If Protestants came from Catholics, why are there still Catholics?

Answer 1

Uhhh...that's like saying if Christians came from Jews, why are there still Jews?

Protestants were those unhappy with the Catholic church hundreds of years ago, during the Protestant Reformation, and that guy named Martin Luther hammered the complaints or "95 Theses" on the door of the church. Basically, the movement began when King Henry was upset that he couldn't get a divorce from his wife. But like most splits in religion, some leave, some stay.

Answer 2

This is not one object changing into another. You're trying to conceptualize groups of individuals as a single thing, like a single caterpillar turning into a butterfly.

Organizations made of people don't change as a single unit. You need to remember that a religion, government, company, club, etc. is made of MANY INDIVIDUALS. Each individual has different ideas. Not every American thinks democracy is good. Not every member of Tree Climbing Club agrees on the best way to climb trees.

Now think of Catholics and Protestants as groups of individuals. Let's imagine a day when there were only Catholics. Let's say there were 3,000 individuals. (there were more, but we're keeping this easy.) 2,500 of them liked Catholicism. However, 500 of them wanted something a little different. They thought Christianity should be dealt with in slightly different ways. So, these 500 Catholics became Protestants. Over the years, more Catholics became Protestants. But many Catholics wanted to stay Catholic, and they still do.

See?

Answer 3

Protestants aren't specifically the "evolutionaly" product of Catholics, but are a branch of Christianity which decided that the Catholic doctrine simply had tenants which were wrong, and a scism occurred due to the differences in opinion.

Interestingly, Martin Luther didn't want to start a new religious sect when he nailed his 95 theses to the door of Wittenburg Cathedral, but wanted to change Catholicism from within, to modify it's beliefs. However, his differences with the church were irreconcilable, and a new aspect of the Christian faith, Protestantism, was the result.

There were several European wars fought over these religious doctrinal differences, including the 30 Years War.

Answer 4

Just because Protestantism came from Catholicism doesn't mean that Protestantism was an evolution, risky to use that word here. It means that some "protested" some abuses of some Catholics. Once those abuses were stopped, there is no need to protest any longer. Also, many Protestant sects have developed their own doctrines that Catholics still believe is away from what was originally taught by Jesus and his disciples.

Answer 5

Not all the Catholics protested.

Answer 6

Because Protestants disagreed with the Catholic religion and separated. That does not wipe out catholics but creates a new version of Christianity.

Answer 7

I'm more concerned about the thousands of Protestant denominations that came from the Catholics.

Answer 8

For the same reason mothers are still here after having children. Just because you branch out doesnt mean the original chapter dies out. Meninites came from the Amish, same thing there. Some wanted to follow the old order rules, and some wanted to move forward with technology and time, so they branched out.

Answer 9

There were only ever a few protestants who left.
A lot of them came to America, & continued to split.
The church is gradually going back to being united.
The two Russian churches just joined together again.
The Pope is working at reuniting with the Orthodox.
Many of the tiny splinter churches have joined together.

Answer 10

Protestantism came from people whoe believed in Christ but protested the teachings of the Catholic Church or the Pope (such as Martin Luther).