Christian faith from time immemorial has been attacked by opponents. In addition, attempts to interpret the Holy Scriptures in their own way were made at different times by different people. Perhaps this was the reason why the Christian faith was divided over time into Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox. They are all very similar, but there are differences between them. Who are Protestants and how does their teaching differ from Catholic and Orthodox? Let's try to figure it out. Let's start from the beginning - with the formation of the first Church.
How did the Orthodox and Catholic Churches come about?
Approximately in the 50s from the birth of Christ, the disciples of Jesus and their supporters created the Orthodox Christian Church, which still exists today. First there were five ancient Christian Churches. In the first eight centuries since the birth of Christ, the Orthodox Church, led by the Holy Spirit,built its own doctrine, developed its own methods and traditions. To this end, all the Five Churches took part in the Ecumenical Councils. This teaching has not changed today. The Orthodox Church includes Churches that are not connected with each other by anything other than faith - the Syrian, Russian, Greek, Jerusalem, etc. But there is no other organization or no person that unites all these Churches under its leadership. The only leader in the Orthodox Church is Jesus Christ. Why is the Orthodox Church called "Cathedral" in the "Symbol of Faith" prayer? It's simple: if you need to make an important decision, all the Churches take part in the Ecumenical Council. Later, a thousand years later, in 1054, the Roman Church, which is also Catholic, separated from the five ancient Christian churches.
This Church did not ask for advice from other members of the Ecumenical Council, but made decisions and carried out reforms in church life. We will talk more about the teachings of the Roman Church a little later.
How did Protestants come about?
Let's return to the main question: "Who are Protestants?" After the separation of the Roman Church, many people did not like the changes introduced by it. It was not in vain that the people thought that all the reforms were aimed only at making the Church richer and more influential.
After all, even in order to atone for sins, a person had to pay a certain amount of money to the Church. And in 1517, in Germany, the monk Martin Luther gave impetus to the Protestant faith. Hedenounced the Roman Catholic Church and its ministers that they are looking only for their own benefit, forgetting about God. Luther said that the Bible should be preferred if there is a conflict between church tradition and Scripture. Luther also translated the Bible from Latin into German, proclaiming that each person can study the Holy Scriptures for himself and interpret it in his own way. So who are Catholics and Protestants? Protestants demanded a revision of attitudes towards religion, getting rid of unnecessary traditions and rituals. The enmity began between the two Christian denominations. Catholics and Protestants fought. The only difference is that Catholics fought for power and subjugation, while Protestants fought for freedom of choice and the right path in religion.
Persecution of Protestants
Of course, the Roman Church could not ignore the attacks of those who opposed unquestioning obedience. Catholics did not want to accept and understand who the Protestants were. There were massacres of Catholics against Protestants, public executions of those who refused to become Catholics, harassment, ridicule, persecution. Adherents of Protestantism also did not always prove their case in a peaceful way. Protests by opponents of the Catholic Church and its rule in many countries swept with mass pogroms of Catholic churches. For example, in the 16th century in the Netherlands there were more than 5,000 pogroms by people who rebelled against Catholics. In response to the riots, the authorities repaired their own court, they did not understand how Catholics differ from Protestants. In the same Netherlands, for 80 years of war between the authorities and the Protestants, they were convicted and executed2000 conspirators. In total, about 100,000 Protestants suffered for their faith in this country. And that's just in one country. Protestants, in spite of everything, defended their right to a different point of view on the issue of Church life. But, the uncertainty that was present in their teaching led to the fact that other groups began to separate from the Protestants. There are more than twenty thousand different Protestant churches all over the world, for example, Lutheran, Anglican, Baptist, Pentecostal, and among the Protestant movements there are Methodists, Presbyterians, Adventists, Congregationalists, Quakers, etc. Catholics and Protestants have greatly changed the Church. Who are Catholics and Protestants according to their teachings, let's try to figure it out. In fact, Catholics, and Protestants, and Orthodox are Christians. The difference between them is that the Orthodox Church has what can be called the fullness of the teachings of Christ - it is a school and an example of goodness, it is a clinic for human souls, and Protestants simplify all this more and more, creating something in which it is very difficult to know the doctrine of virtue, and what cannot be called a complete doctrine of salvation.
Protestant principles
You can answer the question of who the Protestants are by understanding the basic principles of their teaching. Protestants consider all rich ecclesiastical experience, all spiritual art collected over the centuries, invalid. They recognize only the Bible, believing that it is the only true source of how and what to do in church life. For Protestants, the Christian communities of the times of Jesus andhis apostles - the ideal of what the life of a Christian should be. But adherents of Protestantism do not take into account the fact that at that time the church structure simply did not exist. The Protestants simplified everything of the Church, except for the Bible, mainly because of the reforms of the Roman Church. Because Catholicism has greatly changed the doctrine and deviated from the Christian spirit. And the schisms among the Protestants began to occur because they threw away everything - up to the teachings of the great saints, spiritual teachers, leaders of the Church. And since the Protestants began to deny these teachings, or rather, did not perceive them, then they began to argue in the interpretation of the Bible. Hence the split in Protestantism and the waste of energy not on self-education, as with the Orthodox, but on a useless struggle. The difference between Catholics and Protestants is being erased against the background of the fact that the Orthodox, who have been keeping their faith for more than 2,000 years in the form in which it was transmitted by Jesus, are both called a mutation of Christianity. Both Catholics and Protestants are sure that it is their faith that is true, the way Christ intended it.
