What do you call protestants?

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rtconstant said:
I typically just use Protestant but I’m going to try and stop doing that. There is really just to much difference between the various denominations for them to be lumped under one umbrella even if in an historical context it applies. So I’m probably going to try to be more specific.

On the fun side I have a good evangelical buddy who I discuss theological issues with a lot and I call him a “bad Catholic” which he gets a kick out of. That is all in fun though.
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Good luck with that. A big reason why we use “Protestant” is there’s simply no other label available in most cases because of the doctrinal anarchy which besets modern Protestantism.

If you do run across sufficient unity, using a more specific label makes sense. I just doubt you’ll find much.
 
Often I refrain from calling someone a Protestant because experience has shown me that some people with Protestant views prefer to be called “Christian.” I’ve heard some specifically deny being Protestant.
 
hilarycotter said:
When talking to them do you call them you Protestants, separated breathern, brothers and sisters?

Be nice:)
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So, HC, why did you ask the question? I assume there was a reason. And, you’ve been rather silent. Just curious. 🙂
 
I don’t call them anything as a rule, but if we’re talking about protestants in general, I’ll call them non-Catholics, and if we’re talking about a particular denomination, I just use the name of that denomination.
 
CarrieH said:
I don’t call them anything as a rule, but if we’re talking about protestants in general, I’ll call them non-Catholics, and if we’re talking about a particular denomination, I just use the name of that denomination.
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Non-Catholic could be a little too broad, though. It could describe people who are not Christian, such as Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists.
 
Teflon93 said:
Good luck with that. A big reason why we use “Protestant” is there’s simply no other label available in most cases because of the doctrinal anarchy which besets modern Protestantism.

If you do run across sufficient unity, using a more specific label makes sense. I just doubt you’ll find much.
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“Protestant” is the accepted word for those groups which split off in the Lutheran Reformation. However Eastern Orthodox and SSPX are not “Protestants”.

The Church of England is an odd case, since it split at about the same time as Luther but not really with Luther. It lacks many of the things associated with Protestantism, and allows members to beleive or disbelieve in the real presence. However often they call themselves “Protestants”.

Jehovah’s Witnesses, OTOH, are pretty clearly Protestants, but don’t accept the term. Mormons you could say became so radically different following Smith’s revelations that it is no longer useful to call them “Protestants”, though Smith himself was originally a Protestant.

Finally there is a tendency to try to appropriate the term “Christian” for evenagelical Protestants, which really we cannot accept.
 
I usually call them friends.👍 😃 👍

Seriously, I used to dislike Protestants until I met atheists. Man those guys can be jerks!
 
Church_Militant said:
Non-Catholics.

Most deny being Protestants saying they aren’t protesting anything, but if you look at their rhetoric you’ll soon say…

This looks like a duck.

This talks like a duck.

This walks like a duck.

This behaves like a duck.

:hmmm: This is a duck.
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I have had a few Baptists say they aren’t Protestants. In this case, I use “non-Catholic Christians” and this seems to be better received. I have also used “brothers and sisters in Christ”. But, generally, I use Protestants.
 
As a “Protestant”, I’d like to say a quick word or two (or twenty…or whatever)…
Church_Militant said:
Most deny being Protestants saying they aren’t protesting anything, but if you look at their rhetoric you’ll soon say…:hmmm: This is a duck.
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The question is more the meaning of the term Protestant. I see three possible definitions…
  1. For those who don’t really pay attention to meanings, it’s just a label. I have no problem with this use, and it is the sense in which I use the term. It’s just an easy label that people can associate with most non-Roman-Catholic Christian groups.
  2. Some Roman Catholics choose to see it as a protest against “the one true church of Christ”. Thus, the term Protestant implicitly means heretic – one who is rebelling against God. This is the definition that offends persons such as myself.
  3. Some use the term Protestant in terms of being in protest against the heretical Roman Catholic Church. I don’t find this particularly appropriate either, as it implies Roman Catholics to be completely heretical, spawn of Satan, etc. These are the guys who are “proud to protest”. They see the RCC as heretical and against God, and themselves as righteous.
In the end, it comes down to what you believe about the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholics believe it to be the one true church that God created, and thus “Protestants” are rebelling against God. Using “Protestant” in a derogatory sense like this is no different than calling Roman Catholics “papists” or “Vaticanites” (which are obviously understood to be inflamatory terms). Perhaps a similar term might be “Deviants”, stating that Roman Catholics have deviated from God’s truth.

It’s all about intent. If you have no ill will toward me, nor any derogatory intent when you use the label Protestant, I will find no offense with it. I prefer to be considered a true follower of Christ, but I understand how confusing that might be.

