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Protestant is one of the three major divisions in Christendom that traces their heritage back to the Western Church. Other divisions include [[Catholicism]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].
Protestant is one of many heresies formed against the Church. Protestantism, named for its "protest" against the Church, started its decent from the Church in the early 16th Century. Most notably [[Martin Luther]] nailing The 95 Thesis to the church doors in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 and in England, by decree of King [[Henry VIII]] in 1533. Stemming from political sentiments of the time.
Protestant groups display a wide variety of different doctrines. However, virtually all claim to believe in the teachings of sola scriptura ("by Scripture alone"—the idea that we must use only the Bible when forming our theology) and sola fide ("by faith alone"— the idea that we are justified by faith only).
The founding of Protestantism is typically credited to the European [[Reformation]]. Most notably [[Martin Luther]] nailing The 95 Thesis to the church doors in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517 and in England, by decree of King [[Henry VIII]] in 1533.
The great diversity of Protestant doctrines stems from the doctrine of private judgment, which denies the infallible authority of the Church and claims that each individual is to interpret Scripture for himself. This idea is rejected in 2 Peter 1:20, where we are told the first rule of Bible interpretation: "First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation." A significant feature of this heresy is the attempt to pit the Church "against" the Bible, denying that the magisterium has any infallible authority to teach and interpret Scripture.
The doctrine of private judgment has resulted in an enormous number of different denominations. According to The Christian Sourcebook, there are approximately 20-30,000 denominations, with 270 new ones being formed each year. Virtually all of these are Protestant. The 30,000 plus denominations of Protestism make up about 50% of the population of the United States of America, but only about 6% of the world population (400,000,000). Compared to the Catholic faith which encompuses over 15% of the world population (over 1,000,000,000 believers)
Protestant denominations include:
*[[Anglican]]
*[[Anglican]]
*[[Lutheran]]
*[[Lutheran]]
*[[Adventist]]
*[[Adventist]]
Other heresies include:
*The Circumcisers (1st Century)
*Gnosticism (1st and 2nd Centuries)
*Montanism (Late 2nd Century)
*Sabellianism (Early 3rd Century)
*Arianism (4th Century)
*Pelagianism (5th Century)
*Semi-Pelagianism (5th Century)
*Nestorianism (5th Century)
*Monophysitism (5th Century)
*Iconoclasm (7th and 8th Centuries)
*Catharism (11th Century)
*Jansenism (17th Century)
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:History]]
[[Category:History]]