Category:Protestant Religion

Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. The term is derived from the Protestation at Speyer delivered by a minority of delegates against the (1529) Second Diet of Speyer, which passed legislation opposed by the Lutheranism. Since that time, the term has been used in many different senses, but not as the official title of any church until it was assumed (1783) by the Protestant Episcopal Church (since 1967 simply the Episcopal Church in the United States of America#Official names) in the United States, the American branch of the Anglican Communion. Protestantism as a general term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian faiths, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy^[1].

The doctrines of the Reformation can be summarized as a) the rejection of papal authority, b) rejection of some fundamental Roman Catholic doctrines, c) the priesthood of all believers, d) the primacy of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth, and e) the belief in justification by faith alone^[2][3].

1. ↑ Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia
2. ↑ Encarta Dictionary under "protestant"
3. ↑ Merriam Webster Dictionary under "protestant"