencing art and culture. However, this culture eventually fossilized, while Protestantism continued to innovate and embrace new ideas and technologies.

The birth rate dynamics shifted dramatically over the 20th century, with Protestant countries eventually having higher birth rates than Catholic ones, contrary to earlier trends.

The irony of the Catholic Church's fear of Protestant volatility is that their rigid response may have inadvertently fostered atheism. Both Catholics and Protestants over-relied on religious rules to combat each other, leading to centuries of brutal wars, including the Thirty Years' War, which devastated central Europe.

Catholicism emphasizes the embodiedness of human beings, countering modern strains of thought that separate the mind and body.

The Catholic and Protestant churches were powerful in pre-modern Europe due to the weak state, providing social organization and fostering ideals of personal responsibility and individualism.

There is an interesting rift happening among Christians and Catholics in America over the idea of dispensationalism, which is a belief held by evangelicals.

The Catholic Church in medieval Europe allowed for a surprising amount of political discourse, providing structures for what could be agreed upon and what could not. This openness to disagreement is a notable aspect of the Church's influence at the time.

The Catholic Church's continuity is remarkable, especially considering the logistical challenges it faced in maintaining tradition and civilization through fragile communication networks in the past.

Catholicism's competitive advantage lies in its deep, holistic tradition, including cosmology, internal structure, and mystic traditions, which surpass those of Protestantism.

Christianity's status as the largest religion on earth is due to a consistent effort to revitalize it in various contexts over the centuries. This universal recurrence of Christian leadership has helped maintain its influence.