ANSWERS: 1
  • Protestantism is not a single religion. I started to write you out an answer, but actually Wikipedia says it quite well and probably more concisely than I would. ;) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. The word Protestant is derived from the Latin protestatio meaning declaration which refers to the letter of protestation by Lutheran princes against the decision of the Diet of Speyer in 1529, which reaffirmed the edict of the Diet of Worms against the Reformation.[1] Since that time, the term Protestantism has been used in many different senses, often as a general term to refer to Western Christianity that is not subject to papal authority.[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] While the faiths and churches born directly or indirectly of the Protestant Reformation constitute Protestantism, in common usage, the term is often used in contradistinction to Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy[4]. This usage is imprecise. There are many non-Roman-Catholic, non-Eastern-Orthodox communions that long predate the Reformation (notably Oriental Orthodoxy). The Anglican Church, although born of the Protestant reformation, differs from the reformation principles of most other Protestants and is referred to as a middle path - a via media - between Roman Catholic and Protestant doctrines. Yet some other groups, such as the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses, reject Protestantism as having deviated from true Christianity and see themselves as restorationists.

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