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IGotQuestions
Guest
I rarely meet anyone who refers to themselves in this way.
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P
peter26
Guest
I never did, I called myself “Anglican”. My priest reckons a protestant is anyone not in keeping with the teachings of Rome: including heterodox Catholics.
S
Starwarsfan2
Guest
Yep
P
pianistclare
Guest
I think so.
I doubt if of the demons that are labeled as such, are “protesting”.
I doubt if of the demons that are labeled as such, are “protesting”.
J
Jon_Mallory
Guest
As someone who went to a college affiliated with the RP Church, I can assure you it is far from obsolete. A lot of students tried to convert the Catholic students to reformed theology. It is not an outdated term or why else would there be baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, etc churches?
meltzerboy
New member
With the proliferation of so many denominations, the umbrella term “Protestant” probably has less meaning today than it once had.
F
FollowChrist34
Guest
I know that many if not most Protestants dislike the term and don’t use it, often preferring “Evangelical.” For whatever reason, I love it - not insulting them or us Catholics - I just think the term has kind of an edge, a bite, that I find quite appealing. Christianity is, after all, in many ways a protest against the world (not “creation” or life itself, of course - the ways of the world, secularism). It also brings back the high point in “Protestantism” as far as I am concerned, its great classical age of the early Reformation, before modernity nuked it all into a thousand pieces.
M
MiserableSinner
Guest
Of course not.
Protestantism is a result of a heretic named Martin Luther rebelling against God’s Church around 500 years ago. It means to protest the Church.
Protestants today are continuing that rebellion against the only Church God established, gave the Keys to the Kingdom to, guided into all Truth, and divinely protects the Doctrine and Dogma of. Literally, they are still protesting God’s Church.
Now, they might say they are not. But just by spreading heresy, they are. Whether or not they know what they are doing is another question, and whether or not they are culpable for their ignorance is yet another question. Only God knows the Truth of everything.
That is the truth. The truth might be unpopular, but I am bound by the 1st Commandment on this issue. To say something else would be to literally break God’s Holy Commandment. To compromise on it in the slightest would be to break His 1st Commandment.
Faith
2087 Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith"9 as our first obligation. He shows that “ignorance of God” is the principle and explanation of all moral deviations.10 Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him.
2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:
Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.
2089 Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. "Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."11
Many protestants have NO IDEA that their beliefs are only a 500 year old heresy that comes from the rebellion of Martin Luther. They have absolutely no idea that Christ established the Catholic Church, and most of them think it doesn’t really matter which church you are in as long as you believe in Jesus.
The Church does not teach that all protestants will go to Hell. The Church teaches that heresy puts people in danger of Hell. If a protestant does not know, and is not culpable for knowing, that the Catholic Church is the Church God established, He can still save them. But they will be in danger of presuming His mercy if they believe a heresy that teaches that those who presume His mercy will obtain it (OSAS for instance).
It is very unmerciful to say anything even slightly compromising on this. It is the height of being unmerciful. In fact, if done with full knowledge and deliberate consent, I would not receive Holy Communion until going to Holy Confession, because it clearly violates the 1st Commandment from God.
God loves you and loves protestants too. He wants them in Heaven. We should be instruments of His will and give grace to those who hear and read our words. That means we must obey His 1st Commandment at all times.
Protestantism is a result of a heretic named Martin Luther rebelling against God’s Church around 500 years ago. It means to protest the Church.
Protestants today are continuing that rebellion against the only Church God established, gave the Keys to the Kingdom to, guided into all Truth, and divinely protects the Doctrine and Dogma of. Literally, they are still protesting God’s Church.
Now, they might say they are not. But just by spreading heresy, they are. Whether or not they know what they are doing is another question, and whether or not they are culpable for their ignorance is yet another question. Only God knows the Truth of everything.
That is the truth. The truth might be unpopular, but I am bound by the 1st Commandment on this issue. To say something else would be to literally break God’s Holy Commandment. To compromise on it in the slightest would be to break His 1st Commandment.
Faith
2087 Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith"9 as our first obligation. He shows that “ignorance of God” is the principle and explanation of all moral deviations.10 Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him.
2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:
Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.
2089 Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. "Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."11
Many protestants have NO IDEA that their beliefs are only a 500 year old heresy that comes from the rebellion of Martin Luther. They have absolutely no idea that Christ established the Catholic Church, and most of them think it doesn’t really matter which church you are in as long as you believe in Jesus.
The Church does not teach that all protestants will go to Hell. The Church teaches that heresy puts people in danger of Hell. If a protestant does not know, and is not culpable for knowing, that the Catholic Church is the Church God established, He can still save them. But they will be in danger of presuming His mercy if they believe a heresy that teaches that those who presume His mercy will obtain it (OSAS for instance).
It is very unmerciful to say anything even slightly compromising on this. It is the height of being unmerciful. In fact, if done with full knowledge and deliberate consent, I would not receive Holy Communion until going to Holy Confession, because it clearly violates the 1st Commandment from God.
God loves you and loves protestants too. He wants them in Heaven. We should be instruments of His will and give grace to those who hear and read our words. That means we must obey His 1st Commandment at all times.
J
Johann_du_Toit
Guest
Hillaire Belloc said in his book The Great Heresies that Protestants don’t in fact exist anymore.
The core teachings of Protestantism, according to both Martin Luther and Jean Calvin, were/are the following:
-Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone, with each and every word of the bible to be taken literally,
with no regard for sacred spoken tradition)
-Sola Fidei (faith alone salvation)
-absence of free will, and
-double predestination (your salvation is due solely due to God, and He determines before
you were born whether you were destined to go to Heaven or Hell).