On a side note, I would put forth that most non-Roman Catholics do still consider themselves to be a part of the universal Christian church created by Christ, and thus, “Catholic”. But again, it comes down to belief of what the Catholic church (that is, the universal church spoken of in scripture) actually is. For Roman Catholics, the term Catholic doesn’t apply to Protestants, or even Eastern Orthodoxy, and yet both Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy consider themselves part of the Catholic Church, even though they expressly deny any connection with Rome.
 
PC_Master said:
As a “Protestant”, I’d like to say a quick word or two (or twenty…or whatever)…

The question is more the meaning of the term Protestant. I see three possible definitions…
  1. For those who don’t really pay attention to meanings, it’s just a label. I have no problem with this use, and it is the sense in which I use the term. It’s just an easy label that people can associate with most non-Roman-Catholic Christian groups.
  2. Some Roman Catholics choose to see it as a protest against “the one true church of Christ”. Thus, the term Protestant implicitly means heretic – one who is rebelling against God. This is the definition that offends persons such as myself.
  3. Some use the term Protestant in terms of being in protest against the heretical Roman Catholic Church. I don’t find this particularly appropriate either, as it implies Roman Catholics to be completely heretical, spawn of Satan, etc. These are the guys who are “proud to protest”. They see the RCC as heretical and against God, and themselves as righteous.
In the end, it comes down to what you believe about the Roman Catholic Church. Roman Catholics believe it to be the one true church that God created, and thus “Protestants” are rebelling against God. Using “Protestant” in a derogatory sense like this is no different than calling Roman Catholics “papists” or “Vaticanites” (which are obviously understood to be inflamatory terms). Perhaps a similar term might be “Deviants”, stating that Roman Catholics have deviated from God’s truth.

It’s all about intent. If you have no ill will toward me, nor any derogatory intent when you use the label Protestant, I will find no offense with it. I prefer to be considered a true follower of Christ, but I understand how confusing that might be.

On a side note, I would put forth that most non-Roman Catholics do still consider themselves to be a part of the universal Christian church created by Christ, and thus, “Catholic”. But again, it comes down to belief of what the Catholic church (that is, the universal church spoken of in scripture) actually is. For Roman Catholics, the term Catholic doesn’t apply to Protestants, or even Eastern Orthodoxy, and yet both Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy consider themselves part of the Catholic Church, even though they expressly deny any connection with Rome.
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Until the day Protestants stop protesting Catholicism, then we shall cease calling you Protestants. Protestants by definition are protestors.
 
PC_Master said:
As a “Protestant”, I’d like to say a quick word or two (or twenty…or whatever)…

The question is more the meaning of the term Protestant. I see three possible definitions…
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Historically the term refers to those who protested, or rejected, the Diet of Speyers. This tried to establish toleration, except for anabaptists, with the understanding that there would be no further reforms. That was the sticking point, as it was feared that it would be used as a pretext to strangle the reformation.

Of course that’s all water under the bridge by now. We don’t live in Early Modern Europe any longer.
 
Mannyfit75 said:
Until the day Protestants stop protesting Catholicism, then we shall cease calling you Protestants. Protestants by definition are protestors.
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This is exactly the offensive intent I spoke of. Lack of charity in your heart is saddening.
Malcolm_McLean said:
Historically the term refers to those who protested, or rejected, the Diet of Speyers. This tried to establish toleration, except for anabaptists, with the understanding that there would be no further reforms. That was the sticking point, as it was feared that it would be used as a pretext to strangle the reformation.

Of course that’s all water under the bridge by now. We don’t live in Early Modern Europe any longer.
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Thanks for the info. I was unaware of that information. I’ll have to look into it.
 
Mannyfit75 said:
Until the day Protestants stop protesting Catholicism, then we shall cease calling you Protestants. Protestants by definition are protestors.
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The problem in all this is that vocal Catholics are no less “Protestants” than I am. They protest some of what I believe with no less fervor than I might protest some of what they believe.

And in a silly sort of poetic justice, many if not most Catholics are much more of a Protestant than I will ever be. Those who have been Catholic for any period of time might even know a few.

I do.

…
 
Thank you for clarifying that, Atemi.

Protestant makes much more sense as an adjective than as a label.

Perhaps the term should be applied (at least where it’s actually intended to mean that the person is protesting) as a term which means “anyone who doesn’t agree with some of what I believe and speaks out against it”. In other words, Mannyfit might be a Protestant of some of my beliefs, while I’m a protestant of some of his.
 
PC_Master said:
Thank you for clarifying that, Atemi.

Protestant makes much more sense as an adjective than as a label.

Perhaps the term should be applied (at least where it’s actually intended to mean that the person is protesting) as a term which means “anyone who doesn’t agree with some of what I believe and speaks out against it”. In other words, Mannyfit might be a Protestant of some of my beliefs, while I’m a protestant of some of his.
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There is so much truth in your words here. Yes, I am “protesting” or become Protestant by protesting Protestant belief. Indeed, I am totally opposed to Protestant approached in their flawed theology, a concept totally foreign to the Early Church Fathers, and Scripture.
 
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