WHAT DoES IT MEAN To BE PRoTESTANT?

Question

I KNOW THAT IT IS A CHRISTIAN RELIGION...IS IT A FORM OF THE CATHOLIC RELIGION?

Answer 1

To be Protestant means to be Christian (non-Catholic).

Answer 2

It means that you are a member of a group of Christian denominations that are not Catholic or Greek Orthodox.
Generally it means that you do not believe that a priest or the saints are necessary for intervention between yourself and God. It means that the empty cross - the risen Christ - is the prefered image over the crucified Christ. It also means that you do not believe in Purgatory as a step between earth and heaven. There are other differences, I am sure.

Protestant comes from the word "protest." It started when Martin Luther formally nailed a document of protest against abuses of the Catholic church, which had grown really rampant in the 1400's and 1500's.

That's as much as I know. I am not Catholic or Protestant!

Answer 3

Protestantism is one of three main groups currently within Christianity. The term "Protestant" represents a diverse range of perspectives, denominations, individuals, and related organizations. While no particular belief or practice can be said to define this branch of Christianity (indeed, its most commonly given definition is merely "any Christian denomination which is not Roman Catholic or Orthodox Christian"), those denominations considered to be well within the realm of Protestantism all have firm roots in the Protestant Reformation initiated by Martin Luther's 95 Theses during the sixteenth century.

Protestantism is currently the dominant religion of many first-world countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Protestantism in particular, evangelicalism is also currently the fastest growing branch of Christianity today, with significant growth in countries such as China, India and many nations in Europe as well as Africa.

Protestant came to be used as the collective name for those individuals and churches who advocated a formal separation from the Roman Catholic Church.

Many Protestant churches practice similar rituals to Catholicism—chiefly baptism, communion, and matrimony—frequently varying or de-formalizing the rites (although this is not the case in some Lutheran and Anglican parishes)..

There are about 590 million Protestants worldwide. These include 170 million in North America, 160 million in Africa, 120 million in Europe, 70 million in Latin America, 60 million in Asia, and 10 million in Oceania. Nearly 27% of all Christians today are Protestants.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Protestants believe that they do not need the intermediation of priests in order to commune with God or serve Jesus Christ. Catholics are more inclined to rely on their priests as a conduit to the spiritual realm. That's the most basic difference.

There are little differences too. The Catholic Bible has several more books than the Protestant Bible does. The Protestants don't use Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, or the other Apocryphal books.

Also, the singing and instrumental accompaniment in Catholic masses is usually far superior to what you hear in most Protestant services. A mass has pageantry that Baptist Sunday Church just can't match.

Answer 5

No it is not a form of Catholicism...just the opposite. The Reformation was a movement in 16th Century Europe that got started in opposition to the Catholic church. It was rooted in the actual words of the bible and the movement supported stripping out of the Catholic rites anything not supported directly by scripture---protestantism, the word comes from protest, as they protested the inventions and invasions of customs not called for by scripture--thus, they contested whether the the wafer and the wine at mass were actually turned into the body and blood of christ--since at the last supper it could be argued that Christ was only speaking metaphorically. THe bible says not to make graven images so the protestants believed in removing statues, stained glass windows and other religious artifacts from the churches. Further, since the catholic practice allows the layman to pray to saints and the virgin mary for intercession in heaven on their behalf the statues were also removed because the bible says "you shall no other god before me" and praying to a saint or the virgin was interpreted as praying to somebody else as if they were god.

The protestant movement was also a reaction to what was viewed as venality in the Catholic church, the selling of indulgences (i.e. something that excused you from your sins issued by the Pope in God's name for a fee). The same movement also wanted the mass said in the vernacular and wanted the priest to face the congregation and to do the mass as a commemorative ceremony on a communion table, rather than on an altar. They objected to the wealth and the power of the church because after all, Christ and the Bible say many things about being humble and poor.

Thus the movement started out as a way to "reform" the church, hence the name Reformation, but when the Church started excommunicating and burning people as heretics, it then became a schism, and the splinter groups formed the Protestant movement. There were three main groups--the Lutherans--followers of Martin Luther who started it all with his Theses nailed to the door of Wittenburg Cathedral (these were proposals for reforming the church of its corrupt ways); John Calvin, who spurred others like Zwingli and Knox, all of whom lead protestant sects where were even more severe in their reforms than Luther--the calvinists are the ones who lead to puritanism in England; and Henry VIII King of England who made himself the head of the church of England, which evolved into Anglicanism or Episcopalianism--the most conservative of the Protestant sects--some called it Catholicism without the Pope, but after Henry VIII died, the church veered to the left and became more Protestant.

So Protestant and Catholic are both Christian Sects (as are Greek and Russian Orthodox) but they have not been the same religion for more than 400 years now.

Answer 6

The Protestants are the group of people, Catholic priest included, who decided to serve God in a true and honest manner and who repudiated the corruption in the Catholic church. One example of this such movement is Martin Luther who nailed his 96 thesis on the doors of the church in Germany some centuries back detailing the authority of the Bible as opposed to the Catholic Church's preferences. Two of the biggest dissagreements are the authority of scripture, or "sola scritura," which means that the Bible is the Authority of all faith and practice (you may find this reference in the book of 1 Timothy). The second is salvation by faith and not by works. The Bible clearly states that we are saved by what Jesus did on the cross for us and not by our good deeds. If we could "earn" our way into heaven, then Jesus died in vain. That, is the long and the short of it. If you would like more detailed information, feel free to contact me.
Mr. M on "what does it mean to be a protestant."

Answer 7

The Catholic Church is the original Christain church. Protestant churches began formally under the initiaitve of King Henry VIII of England, who decided he didn;t want to follow the Pope any more, and Martin Luther, who wanted reforms in the church.

Protestant churches "broke off from" the exact doctrines of the Catholic Church and from followingthe Pope centuries ago. They are Christain churches that share, to soem extent or another, what is beleived and done in the Catholic Church, to varying degrees of differentness. They were formed as a way of "protesting" things disliked about the church.

Answer 8

protestant churches are what came from the reformation, where luther started luteranism. then that church was divided, and today there are 2500 different protestant chruches.

anyway, the main difference between catholic and protestant is that catholics believe that a person needs faith and good works to go to heaven, while protestants believe a person just needs faith.(even though James says very differently, even Paul says works, along with faith, are needed)

they also dont ask for the intercession of saints or mary.(even though the book of Rev. says they can intercede)

they dont believe in reconcilliation(even though Jesus said Peter and the apostles had the power to forgive sins)

but yeah, both believe in Christ, God, Holy Spirit. mostly same with minor differences. big similarities

Answer 9

The Roman religion is a part of what Revelation calls the mother of harlots (Revelation 17).

Protestants protested and came out.

Generally Protestants are dauthter religions unless they rejected all of the Babylonian practices of the mother. Sunday worship, for example.

Answer 10

Protestant. TO PROTEST.
They originally protested against the Catholic church due to
abuses like charging money for services.