Is the word "Protestant' obsolete?

[GKC]

=.

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

I was about to have you paged.

 

[josephback]

Weren’t the first protestants called “evangelicals” because their dispute with the Church was over what constituted the evangel-that is, the gospel. It wasn’t until the Diet of Speyer in 1526 to my knowledge that the term protestant was used to describe those who protested for the rights of the religious minority(Lutheranism). Given Vatican II and Dignitatis Humanae it would seem outdated. I’ve found that there are two types of belief, that in the catechism defining objectively the official beliefs of a given organization or church and what people in the pews actually live their lives by. The two are not synonymous and you really have to get to know the individual before making any authoritative statements.

 

[JonNC]

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

Even here the discussion is framed in the singular - theology - as if Luther, Calvin and Wesley held the same theology. I, as a Lutheran, am far more Catholic than I am Calvinist.

Protestantism is not a singular theology with singular roots.

Jon

 

[SAVINGRACE]

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.

 

[SAVINGRACE]

When I was a Protestant I had no idea what I was “protesting”.

Originally applied to the English and Lutheran breakaways now it encompasses 20000+ other denominations. I prefer to use the descriptor “separated brethren”.

 

[Wannano]

I rarely meet anyone who refers to themselves in this way.

Pertaining to Canada, the British North America Act guarantees all citizens either a free Roman Carholic or Protestant education. Therefore we now have what is known as the Roman Catholic School System or the Public School System. Property taxes are levied and paid to the school system accordingly. This legislation still is binding on those who want a non-Catholic Christian school. Amazingly all non-catholic including non-christian religions are lumped together as Protestants!

 

[Peter_J]

I rarely meet anyone who refers to themselves in this way.

I rarely meet anyone who refer to themselves as “Roman”.

 

[JonNC]

When I was a Protestant I had no idea what I was “protesting”.

Originally applied to the English and Lutheran breakaways now it encompasses 20000+ other denominations. I prefer to use the descriptor “separated brethren”.

I’m not aware that the Anglicans were part of the 1539 protest.

The reason you didn’t know is because the “protest” happened long long ago on a continent far far away. . 1529, in Europe.

Jon

 

[ComplineSanFran]

Even here the discussion is framed in the singular - theology - as if Luther, Calvin and Wesley held the same theology. I, as a Lutheran, am far more Catholic than I am Calvinist.

Protestantism is not a singular theology with singular roots.

Jon

I agree with you, Jon. Both here and on Catholic Answers, I find that the word Protestant is used to group together any person or denomination that is not Catholic (or I assume Orthodox). That is a pretty big generalization in my opinion. I am Anglican and prefer to live in the via media land, and I would imagine, for instance, that our Mormon brothers and sisters would not call themselves Protestants either.

So given the current landscape of Christianity - theologically, denominationally, and socially - I guess I would prefer to put the term on the shelf.

 

[Peter_J]

I agree with you, Jon. Both here and on Catholic Answers, I find that the word Protestant is used to group together any person or denomination that is not Catholic (or I assume Orthodox).

I agree with your objection, in a way. Certainly I would never claim that not being Catholic-ICWR or Orthodox, or Oriental Orthodox, makes one Protestant.

However, it is true that the vast majority of Trinitarian Christians (which Mormons are not) who are not Catholic-ICWR, Orthodox, or Oriental Orthodox, are Protestant. (There are exceptions of course – as I ought to know: I was at a PNCC church this morning.)

 

[JonNC]

I agree with you, Jon. Both here and on Catholic Answers, I find that the word Protestant is used to group together any person or denomination that is not Catholic (or I assume Orthodox). That is a pretty big generalization in my opinion. I am Anglican and prefer to live in the via media land, and I would imagine, for instance, that our Mormon brothers and sisters would not call themselves Protestants either.

So given the current landscape of Christianity - theologically, denominationally, and socially - I guess I would prefer to put the term on the shelf.

The relationship between Anglicans and Lutherans is an interesting example. We are remarkably similar in our theologies . So much so that, worldwide , our more liberal groups are effectively in Union. But the traditional Anglicans and confessional Lutherans, while appreciating each other, know there are differences to overcome.
And yet, the roots and traditions are different. Anglicans are not Protestant in that way.

Jon

 

[ComplineSanFran]

The relationship between Anglicans and Lutherans is an interesting example. We are remarkably similar in our theologies . So much so that, worldwide , our more liberal groups are effectively in Union. But the traditional Anglicans and confessional Lutherans, while appreciating each other, know there are differences to overcome.
And yet, the roots and traditions are different. Anglicans are not Protestant in that way.

Jon

Do you think, though, Jon, that most Catholics know about these differences? My experience has been that most are taught that anyone who is not Catholic is Protestant. (Huge generalization, I know.)

 

[SAVINGRACE]

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.

 

[JustaServant]

Do you think, though, Jon, that most Catholics know about these differences? My experience has been that most are taught that anyone who is not Catholic is Protestant. (Huge generalization, I know.)

I really don’t hear the term Protestant much around modern Catholics. They usually name whichever denomination they belong to. “My ________ is a Methodist, Lutheran, ect”. My parents generation used the word Protestant, but the post-Vatican Two Catholics don’t seem to use that term.

 

[GKC]

Do you think, though, Jon, that most Catholics know about these differences? My experience has been that most are taught that anyone who is not Catholic is Protestant. (Huge generalization, I know.)

That’s pretty much as I have found it, in my experience.

 

[ThePCWife]

I use Protestant online for privacy, so I find it useful that way.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

That’s pretty much as I have found it, in my experience.

I’m remembering some questions that have come up – here, on Catholic Answers, in personal conversations — ‘So what do Protestants believe about: the Mass, or the Church Fathers, or birth control, or you name it.’

‘Ask three non-Catholics, get four opinions’ is my customary answer. Sometimes it’s hard to explain that there isn’t a checklist for all of Christendom.

 

[mjwise]

The Episcopal Church was established as and is still legally known as the Protestant Episcopal Church. The term was meant more about making it clear the church had complete independence from state or any other earthly ruler’s control and the church hierarchy also generally refrained from direct involvement in state politics. As the term Protestant has became rather diffuse and perhaps even pejorative, the term was dropped.

 

[GKC]

I’m remembering some questions that have come up – here, on Catholic Answers, in personal conversations — ‘So what do Protestants believe about: the Mass, or the Church Fathers, or birth control, or you name it.’

‘Ask three non-Catholics, get four opinions’ is my customary answer. Sometimes it’s hard to explain that there isn’t a checklist for all of Christendom.

I don’t contribute to “What do protestants…?” threads. I leave that to protestants. I do make comments as to what an Anglican might do/say/affirm. Always emphasizing the motley nature of the beast.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

I don’t contribute to “What do protestants…?” threads. I leave that to protestants. I do make comments as to what an Anglican might do/say/affirm. Always emphasizing the motley nature of the beast.

Yes, I know. You are quite infamous for that.