Protestantism

Protestantism. The ‘Protestatio’, from which the word derives, was a statement issued by five reforming princes and 14 cities at the Diet of Speyer in 1529. Out-numbered by the Catholic powers who wanted to halt the reforming movement, the signatories believed that to keep silent would touch ‘God's honour and … the eternal life of our souls’. The term ‘Protestant’ originally applied only to the Lutherans, the Calvinists being described as ‘Reformed’. It thus originally had a more positive sense than its modern anti-Roman flavour would suggest.

Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Zwinglianism would now all be regarded as Protestant, and there are many denominations which are in a general sense Protestant. Whether the C of E is Protestant is disputed. The word is not used in the BCP, but Charles I affirmed his adherence to the Protestant religion, using the term as opposed to both Roman Catholicism and Puritanism. After the Restoration it was generally extended to include Nonconformists.

Because Protestantism has become such an inclusive term, it is difficult to provide a definition of its beliefs; acceptance of the Bible as the sole source of revealed truth, the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and the universal priesthood of believers are characteristic. Protestants reject any kind of two-tier spirituality (clerical/monastic and lay); a lay spirituality based on Bible-reading and a high standard of personal morality have been the norm. In general Protestant worship is marked by the participation of the whole congregation, by the public reading of the Bible in the vernacular, and by an emphasis on preaching. Charismatic, Pentecostal Christianity has been an important element in modern Protestantism.

In the 18th cent. the influence of the Enlightenment began to dissolve some of the earlier Protestant certainties, raising questions about the literal understanding of Scripture, emphasizing reason above revealed religion, and stressing the importance of an interior and subjective religion of the spirit. From 1870 to c.1920 the tone of Liberal Protestantism was set by A. Ritschl, who reacted against F. D. E. Schleiermacher's emphasis on feeling, revived I. Kant's moralism and metaphysical scepticism, and encouraged historical research. K. Barth attempted a comprehensive restatement of classical dogmatic Protestantism, based on his conviction that a belief in the Trinity necessarily follows from an acceptance of the premiss that God reveals Himself.

American Protestantism grew out of the 17th-cent. Puritanism of New England, the 18th-cent Great Awakening, and the revivalism of the 19th cent. These elements fashioned a peculiar mixture of Calvinism and Arminianism, which has deeply influenced American culture. Protestants were strongly motivated to reform society; they were also intent on the moral and psychological improvement of individuals. In the 20th cent. American Protestantism championed human rights abroad and individual rights at home. Its religious tolerance has bequeathed a proliferation of denominations, fostering a reductionist approach to the W. Church's historic liturgy and body of doctrine. Against the prevailing Reformed religious ethos, some immigrant groups, notably Lutherans, have struggled to employ traditional forms of worship, piety, and theology which were long held suspect by the Protestant mainstream.