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christcnection1
Guest
Which is the original Protestant church? By that, who can rightly claim to be the oldest?
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exoflare
Guest
That would be the Lutherans.
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Hesychios
Guest
A good case can be made for the Latin Catholic church…
…at least, some will say that.
…at least, some will say that.
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1st_Exploration
Guest
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Hesychios
Guest
I think the word protestantism is a misnomer.
And anyone who claims to know what it is, probably doesn’t.
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Cat
Guest
I was raised in the Conference Baptist denomination.
What we were taught is that the New Testament church described in Acts was the “original church of Jesus Christ,” but after the apostles were martyred (except for John, who was exiled), the “true” church of Jesus had to go underground to avoid the persecutions.
Throughout the centuries, this “remnant” continued to meet in secret and preserved the true Bible, but on the outside, the church was taken over by “Catholics” who twisted all the doctrines, added pagan rituals, and instigated “Babylonian Goddess worship.” They did all this because of politics and power, establishing a huge church that bore no resemblance to the New Testament church. They even tampered with the Bible, adding books that were apocryphal and not truly inspired.
When Martin Luther came along, he busted open the false establishment church and restored the New Testament church. This new church, which was actually the ancient church of the New Testament, became known as the Protestants because they protested the false Catholic Church.
So the answer to your question, according to Protestants, is that the New Testament church of Jesus Christ was the original “Protestant” church.
Hope you all enjoyed that little history lesson! I am currently reading a book by a Protestant that describes this version of church history pretty much exactly as I just described it to you. So this teaching is still going on in Protestant churches.
If you try to tell them that this version of history is incorrect, you will be told that the Catholic establishment destroyed all the TRUE writings of the TRUE church fathers, other than the New Testament. The Church fathers that you cite are part of the “false” church that took over the “true” church, and therefore, their writings are unreliable. In some cases, these fathers didn’t even exist; the Catholic Church created these fictitious “fathers” over the centuries to make their false teachings look historical.
Honest, I’m not making this up!
And those of you who think that Protestants are rebellious heretics who should just come to their sense and accept Catholicism–well, perhaps this will help you understand why many Protestants won’t even step into a Catholic church, let alone read our books or listen to our speakers! They believe we are all part of the false church that tried to destroy the New Testament church!
What we were taught is that the New Testament church described in Acts was the “original church of Jesus Christ,” but after the apostles were martyred (except for John, who was exiled), the “true” church of Jesus had to go underground to avoid the persecutions.
Throughout the centuries, this “remnant” continued to meet in secret and preserved the true Bible, but on the outside, the church was taken over by “Catholics” who twisted all the doctrines, added pagan rituals, and instigated “Babylonian Goddess worship.” They did all this because of politics and power, establishing a huge church that bore no resemblance to the New Testament church. They even tampered with the Bible, adding books that were apocryphal and not truly inspired.
When Martin Luther came along, he busted open the false establishment church and restored the New Testament church. This new church, which was actually the ancient church of the New Testament, became known as the Protestants because they protested the false Catholic Church.
So the answer to your question, according to Protestants, is that the New Testament church of Jesus Christ was the original “Protestant” church.
Hope you all enjoyed that little history lesson! I am currently reading a book by a Protestant that describes this version of church history pretty much exactly as I just described it to you. So this teaching is still going on in Protestant churches.
If you try to tell them that this version of history is incorrect, you will be told that the Catholic establishment destroyed all the TRUE writings of the TRUE church fathers, other than the New Testament. The Church fathers that you cite are part of the “false” church that took over the “true” church, and therefore, their writings are unreliable. In some cases, these fathers didn’t even exist; the Catholic Church created these fictitious “fathers” over the centuries to make their false teachings look historical.
Honest, I’m not making this up!
And those of you who think that Protestants are rebellious heretics who should just come to their sense and accept Catholicism–well, perhaps this will help you understand why many Protestants won’t even step into a Catholic church, let alone read our books or listen to our speakers! They believe we are all part of the false church that tried to destroy the New Testament church!
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TriuneUnity
Guest
That would be us crotchety Lutherans.
Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, many confessional Lutherans will not refer to themselves as Protestant, however, since the original context of the word has largely been lost.
The term Protestant was developed due to a dispute within the German nation in which the Lutherans within the kingdom were nixed by the Emperor from being able to have any established political rights. This was at the 2nd Diet (council/court) of Speyer in 1529. The Lutherans “protested” the decision of the Diet and were thus referred to as Protestants. (Hence, the term originally has nothing to do with protesting the Catholic Church, but the Emperor’s decision!).
The term then circulated to those countries where other movements to separate from Rome were occurring, such as among the Reformed communities. As an act of solidarity with the Lutherans, the Reformed adopted the name and so on and so on.
Nowadays, of course, it refers to any non-Catholic Christian communion.
For me, I could care less how the term is used, but I refuse to associate it with those churches that are contemporary evangelical. Oh well!
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emeraldisle
Guest
The term protestant refers to a man made label to describe people who protested against the Roman Catholic Institution.
There is only one true Church and it was started by its head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Denominational names are just man made labels to describe peoples views etc.
All true Christians, those who are born again by the Spirit of God are in the Church that the Lord Jesus started and He is still building.
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Our_Refuge
Guest
According to this book or to the protestants that you know, who do they say gave the world the Bible? Do they at least acknowledge that the Catholic Church decided which books were inspired and which were not?
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Erich
Guest
And can you determine this Church from available information? I encourage you to check out An Interactive Detective Story.
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wisdomseeker
Guest
thks for posting this website.
now good luck in trying to convince the Protestant that the Church really exists. i think they pretty much believe that a church is you and me and any who believe in Christ. the True Church is invisible. it makes them feel better, as long is not the CC the True Church to them.
the pastors of these congregations got to keep up with all kinds of innovations to keep their members. they have to keep the members blind otherwise they all would flock into the CC.
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1st_Exploration
Guest
No, not in this case. christcnection1 is asking which is the oldest Protestant church. Protestant churches were first established in the sixteenth century. When one says or writes “Protestant [church]” one is often referring to these churches and their descendants. Look at the context of the original post, other posts on CAF on Protestantism, the definition I just provided, and pretty much any history book that covers the topic of Protestantism to understand what is meant when “Protestant [church]” is said or written. To claim that the Catholic Church “is the original Protestant church” would also indicate that she is Protestant. Since the Catholic Church is not Protestant, it would follow that claims of her being Protestant are unsound. Therefore, indicating a lacking of understanding of what Catholicism and/or Protestantism is, if one had the intent of constructing sound arguments. Or, it could be possible, that one could have disregard for the logical contradiction and/or proper use of the word “Protestant” with the intent of making an ignorant polemical statement.
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vocatio
Guest
Everyone knows that God gave us the KJV. It fell out of the sky. What’s wrong with you. Get it right.
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christcnection1
Guest
For the sake of defining terms, let’s say that Protestant = Non-Catholic Christian.
I did not use the word Protestant to be derogatory. It’s simply the most commonly used word, with few exceptions, to describe a Non-Catholic branch of Christianity.
I did not use the word Protestant to be derogatory. It’s simply the most commonly used word, with few exceptions, to describe a Non-Catholic branch of Christianity.
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christcnection1
Guest
Non-catholic Christians who are not Orthodox.
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Pixie_Dust
Guest
The Moravians. They pre-date Martin Luther’s separation from the Church by approximately 60 years.
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Pixie_Dust
Guest
Guess I should have read all the posts before I replied. You beat me to it! 
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