The Protestant Christian movement was started by Martin Luther, when he nailed on the door of the church his 95 theses on why the Catholic system was wrong. His new Protestant religion ignored the ideas of purgatory and the 'papal' system, and Luther believed we could talk to God directly without going through a priest. The word Protestant just means that they were denying the importance of the Pope, and they supported the idea of salvation through faith alone, not through good works. For more info, go to: history.hanover.edu/early/prot.html

Protestants are denominations that reject the policies of the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the Protestant denominations have sprung up since Martin Luther, but there are some that pre date it. My Church, Baptist, is one. We through the centuries have been known as Waldenses, Anabaptists, and other names too, and have been around since Jesus was here. The original differences we had with the Roman Catholics, were over infant baptism, baptism necessary for salvation, confession to priests, methods of baptism, pergatory, prayer to saints, and supremacy of the pope.. These differences still exist today. Most denominations of protestants reject one or more of these same ideas, and lean more toward strict biblical teachings. The bible does not support any of the above differences, and many protestants believe that these are things used over the years by popes and bishops to retain control. For a look at persecutions of protestants, and some really interesting reading try Fox's Book of Martyrs. Not for those with a weak stomach though.Another great source found at this link: http://users.aol.com/libcfl/trail.htm for Miss Tsuno, No I don't say that Luther's movement predated himself. I do say that Luther and some other people, whether they had ever heard of each other or not, came to the same conclusion after study of scripture. The truths of the Bible have always been available to men despite the best efforts of certain powerful people, and when a man studies them he sees the truth unfiltered by a church, will also come to their same conclusion. The predecessors of my church, have been around since Christ. They weren't called Baptists, but their beliefs were mostly the same as ours, and we are their descendants. Luther in our eyes was a "Johnny come Lately", but the truth was there in front of him, and he acted on it.

What does it mean to be protestant It means that you concluded that God is imperfect. And that you have come to believe error and heresay. Before you get completely offended, may I suggest you brush up on your history. It will be humbling, and some people just don't wanna go there. I used to believe all religions were the same, that bad behaving Catholics must mean the religion is bad etc I have research the origins of the various relgions, and it occured to me that Jesus said he would come back to judge the living and the dead, He never mentions starting other spinoffs that cater to the conveniences of mens desires. Jesus started the Catholic church, and made St Peter the head of the church. During the 40 days after his ressurection, he taught the apostles how to run the Church, most of which was never recorded but passed on through Tradition. Part of the Tradition includes the 7 Sacrements, which is only made available to the public through the Catholic Church, for the past 2004 years. Jesus promised that he would protect His Church through the Holy Ghost, and the lineage from Jesus, to St Peter, to all the Popes, up to this day are a testament to God's Promise. 1500 years later, the reformation begain primarily with Martin Luther and John Calvin. Luther regretted his decision later in life and coverted back to Catholic, and told his mother to remain Catholic as well. The fact is, Jesus has not come back down and said "Hey, if the Catholics get it wrong, just start up your own relgions, pick and choose what you want in your Bible, don't worry about Original Sin, and don't tell your followers about ALL the Sacrements because that would lead to too many questions" There is no authority from God in the remaining 3000 religions that exist today. He only started one Church, His. Anyone that rejects the Church the Jesus started is a modern day Caifus (he was the first protestant you might say). Judiasm makes one beleive all religions are equal (No, this isn't antisemetic). Remember Satan is in the soul collecting business, and his greatest trick is to motivate one's free will through lies. By dividing the Church, taking souls away from the sacrements (thus graces), he conquers your soul unknowingly. Most protestants arguments simply point to bad behaving catholics in the past, instead of focusing on the teaches of the Church being correct. I am not saying that the followers of other flavours will automatically go to hell, it's up to God how to deal with ignorance as there are many innocent well intentioned souls. Catholic by the way means Whole, One, Universal. One God, One Church. If you study from the source, (which all protestant relgions selectively base their beliefs on), you will find no error, it will all make logical sense. Do yourself a favor, make sure you find out EVERYTHING that Jesus taught, then judge. By they way, if you just stick to the Bible, it was written by 3 of the 12 Apostles. The Traditions come from all 12 (originally from Jesus of course). The Catholic Church existed for 300 years before the first Bible came along. So is God imperfect, or man imperfect? Get it now?

