The designation "Protestant"

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A good example i don’t think anyone has brought is is the Mormons. Various opinions about them notwithstanding, they fall under the heading of Christian religion since they focus on Jesus, but they don’t consider themselves Protestant. Unlike the Baptists, Mormons genuinely didn’t branch off from any other church, Catholic or non-. I don’t think it’s helpful to insist on calling them Protestant (if one calls them Christian at all) when they have a historical reason to deny it.

On the other hand, the Foursquare Gospel Church also did not branch out from any other denomination. Some woman who allegedly possessed the spiritual gift of prophesy just founded that denomination one fine day. Yet they are Protestants, because they consider themselves to be Protestants and because their theology eventually came in line with other Pentecostal churches.

Designations really can be tricky, huh?
 
Good point. Maybe one characteristic of being Protestant is that other Protestants call you Protestant.
 
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itsjustdave1988:
According Protestant author J. Leslie Dunstan, from his book Protestantism:
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My understanding is that some Baptists immerged from the Catholic Church and some from other Protestant denominations.
According to Baptist scholar, the late William B. Lipphard, former president of the Associated Church Press, and twenty-year editor of the Baptist publication Missions Magazine,

According to Protestant author Frank S. Mead, from his book *Handbook of Denominations in the Unites States, *6th edition:

The classic categorization of Christianity, used also by Protestant authors, groups Christianity into Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. It seems whether to be called “Protestant” or not is just one more thing that Protestants cannot agree upon. http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon6.gif
Dave: You are most knowlegeable! Right on–everything you said—it is most accurrate-----
 
Well the Orthodox are neither Catholic nor Protestant.

I voted for the second choice. I think if one is ebing specific any little “o” orthodox church (meaning adhere to the Apostles and Nicene Creeds) that is not Catholic or Orthodox is Protestant. The Lutheran, Reformed and later the Anglicans are the true original Protestants. Then came the English Baptists. The Anabaptists while technically protestant are called the radical Reformers as the rejested all catholic tradition, unlike the magesterial Reformers (Luther, Calvin and Cramner). So in some sense they were not so much protesting as they were rebelling. That’s not how they saw it of course.

But geneally speaking all Evangelicals are Protestants or as I call them Protestant grandchildren. But I think it is only the Reformed who ware the label with pride. While some Lutherans do many insist they are the true Catholics. The Anglicans are not fond of being called protestant either. But the reality is if you believe in the essential dogmas of the Creeds and are not in communion with Rome or Constantinople you are a Protestant whether you like the term or not.

Groups that deny the universal understanding of the Trinity, Virgin birth, Divinity of Christ (and hypostatic union) as well as his bodily Resurrection are not protestants. Most of these are called “Christian” cults. They include the Mormons, Jehovahs Witnesses and United (oneness) Pentacostals. They are not Protestants.

Mel
 
High-church Anglicans and Anglican schismatics usually eschew the term Protestant for ‘catholic’ with the small ‘c’ and argue the British church was autocephalous (self-governed) for the first ten centuries or so of it’s Christian history. As were the Eastern patriarchies now known collectively as Orthodoxy. Continental Europe, because it fell into such chaos following the fall of the Roman Empire, relied heavily upon the Roman pontiff. Britain and the Celtic Christians of the Isles had never been so dependent on Rome. Only after the Frankish conquest of Britain were the prelates of Britain militarily compelled to affirm any sort of fealty to Papal Rome, and even then reluctantly and mainly irenically.

Henry VIII’s assertion of Royal prerogative over Roman usurpation was therefore not a ‘protest’ but a restoration of the British Church to it’s orignal form of governance. The same sort of governance, in Anglican eyes, as is observed by the Orthodox churches.

See “The Ways and Teachings of the Church” by The Reverend Lefferd M.A. Haughwout, for one example of how this is expounded.

Mormons, Christian Scientists, and Jehovah’s Witnesses explicitly reject any claim they are Protestants. The were not conceived by the Reformation and only the Witnesses in any way follow the principles laid down by the Reformation.
 
I’ve just realized that, instead of just saying “Catholic,” I should have included Orthodox, etc. Sorry!
 
