Serious Answers Only Please?

Question

im going to ask a serious question, i would really apprecitate if u could answer this seriously and not mock me or tell me im going to hell because im know im not, i just have a simple question

What is the difference between Protestant and Baptist, i know Baptist is a branch off Protestant, but how are they different, bc obviously theyre different because if they were not then Baptist would be Protestant.. i am baptist, i know baptist beliefs, i know there are different kinds of baptist, but wat is the main different, wat makes it different from just plain Protestant?

so now im a little confused.. i was told they are a branch of protestants.. wat are anabaptist?

Answer 1

Baptists are basically a subset of Protestants. Protestants are a general category of Christians who do not submit themselves to the authority of the Roman Catholic Church.

Therefore Baptists *are* Protestant, as are Lutherans, Methodists, Evangelicals, etc...

1st Edit: I'll state it again, Baptists *are* protestants. When formed they modeled themselves on the Anabaptists, a pre-Roman sect, but that doesn't change the fact that the population of the Baptist church came from the protestant population.

Answer 2

The term "Protestant" is a term for all the branches that "protested" the Catholic Church. Thus to be a Protestant basically means that you're not a Catholic (or an Orthodox) Christian. That you don't believe in those tenets.

In the history of Christianity the Orthodox church is the oldest. It was during a period when the Pope came about in Rome that the first major split in Christianity occured with the eastern Roman Empire becoming today what is known as Christian Orthodox and the western Roman Empire becoming what today we call the Roman Catholic Church. It was with Martin Luther that the Reformation began and "Protestants" began to emerge. The term was not chosen by the "Protestants" themselves, it was a word used by the Catholic Church that the Protestants later embraced.

Today the word Protestant still refers to all those other denominations of Christianity that formed during and after the Reformation, which includes the Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Pentacostals, Presbyterians, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

To ask the question "What's the difference between Protestant and Baptist" is not so easy to answer because basically the question is "What is the difference between Baptists and Lutherans, Methodists, Pentacostals, Presbyterians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Anglicans*, Nazarenes, etc?" And each of these groups all have a lot of differences!!!!

*Anglicanism is sometimes not considered Protestantism by Christian scholars. It is often considered yet another branch thus Christianity instead of having three major branches then has four. The three major branches usually said to be a part of Christianity are : Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant (and then you fit the individual denominations within these groups). However some say that the branches are Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant (and then you fit the individual denominations within these groups).

To give an example:
Orthodox: Greek Orthodox, Romanian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox, etc
Catholic: Roman Catholic Church, Universal Catholic Church, etc
Anglican: Church of England, Church of Wales, Church of Scotland, Episcopal Church, etc
Protestant: Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Southern Baptist, Quaker, Nazarene, Pentacostal, (this is sort of the "everybody else" branch in Christianity)

Other religions are the same way. Most people identify with their specific denomination/sect rather than in the branch. I'm a Hindu and Hinduism is divided into four main branches: Vaishnavism, Saivism, Shaktism, and Smarta. I am a Ganapatyas which is a denomination within Saivism whereas there are Gaudiyas which are a denomination of Vaishnavism. So it is within the larger branches that the smaller denominations fit.

Thus the different between Protestant and Baptist is the Protestant is the Branch name and Baptist is the denomination/sect name.

Thus if you made a "tree" you'd start at the top:

CHRISTIANITY
|
|-------------------------|----------------------|------------------------|
ORTHODOX CATHOLIC ANGLICAN PROTESTANT
| | | |
Coptic Roman Episcopal Baptist


So you have the name of the religion followed by the branches and then the individual leaves on the branch are the denominations themselves.

Hope that helps.

Peace be with you.

Answer 3

It was my understanding that Protestants broke off from (protested) the Catholic church, and then from there branched out into different directions. Like Lutherans and Baptists are both Protestants, but not all Protestants are Lutherans or Baptists.

So anyhow, I'm guessing that didn't answer your question, so I'd have to guess that a "just plain Protestant" believes in Christianity, but not the pope, or some of the other Catholic things. I think "just plain Protestant" is kinda like "just plain Christian".....believing pretty much the same thing, but not claiming any specific religious affiliation.

Of course, I could be wrong =)

HUH...just read posts above....Baptists aren't Protestants?? Wow, didn't know that!!

Answer 4

There are two basic big divisions in the Christian world--Roman Catholic and Protestant. Protestant is not really a religion--it's a classification. There are lots of churches that fall under the Protestant classification such as: Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Lutheran just to name a few. If you are a Baptist, you are a Protestant. The Protestant movement came about as a protest against the corrupt practices of the Roman Catholic church of the 1500s and earlier. So unless you are Roman Catholic, you share some beliefs with every Protestant.

Answer 5

Baptists make a lot more noise in church, don't seem to get the whole "reverence" thing, and their services give me a major headache. That whole screaming "amen" every other minute is annoying and I can't hear the sermon. Other than that, whether they like it or nor, they would be classified as protestant, since they're not part of the Roman Catholic church. So basically, the biggest difference I can tell is they're just extremely loud. No offense meant, to each his or her own, just can't take all that screaming.

Answer 6

I'm not Baptist, but I think you mainly believe in salvation. Some protestants believe in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit... in divine healing, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, prophecy, etc. .
As in most "groups" such as Methodist, Lutheran... there are minor differences in the church services, Some use creeds, some more contemporary music, like having a band instead of just an organ or piano. We clap our hands to the music or if something good is said.
I come from a EUB, Methodist, Lutheran, Pentecostal background.

Answer 7

The root word for "Protestant" is protest.

In the first century, there was only one church, the Lord's church. Over time, it was pushed underground, and the only visible church was the Catholic church.

Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses (basically debate topics) to the door of the Catholic church in Wittenburg Germany (as was the custom of the time). This was done to protest some things that he saw as being wrong in the Catholic church. While the Lutheran church gets its name from him, he never renounced the Catholic church; he thought of himself as a Catholic to the end.

Following his lead, others left the Catholic church - these are Protestants. All denominations come from these protesters. Many Baptists try to trace their roots back before Protestant Reformation, but it cannot be done - there is no trace of a group teaching Baptist doctrine before 1611.

I am not a Catholic nor a Protestant. I am a Christian and a Christian only. I do not belong to the Catholic Church, nor do I belong to a church formed in protest to the Catholic Church. I belong to the church described in the Bible, which existed long before the Catholic church. For more information, click on the link below.

Answer 8

I am not Baptist. I am Methodist I was raised Protestant. I have been to many churches in my life. The only difference I see is the rules that each church has. Basically, that is the only difference that I see. We still believe the same thing. Sorry, if this does not help.

Answer 9

You will find usually that branches split off from the original over some minor disagreement and later they wind up thinking the same thing anyway, but have been separate so long that they just stay separate. You will have a hard time finding any major difference between the two, or in fact any other branch of Christianity out there. And I know this sounds sarcastic and not serious, but I am being completely serious for you, you won't find much of a difference between the two.

Answer 10

BAPTISTS are NOT NOT NOT a branch of Protestants!

Baptists are from ANABAPTIST'S-- the people the rc Cult tried to wipe out in Europe! Walendsians and such!