1. (Definition) A Protestant is a person -- specifically, a Christian who is NOT a Catholic.
2. (Historical Origins) First seen in the 15th Century when the German princes use Martin Luther's 95 Theses as an excuse to break Rome's rule over them by forming their own churches unaffiliated with Catholicism. Another important schism from the Catholic Church occured when Henry VIII created the Anglican Church because the pope would not allow him to divorce his wife.
3. (Word origin) The word originates from "protest" -- Protestants protested against various teachings of the Catholic Church.
All other definitions of Protestants and Protestantism, while possibly superficially correct, mostly refer to specific sects of Protestantism such as Baptists, Episcopalians and Lutherans.
2. (Historical Origins) First seen in the 15th Century when the German princes use Martin Luther's 95 Theses as an excuse to break Rome's rule over them by forming their own churches unaffiliated with Catholicism. Another important schism from the Catholic Church occured when Henry VIII created the Anglican Church because the pope would not allow him to divorce his wife.
3. (Word origin) The word originates from "protest" -- Protestants protested against various teachings of the Catholic Church.
All other definitions of Protestants and Protestantism, while possibly superficially correct, mostly refer to specific sects of Protestantism such as Baptists, Episcopalians and Lutherans.
Monty was Catholic until last year, when he left the church. However, he claims to have remained a Christian. Therefore, he is a Protestant.
by Byro December 9, 2008
Get the Protestant mug.Those Christians who broke away from the corrupt Catholic Church of the 16th century so that they could form their own judgmental, jingoistic, and batshit crazy sect of Christianty.
by Johnny Pseudonym June 25, 2005
Get the Protestant mug.A form of christianity seperate from Catholicism and Orthadox Christians. Started by German monk Matrin Luther, who when feeling unsatisfied with the catholic rapings of scripture, nailed his 95 theses on the door of a church in Wittenburg, Germany. This infuriated the Catholics and their Pope. Who in turn sought to have him excomunicated and sentenced to death. But he escpaed them and went in to hiding, where he translated the bible from it's only language of the time: Latin in to his native German. He caused Germany to break free of the corrput Roman Catholics and opened the doors to make christianity more personal. Today many branches of Protestants are in existance. A good rule of thumb is: if they ain't catholic, then they're a protestant.
by Heilig Mann May 14, 2005
Get the Protestantism mug.a devil worshiping religon set up by henry the eight so he could ride other women usually practised by ugly smelly fucked up people
by william moore March 14, 2007
Get the protestant mug.a hypocritical religion that thinks they are the only christians and that every1 is going to hell but themwho tries to make catholics (the ORIGINAL CHRISTIANS) look bad just so every1 can join their church. also, the back of the bible states that ne1 who takes or adds to the bible will suffer the plagues mentioned in the bible" and u kno wat? protestants changed the bible! also rude bitches who say Mary is a prostitute and changed the original bible to say that she had many kids. ya my ass. thats changing the bible for sure and i bet Jesus really appreciates ppl insulting his mom.
protestant: we are the only christians and the world revolves around us. although we are god damn hypocrites who changed the bible many times under the following the example of Martin Luther who actually forced the catholic church to change the bible....jeez
by jennylovesean April 27, 2006
Get the protestant mug.me: i'll have a protestant whiskey on the rocks
dumb bartender: a what?
me: bushmills, dumbass
dumb bartender: oh, sorry...we only have old crow
dumb bartender: a what?
me: bushmills, dumbass
dumb bartender: oh, sorry...we only have old crow
by sonnycrockett39 October 8, 2008
Get the protestant whiskey mug.Contrary to popular belief, Protestants are not all stuck up, judgmental hypocrites. Everyone who professes to follow a "religion" is a hypocrite because it is quite obvious that no human being can possibly adhere to the strict standards of any religion. However, Christians in general have earned a bad reputation for themselves by falsely declaring their love for Jesus/God and then blatantly contradicting that statement with their actions. This does not mean that there are not Protestants with sincere motives and a true love for Jesus. It is pure ignorance to discredit an entire "religion" just because of a few bad experiences.
Christians (at least Protestants) are not part of a "religion". This is because "religion" implies that you must meet a standard of good behavior to attain salvation and eternal life. We are saved because of God's grace, Jesus' sacrifice, and our faith, not because of our adherence to a set of laws. Judaism, Islam, and Mormanism are all religions, because they require the obeyance of their own particular laws. Sometimes Catholicism can be put under the category of a religion because some of them follow rituals and do things (i.e. confessional, pentenance, praying to Mary) to attain salvation.
Whoever posted that the Protestant faith was established by Henry VIII, this is a false statement. The Protestant faith was created by Martin Luther when he broke away from the Catholic church because he believe that you do not need to go through a priest to get to God. Henry VIII established the Episcopalian church on account of his selfish ambition.
Not all Protestants should be thought of as judgmental hypocrites. Think before you make sweeping generalizations. And to the person who posted that there is absolutely no evidence for the content of the Bible, this is an incredibly false statement, but that's another topic.
Christians (at least Protestants) are not part of a "religion". This is because "religion" implies that you must meet a standard of good behavior to attain salvation and eternal life. We are saved because of God's grace, Jesus' sacrifice, and our faith, not because of our adherence to a set of laws. Judaism, Islam, and Mormanism are all religions, because they require the obeyance of their own particular laws. Sometimes Catholicism can be put under the category of a religion because some of them follow rituals and do things (i.e. confessional, pentenance, praying to Mary) to attain salvation.
Whoever posted that the Protestant faith was established by Henry VIII, this is a false statement. The Protestant faith was created by Martin Luther when he broke away from the Catholic church because he believe that you do not need to go through a priest to get to God. Henry VIII established the Episcopalian church on account of his selfish ambition.
Not all Protestants should be thought of as judgmental hypocrites. Think before you make sweeping generalizations. And to the person who posted that there is absolutely no evidence for the content of the Bible, this is an incredibly false statement, but that's another topic.
I am a Protestant, and I believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he died to take the penalty for the sins of the people of the world, and that you can get eternal life by trusting him with your life.
by kewright1203 May 22, 2006
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