A protestant is someone that through study and learning finds truths in the Bible that previously wasn't contained in the church that they branched off from. After Jesus taught his disciples, they were all killed and thus there is no person with the original Authority, this is where we get the Catholic Church. The priests that were in the temple noticed that no one had the authority to teach and they themselves were in charge of the "scrolls" (which would become 'The Bible'), so they took upon themselves the job to teach the people, so basically what ever they said had to go, if not you were put to death, so for many centuries things continued this way, they perverted the Gospel, they had the freedom to do what ever they wanted, until the great day of the printing press, now everyone could read the "scrolls" (Bible). Now after common people were able to read for themselves what was truly contained in the Bible they knew that by the Catholic Church they were being deceived by the Church of the Devil, that is why they immediately rid themselves of the membership of that church, so that is what a protestant is: someone who with further knowledge and wisdom, sees through the corruption, the pomp, and the mystery, to the plain and precious truths (see 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-3).

To be a protestant means that you do not adhere to the Catholic traditions and rituals which are mostly mandated by man and not God. Protestants believe that one needs to confess their sins to the Father in Heaven and to receive forgiveness of your sins through the Blood of Jesus Christ. Protestants believe that saying so many "Hail Mary's" or so many "Our Father's" will not "earn forgiveness of sin". Only the Blood of Christ Jesus, the One and Only Begottten Son of the God of Heaven and Earth has the power to wash away one's sins. It can not be earned and we can't do anything to obtain it. Forgiveness of sin is a gift from God through Jesus and is given by grace lest no man can boast. Protestants also feel we can go directly to The Father, The Son and/or The Holy Spirit and we don't need to go to a go between. God is no respecter of persons and we are all equal in His eyes. No minister of any religion is more important to God than anyone else. Not even the Pope. We are all the same and God loves us all the same. We also believe that everyone has the same opportunity for salvation. All that is needed is to believe the Gospel to be the truth and to invite Christ to come into your life and save you. God wishes for all to be saved and none to be lost. Actually, I am simply a Christian, a non-denominational Christian who is Born of The Blood of Jesus My Lord. Plain and Simple. It is His blood that saves me, and His blood alone. It is nothing I did or have done except accept the gift He gave me on Calvary. It is by grace that I am saved by faith in what He did and not by anything that I did.

What does it mean to be "protestant'? It means that you are a Christian that belongs to a denomination other than the Catholic Chruch, the Church founded by Christ Himself. Started by the Protestant Reformation, led by Martin Luther back in the 1500's. Luther never intended to break away from the Catholic Church , only to reform it. However, he lost control of the movement when his own doctrine of " Sola Scriptura", the Bible alone, led many to believe they too could interpret Scripture for themselves, without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, promised by Christ to the Chruch He founded. That would be the Catholic Church! Subsequently, those "protesting" Christ's Church went off and started their own churches, with their own set of beliefs, coming from their own interpretations. Thus to date there are over 30,000 protestant denominations throughout the world, since everyone is practicing their own interpretations of Scripture. The Catholic Church on the other hand is still ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC. Meaning it is still one in Christ, Holy by His presence, Catholic in that it is worldwide, just as Chrsit called us to "go into all nations", and it is Apostolic, meaning it has an unbroken line of succession from the Apostles down through each and every Pope, ensuring faithfulness to Christ in Scripture and Tradition. The Catholic Church is the only Christian Church that is united in it's beliefs, stated in The Apostles Creed. All other Christian Churches are highly deficient in their Unity of beliefs, that is why there are thousands and thousands of them. Christ prayed that " We may be one as He and the Father are one", and the Catholic Church is the only Church that is.

