The Spiritual Exercises proposed by Ignatius of Loyola were seen as ways to condition and prepare a person’s spirit for the transition into the Kingdom of Heaven. The ability to prepare one’s soul for the transition is possible because Ignatius differentiates between the material and spiritual worlds. His philosophy is somewhat similar to Luther’s in the way that all worldly possessions, motivations, and corporeal beings are moving through this life to the next and are in need of spiritual cleansing before passing to the Kingdom of Heaven. In order to cleanse a person they need to condition their spirituality with spiritual exercises.

In his “Rules for Thinking with the Church” Ignatius is refuting protestant arguments by siding with a more tradition over scripture approach. This is seen in his praise of the Holy Sacraments, confession, and other well-known church traditions such as Lent. While praising tradition, Ignatius also proposes that followers of the church should follow the leaders blindly without question or refutation for it would be more likely to cause a stir than be beneficial. This is shown in rules ten and eleven. His teachings show a Catholic perspective on religious devotion in many ways. One is the praising of church art and what the art represents, which would be considered idolatry to the Protestants. In general his teachings embody how the people should place their faith in the officials of the church in order to have faith in God. Truly this devotion to the church itself allows Ignatius to feel true devotion to god, which is essentially the problem the Protestants had with the church in the first place.

Ignatius’s popular teachings influenced the church and led many to follow, and in turn became more connected with the church. During this time the protestant reformation was in full swing with many different and liberal protestant sects forming. These sects could have had many common folk confused on how to worship and who to follow. Ignatius’s monastic upbringing and similar philosophy to Luther probably allowed for a less demanding way of life compared to that of the church. Following Ignatius’s teachings may have been seen as a middle ground. People would of course like to go back to the church that they already know, but a bunch of protestant sects possibly gave better lifestyle choices that seemed foreign or extreme. Ignatius’s teaching probably allowed for people to return to the church with a different viewpoint and way to worship that was less extreme.