Lacoloratura,
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lacoloratura:
The other night, my non-Catholic husband and I were discussing religious topics, and he insisted that it was incorrect for me to lump all non-Catholic Christians under the term “Protestant,” since they are not all the same, and some of them don’t think of themselves that way. He says that “Protestant” is a term that only Catholics use in the sense of anyone who is a non-Catholic Christian. I’d love to hear opinions on this from other non-Catholic Christians.
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In Costa Rica as well as many Latin countries the term “Protestant” is not used at all. They use the term “Evangélico” referring to Protestants. Of course the term evangélico is incorrect because “all” Christians are called to be “evangélicos” or preachers of the Gospel, not just Protestants.

A Protestant is one who either came out of 16th century Protestantism or is an heir of the theology developed by folks like Luther, Calvin, Melachton, etc. Anglicans do not consider themselves “Protestant” for they separared from Catholicism for political and other reasons, NOT for theological differences.

Mormons and J.Witnesses are not accepted as “Christians” and therefore not as Protestants by normative Christianity. Why not? Because they deny beliefs that are essential to Christianity such as the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ.

Certainly the Eastern Orthodox churches are not to be described as “Protestants” simply because they are not. John Paul II coined the phrase “the other lung” of the Church in reference to them.

Even within Catholicism not everyone is a “Roman” Catholic. There are Eastern Catholics in union with the Bishop of Rome who celebrate their liturgies according to the Eastern rite not the “Roman” rite, and therefore it is not proper for us to call them “Roman” Catholics and certainly they would never accept the label “Protestant” for they existed sixteen centuries before Martin Luther came into the historical scene.

Antonio 🙂
 
My son, a non-practicing baptized Catholic told me that he was protestant. I asked him what he was protesting. He couldn’t give me an answer. All I can do is pray that he will come home to the Church.
 
Moira7,

You might suggest to your son that he join us on this forum. I bet he’d at least learn more about that which he is supposedly protestanting against.

He’ll be in my prayers.
 
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lacoloratura:
The other night, my non-Catholic husband and I were discussing religious topics, and he insisted that it was incorrect for me to lump all non-Catholic Christians under the term “Protestant,” since they are not all the same, and some of them don’t think of themselves that way. He says that “Protestant” is a term that only Catholics use in the sense of anyone who is a non-Catholic Christian. I’d love to hear opinions on this from other non-Catholic Christians.
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The Orthodox Churches are not Protestant, nor are the Assyrians, Copts, the national Church of Armenia, the Iberian Orthodox, and others.​

Protestantism is based on specific theological ideas, which just happen not to be shared by the above bodies in the form in which they are held bynon-Protestants. “Non-Roman” and “Protestant” are not synonyms - it’s like calling everyone ouside the the USA “Canadian” 🙂 ##
 
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MariaG:
While appropriate in a general sense, ie not Catholic, I would never refer to a friend who I knew where they went to church as a Protestant. Or if I knew or suspected they were Christian, I would not say are you a Protestant? I would refer to them as a Christian who goes to the Nazarene church, a Christian who goes to the Baptist church. But then I frequently refer to myself as a Christian who attends the Catholic Church!

God Bless
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Interesting…but, there is one difference. Each of the Christians you speak of belong to a different denomination. Where as Catholics do not belong to a denomination.

I have even heard protestants refer to Catholics as belonging to “The Church”. Isn’t that strange.
 
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Busybee:
I have even heard protestants refer to Catholics as belonging to “The Church”. Isn’t that strange.
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We’re just trying to be polite…
 
Being formerly Lutheran…and I speak only for myself here…I never called myself Protestant…only Lutheran. Nor did I refer to others as being Protestant…just by their individual religions. If I did need to group them I would say CHRISTIAN religions. Now that is just me.
My husband has always been Catholic and he did/does use the term Protestant for any Christian religion other than Catholic.
~Weezir
 
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MariaG:
While appropriate in a general sense, ie not Catholic, I would never refer to a friend who I knew where they went to church as a Protestant. Or if I knew or suspected they were Christian, I would not say are you a Protestant? I would refer to them as a Christian who goes to the Nazarene church, a Christian who goes to the Baptist church. But then I frequently refer to myself as a Christian who attends the Catholic Church!

God Bless
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WOW so Politically Correct! I love being called Catholic…even when a Protestant uses it as though it were a “cuss word” Although what you are discussing is a nice gesture, don’t be surprised if one of these days a Protestant tells you “Catholics are not Christian” I have had this experience. I daresay quite a few protestant denominations (not all) would disagree with labeling a Catholic “Christian.” Political Correctness is a nice gesture, though.