Why are are these answers so defensive and divisive? All believers in Christ Jesus are one body under Him. To answer the original question, a protestant is someone whose belief systems is broken away or formulated in response to issues with the Catholic Church. This means most specificially the Roman Catholic Church, as the Eastern Orthodox church fits this definition in both manners, but is not normally considered protestant. The question I'm asking is why I can't find a response that either falsely calls the Catholic Church evil and whatever self righteous and ignorant thought hits that persons head or someone sitting there telling people with such a smug attitude that my church is right and perfect in all things, and we have the market on Jesus and his work. Both of these attitudes are wrong, and this is the reason that people can't see Christianity for what beauty it holds - all many people see is that these people professing love are tearing each other down mercilessly. If you disagree with someone beliefs or religion on matters of history,interpretation, or doctrine, great! Talk it out in a non-judgemental manner with a person who is knowledgeable and a believeing practitioner, and learn from another point of view. Either you will have a better basis for believing that your position is correct and a better grasp of how to tackle someone's argument, or you will understand that there is a possibly correct basis for another interpretation or things you never saw in scripture. I apologize for being long winded and only marginally addressing the question, but arrogance on both sides of the religion table really bothers me.

The answer to the question is at least two fold, with the early historical beginnings as well as what has grown out of that. (If that makes sense.) As someone already stated, Martin Luther nailed his objections/suggested changes to a gate in the town where he lived. He didn't set out to start a new movement, but since the Church at the time had difficulties taking constructive critizism, he was banned from the Church. People picked up on his thoughts and eventually wars were started to fight out who was right and who wasn't. (As if that would work.) Basically, people who chose Luther's point of view, were called "protestants" by the other 'side'. After that (as someone already mentioned in a previous answer), all movements that disagreed with the Catholic Church were labeled as "protestant". That does not include the Orthodox Church though, since the history of that split was earlier and had a different political background to it.

I have read what I origionally typed, it still stands. (Much like 2000+yrs of tradition) If no need for a priest, then why was Peter the head of the Church. You think no Christian would call God imperfect? Actions are louder than words! The feel good clubs have no connection to Sacrements or Graces, nor Saints or Miracles. If you were dying , would you call a priest for last rites, or call the guy in a suit that writes inspiring speeches? I've never seen a vampire or devil movie where theres a Minister or Rabbi that saves the day. It is the year 2006, we started counting time by St Gregories calendar. If you're not Catholic, what year is it for you? I understand the "other" religions cater to your need of being connected to a family environment, that there is so much wrong in the world that you have to cling to something. All I'm suggesting is what are you clinging to and why? Is this religions ambition to save souls, or turn people away from the Catholic Faith? If it's the latter, why would you spend time supporting a religion that is against the one Jesus founded on Earth? Ever notice how everthing's backwards, you cant say Merry Christmass in public, but you can say Jesus Christ or god damn it all year round on TV. Men who wish to sodomize other men have more rights then Christians to dictate whats right and wrong. Anyways, if you wish to stick with your club, you have fallen already to pride. If you're still in doubt, what year did your religion start and why. So simple, it blows me away when people overlook this.