How many Protestants still believe in even one of these doctrines, let alone all of them?
Double predestination and the absence of free will in particular are no longer upheld, even by Calvinists, who were the greatest defenders of these doctrines (and I am speaking as someone who was raised in the Calvinist tradition).
The only thing that makes them Protestant is that they do not accept the authority of the Papacy.
The core teachings of Protestantism, according to both Martin Luther and Jean Calvin, were/are the following:
-Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone, with each and every word of the bible to be taken literally,
with no regard for sacred spoken tradition)
-Sola Fidei (faith alone salvation)
-absence of free will, and
-double predestination (your salvation is due solely due to God, and He determines before
you were born whether you were destined to go to Heaven or Hell).
How many Protestants still believe in even one of these doctrines, let alone all of them?
Double predestination and the absence of free will in particular are no longer upheld, even by Calvinists, who were the greatest defenders of these doctrines (and I am speaking as someone who was raised in the Calvinist tradition).
The only thing that makes them Protestant is that they do not accept the authority of the Papacy.
T
Tommy999
Guest
For me, ‘Protestant’ is a term used almost exclusively by Catholics to denote one branch of non-Catholic Christians. I don’t know of anyone else who uses the term.
Many “Protestants” are not protesting anything – just trying to live the Christian life to the best of their ability with God’s help…
It’s sort of like Jews who use the term, ‘Gentile’ to classify non-Jews, if indeed that term is still even used anymore (I truly don’t know).
Many “Protestants” are not protesting anything – just trying to live the Christian life to the best of their ability with God’s help…
It’s sort of like Jews who use the term, ‘Gentile’ to classify non-Jews, if indeed that term is still even used anymore (I truly don’t know).
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PattiDay
Guest
Look up “Main Line Protestant Denominations” online and you will find many churches that still identify as protestant including Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Evangelical, Lutheran, and others. Many may find the term “protestant” quaint, but it still very much fits.
C
Cor_ad_Cor
Guest
I think it was more of a term Catholics used (use) to describe those denominations that started in the Reformation, not as much a self-descriptive term. It’s akin to “Roman Catholic” - the anti-Catholics started using “Roman Church” as a derogatory term (some still do). The Church herself is Catholic, not Roman, but that descriptor stuck in many ways. You don’t have to look far, at least here on CAF, to find people offended by the “Roman” label. I never use it myself (but don’t get offended by it).
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Son_of_Niall
Guest
All the dude did was ask a question.
You sound like one of these radical traditionalists.
F
FollowChrist34
Guest
To which I would respond: “Precious little.”
M
Marie5890
Guest
obsolete?
Hardly.
People may not use the word to self-identify, but it does still hold that those who are not catholic or orthodox are protestant.
Hardly.
People may not use the word to self-identify, but it does still hold that those who are not catholic or orthodox are protestant.
P
Peter_J
Guest
My own position on this is rather complicated, so I’m reluctant to say either Yes or No. However, I think it’s worth noting that Fr. Robert Hart agrees with your answer: Putting the “P” back in “Anglican”.
C
CrossofChrist
Guest
No it’s not obsolete. Although when some people lump Anglicans with Evangelicals it isn’t very helpful.
C
ChadS
Guest
Growing up as a United Methodist I always understood myself to be a Protestant. Methodist was the particular denomination I belonged to. In the whole I was a Protestant, but never exactly understood what exactly we were protesting against. Later on I certainly began to understand that.
I’ve met some who do not like the term Protestant, but the entirety of their theology is based in what is essentially Protestant theology and understood as such by Calvin, Luther, Wesley and their spiritual heirs. When they say they are just “mere Christians” they either don’t understand their own history or are perhaps trying to pull some rhetorical slight of hand. As another poster mentioned they still get the question “What’s the difference between Catholics and Christians?” The asker of that question knows their is something fundamentally different between their teachings and that of the Catholic Church. Whether they want to describe themselves as Protestants or not does nothing to change the fact of their situation.
ChadS
I’ve met some who do not like the term Protestant, but the entirety of their theology is based in what is essentially Protestant theology and understood as such by Calvin, Luther, Wesley and their spiritual heirs. When they say they are just “mere Christians” they either don’t understand their own history or are perhaps trying to pull some rhetorical slight of hand. As another poster mentioned they still get the question “What’s the difference between Catholics and Christians?” The asker of that question knows their is something fundamentally different between their teachings and that of the Catholic Church. Whether they want to describe themselves as Protestants or not does nothing to change the fact of their situation.
ChadS
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Actually this is false. The origin and meaning of Protestant comes from the formal protest at the 2nd Diet of Speyer, and was a protest against a governmental attempt to limit religious liberty.
And this is what some Protestants dislike, the misrepresentation of the term, as well as misuse of the term, implying that it started as a singular communion that splintered.
There’s nothing wrong with the term, even if it is used to speak generally of western noncatholic communions.
Jon
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Actually this is false. The origin and meaning of Protestant comes from the formal protest at the 2nd Diet of Speyer, and was a protest against a governmental attempt to limit religious liberty.
And this is what some Protestants dislike, the misrepresentation of the term, as well as misuse of the term, implying that it started as a singular communion that splintered.
There’s nothing wrong with the term, even if it is used to speak generally of western noncatholic communions.
Jon
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