I think it’s troubling how many denominations like to create their own versions of history. For instance, the homeschool books from the Becka series are EXTREMELY anti-Catholic. They like to throw in little digs about the evil Catholic Church, even when they needed rewrite bits of history to slant it for their agenda. If a Christian denomination uses a version of the Bible other than the Catholic version, they are Protestant, because they use a Bible specifically rewritten to “protest” the Catholic Church and perpetuate the Protestant theology of salvation.
 
I have heard Protestants refer to themselves as Protestants, as well as just Christians. I’ve only come across one or two Protestants who dislike the Protestant designation (for one reason or another)…but most of my friends (who are Protestant) have no problem referring to themselves as such. I almost always refer to non-Catholic Christians as Protestants, because…
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Peace-bwu:
If a Christian denomination uses a version of the Bible other than the Catholic version, they are Protestant, because they use a Bible specifically rewritten to “protest” the Catholic Church and perpetuate the Protestant theology of salvation.
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Well said…I completely agree. God Bless.
 
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lacoloratura:
I’ve just realized that, instead of just saying “Catholic,” I should have included Orthodox, etc. Sorry!
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Catholic … means universal… so you included everyone. Like it or not we are all Catholic if we are Christians. Some have just separated because they do not like some of the truths the Church teaches. So, they divide and divide again. Pray that we all come back together again in our universal love for Christ.
 
The three major sub-divisions of “Catholic”, “Orthodox”, and “Protestant” are, in my opinion, much to vague. There are many denominations that don’t rightfully fit into any of the three. For example, the Assyrian Church is a very ancient Christian body that is not in full communion with any other church, and has not been since the early 5th century (long before the Eastern Orthodox). The Oriental Orthodox Churches (Armenian, Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Indian Orthodox Churches) are also a separate group, not in full communion with the Eastern Orthodox Churches, and should be counted as a separate group for they have been in schism for roughly 1500 years, as opposed to the mere 1000 years that the Eastern Orthodox Church has been in schism. Then we have the dozens (or hundreds?) of ‘independent catholic’ and schismatic catholic churches. There are dozens “Independent Catholic” denominations that are not Protestant, Orthodox, nor Catholic (n the true sense). They have the 7 sacraments, they have a priesthood and the episcopate…but they are of recent origin (relatively), and are Western, not Eastern, and they all reject the papacy. Some of them accept the first 4 ecumenical councils, others the first 7. (And there are probably some in between). These include such obscure churches as the “United Catholic Church”, “Apostolic Catholic Church”, “American Catholic Church”, so-called “primitive Catholics”, and dozens of other groups. They have different histories and origins, but many have connections to the Old Catholic Church. Some, maybe even many of them, may have apostolic succession, as they often can trace their lines back to Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox bishops. (campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/o/ol/old_catholic_church.html, claims that many “independent catholic” churches only exist on the net, not in real life…because there may be hundreds of ones represented online).
Then we have schismatic Catholics who recognize all the councils except for perhaps the last two, or the most recent one.

Two other important ‘independent catholic’ churches that come to mind are the Philippine Independent Church (which broke off directly from the Roman Catholic Church around 1900 I believe), and the Polish National Catholic Church (which was actually originally founded in America in the late 19th century, if I recall correctly).

The Old Catholic Church, which I mentioned above, should also be noted. Apparently it is in full communion with the Anglican Communion. Here’s some info on it campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/o/ol/old_catholic_church.html, and alt-katholisch.de/index-e.html is the official site (I think?).

Here’s a good, but far from comprehensive breakdown of denominations within Christendom. campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/l/li/list_of_christian_denominations.html

God bless
 
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twf:
The Old Catholic Church, which I mentioned above, should also be noted. Apparently it is in full communion with the Anglican Communion.
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twf,

Good post. The OCC-Utrecht Confession (which Rome has determined to have valid episcopal orders, sacraments, and Apostolic Succession) is no longer in full communion with the Anglicans.

Many years,

Neil
 
Having been a Protestant, I can speak to the discussion of using the name Protestant for the church in which I was brought up in, Baptist. Whenever reffering to, or asked what religion I was, I always said Protestant… It must have been a “learned” thing, as I was 19 years old when I coverted to the Catholic Faith.:clapping:
 
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