Protestantism

Christianity

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Protestantism 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.

The founding of Protestantism (another term for Reformed Catholicism) has its origins in the European Reformation and its rejection of the doctrines and malpractices within the Roman Catholic Church. Those included the teaching and sale of indulgences, the buying and selling of church positions and the systemic corruption, devotion to Mary and the saints rather than inward devotion to faith and God, and rejection of the authority of the Pope on the basis that the only true authority is the Bible.

Impacts

Protestants made the Bible available to all by publication of the Bible in the common language and universal education. The mandatory celibacy of the clergy (including monasticism) was also rejected.

Brazilian Law Professor Augusto Zimmerman wrote:

Every year, Freedom House, a secular organization, conducts a survey to analyze the situation of democracy and human rights across the globe. Year after year, it concludes that the most rights-based and democratic nations are the majority-Protestant ones. On the other hand, Islam and Marxism, the latter a secular religion, seem to offer the most serious obstacles for the realization of democracy and human rights. In fact, the denial of the broadest range of basic human rights comes precisely from Marxist and majority-Muslim countries. The worst violators of human rights are Libya, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan, and the one-party Marxist regimes of Cuba and North Korea.

Notable events

• Martin Luther's nailing of The 95 Theses to the church doors in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517
• In England, by decree of King Henry VIII in 1533.
• John Knox, inspired by John Calvin and aided by many martyrs, liberated Scotland from the yoke of Rome in 1560.

Protestantism in the United States

Protestants are the largest Christian division in the United States.

In the United States, denominations in the Protestant division include:

• Baptist
  • Southern Baptist Convention
• Methodist
  • United Methodist Church
• Lutheran
• Presbyterian/Reformed
• Episcopal Church in the United States of America, also called the Protestant Episcopal Church of the U.S.

Smaller groups include:

• Anabaptist
• Mennonite
• Amish
• Brethren
• Religious Society of Friends ("Quakers")

Restoration movement

• Pentecostalism
• Assemblies of God
• Holiness Movement
• Adventist

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) is Christian but does not consider itself Protestant.

Web links

The European Institute of Protestant Studies