Protestant meaning: I am a male Catholic and was raised Baptist. I seek only the truth, not opinions from man. I refuse to be part of a cult as I align myself with Jesus, how could you go wrong? I see a problem with the word Protestant as it causes alot of hatred and conflict among Christians. Protestant doesn't really mean anything, it was simply a label given by the Catholic church leaders. In reality, what is wrong with protesting the wrong doings of your leaders? I guess that you can be a Catholic Protestant like myself if you disagree with Papal teachings and demands that you disagree with because the Pope prohibits you to disagree with him. I am considered to be Anathema. I have studies alot of works from Catholic and non-catholic scholars. Is it wrong or me to say that my church has continued to invent different ways to worship Christ? The popes can not even agree on whether Mary remained a Virgin. Mat. 1:24-25 says that Joseph did not know Mary UNTIL she had Jesus. Really, who expects me to not be able to understand this scripture and others when I can recite it in any language? I am amazed when I see someone try to explain this scripture away and state that Mary remained a Virgin. A child could understand this. St. Thomas Aquinas said that a male child "ensouls" upon conception while a female does not have a soul until it is 3 moths old in the womb. Am I just evil because I know that is nonsense and written from a male ego? Everyone is a sinner and makes mistakes but alot of Chistians ignore many simple to understand errors on the part of the Protestant and the Catholic. The Vatican excommunicated its Church historian when he pointed out that the Pope was not actually infallible. It is true, all one has to do is research prior teachings of the Popes and compare them. Pope Clement also mentioned that there was no evidence of Peter ever being in Rome in regard to the institution of the Papacy. Am I a protestant for not wanting to participate in some ceremonies and understanding that about 75% of Catholic rituals are pagan as admitted by Cardinals and others? I have always had questions about how others get to heaven when they are not Catholic because I am told that if you are not Catholic, you go to hell. Well, Vatican 2 changed that and said that all Christians are under the Catholic wing. Who is right, Pre-Vatican 2 or Vatican 2? What about the Native Americans before America was discovered? Did they ALL go to Hell? No. The Catholic church threatened to kill Galileo for making a comment about scripture and stating that the Sun was the center of the Universe. In 1600, a man named Giordano Bruno was convicted of being a heretic for believing that the earth moved about the Sun, and that there were many planets throughout the universe where life living creations of God existed. Bruno was burnt to death. What I have written sofar would have caused me to be burnt to death in the 1500's! You CAN be Catholic and understand that the church will not save your soul and that you do not have to have the priest mediate for you. I can read a scripture and understand it when it says that there is no mediator. I can attend Mass and understand that I am doing it in rememberance of Christ at Passover. Catholics who condem other Christians and call them names are judging others. Protestants who do the same are just as bad. Christ knows who you are, what is inside of you and does not make salvation a complex game. The Jehova's Witness should see that you can not predict the end of the world 8 times, something is wrong there! The gate is narrow because so many do not know Jesus. This des not mean that people who have never heard of Jesus will go to hell, this is an arrogant statement. Man makes it complex, not God. You can be Catholic and get to heaven if you do not agree with all of the Papal teachings. The last Pope will be the False Prophet in The Apocrypha/Revelation. No big deal as long as you know what not to do and see that it is coming sooner than you may think. The mark of the beast has been in the works and will be forced upon us soon. It's really amazing to see the scriptures unfold and I actually hope that I am there when the tribulation begins. What would one have to fear? Lose your head? So what,it seems that it would be a sure ticket to heaven to be killed for proclaiming Christ as your savior. Catholics and protestants should come together. My Catholic friends should stop kneeling in front of statues for any reason. It is a GRAVEN--hand carved image and should be avoided because of what scripture teaches you. EVERYONE should stop being biased and attacking each other. Jesus never killed anyone for not believing the manner in which he taught. Jesus had love for all outsiders. The hate that the Catholics have for a protestant will send them to hell as will a protestant go to hell for the hate of a Catholic. Satan is the enemy, not your brother. Believe in Jesus, do good works because you are a new creature, and be baptised for good measure! The only PROTESTANTS are those who oppose Jesus Christ. That should be the true definition of the word.

THE POPE IS THE ANTICHRIST THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS A LOT TO SPEAK FOR AND EVERY ONE KNOWS IT

Martin Luther broke out of the catholic church and became a protestant, he was protesting against the antichrist/the roman catholic papacy... thus all christian churches that arent catholic should be protestant but that isnt really the case because many churches claim to be anything but catholic but still observe many pegan/catholic dates... like worshiping on a sunday, easter, christmas, instead of worshiping on a saturday and celebrating the passover as commanded in the bible.