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 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.

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.

Further reading

• Balmer, Randall. Protestantism in America (2005) excerpt and text search
• Bell, James S., and Tracy Macon Sumner. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Reformation and Protestantism (2002) excerpt and text search
• Gonzalez, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought: Volume 3: From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century (1987) excerpt and text search
• Hillerbrand, Hans J. ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. (OUP 1996); the book is online at many academic libraries; excerpt and text search
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity (2 vol 1975) excerpt and text search vol 1, to 1500
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1958) vol 1 online edition
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A history of the expansion of Christianity (7 vol 1939-1970), monumental history of missionary work worldwide online edition
• MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation (2005), influential recent survey excerpt and text search
• McGonigle, Thomas D., and James F. Quigley. A History of the Christian Tradition, Vol. II: From the Reformation to the Present (1996) excerpt and text search
• Noll, Mark A. The Old Religion in a New World: The History of North American Christianity (2001) excerpt and text search

• New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1911), ), major sources of older scholarly articles; mainline Protestant perspective
  • Vol. 1: Aachen - Basilians
  • Vol. 2: Basilica - Chambers
  • Vol. 3: Chamier - Draendorf
  • Vol. 4: Draeseke - Goa
  • Vol. 5: Goar - Innocent
  • Vol. 6: Innocents - Liudger
  • Vol. 7: Liutprand - Moralities
  • Vol. 8: Morality - Petersen
  • Vol. 9: Petri - Reuchlin
  • Vol. 10: Reutsch - Son
  • Vol. 11: Son of Man - Tremellius
  • Vol. 12: Trench - Zwingli
  • Vol. 13: Index

Primary sources

• Placher, William C. Readings in the History of Christian Theology, Volume 2: From the Reformation to the Present (1988) excerpt and text search

Web links

The European Institute of Protestant Studies