Differences between Orthodox and Protestants
Although Protestants and Orthodox are Christians, the differences between them are significant. First, why do Protestants reject saints? It's simple - in the Holy Scriptures it is written that the members of the ancient communities of Christians were called "saints". Protestants, taking these communities as a basis, call themselves saints, which is unacceptable and even wild for an Orthodox person. Orthodox saints are heroes of the spirit and role models. They are the guiding star on the path to God. Believers to Orthodox saintstreated with awe and respect. Christians of the Orthodox denomination turn to their saints with prayers for help, for prayer support in difficult situations. With icons depicting saints, people decorate their homes and churches for a reason.
Looking at the faces of the saints, a believer seeks to improve himself through the study of the lives of those depicted on the icons, inspired by the exploits of their heroes. Having no example of the holiness of spiritual fathers, monks, elders and other very respected and authoritative people among Orthodoxy, Protestants can give only one high title and honor for a spiritual person - this is "one who has studied the Bible." A Protestant person deprives himself of such an instrument for self-education and self-improvement as fasting, confession and communion. These three components are the hospital of the human spirit, forcing you to humble your flesh and work on your weaknesses, correcting yourself and striving for the bright, kind, Divine. Without confession, a person cannot cleanse his soul, begin to correct his sins, because he does not think about his shortcomings and continues to live an ordinary life for and for the sake of the flesh, in addition, being proud that he is a believer.
What else do Protestants lack?
No wonder many do not understand who Protestants are. After all, people of this religion, as mentioned above, do not have spiritual literature, such as that of Orthodox Christians. In the spiritual books of the Orthodox you can find almost everything - from sermons and interpretation of the Bible to the lives of the saints and advice on the fight against one's passions. It becomes much easier for a person to understand the issues of good and evil. And without the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, the Bible is extremely difficult to understand. Spiritual literature began to appear among the Protestants, but it is still only in its infancy, and in Orthodoxy this literature has been improved for more than 2000 years. Self-education, self-improvement - the concepts inherent in every Orthodox Christian, among Protestants are reduced to the study and memorization of the Bible. In Orthodoxy, everything - both repentance, and confession, and communion, and prayers, and icons - everything calls for a person to strive at least one step closer to the ideal that God is. But the Protestant directs all his efforts to be virtuous outwardly, and does not care about his inner content. That's not all. Protestants and Orthodox differences in religion are noticed by the arrangement of churches. The Orthodox believer has support in striving to be better both in mind (thanks to preaching), and in heart (thanks to decoration in churches, icons), and will (thanks to fasting). But Protestant churches are empty and Protestants hear only sermons that affect the mind without touching the hearts of people. Having abandoned monasteries, Protestant monasticism was deprived of the opportunity to see for themselves examples of a modest, humble life for the sake of the Lord. After all, monasticism is a school of spiritual life. It is not for nothing that there are many elders, saints or almost saints of Orthodox Christians among the monks. And also the concept of Protestants that nothing but faith in Christ is needed for salvation (neither good works, nor repentance, nor self-correction) is a false path leading only to adding one moresin - pride (because of the feeling that since you are a believer, you are the chosen one and will certainly be saved).
The difference between Catholics and Protestants
Despite the fact that Protestants are natives of Catholicism, there are significant differences between these two religions. So, in Catholicism, it is believed that the sacrifice of Christ atoned for all the sins of all people, and Protestants, however, like the Orthodox, believe that a person is initially sinful and the blood shed by Jesus alone is not enough to atone for sins. Man must atone for his sins. Hence the difference in the construction of temples. For Catholics, the altar is open, everyone can see the throne, for Protestants and Orthodox in churches, the altar is closed. Here's another way Catholics differ from Protestants - Protestants communicate with God without an intermediary - a priest, while Catholics have priests to mediate between a person and God.
Catholics on earth have a representative of Jesus himself, at least they think so - this is the Pope. He is an infallible person for all Catholics. The Pope of Rome resides in the Vatican, the single central governing body for all the Catholic Churches in the world. Another difference between Catholics and Protestants is the rejection by Protestants of the Catholic notion of purgatory. As mentioned above, Protestants reject icons, saints, monasteries and monasticism. They believe that believers are holy in themselves. Therefore, Protestants do not distinguish between a priest and a parishioner. The Protestant priest is accountable to the Protestant community andcan neither confess nor give communion to believers. In fact, he is just a preacher, that is, he reads sermons for believers. But the main difference between Catholics and Protestants is the question of the connection between God and man. Protestants believe that personal faith in God is enough for salvation, and a person receives Grace from God without the participation of the Church.
Protestants and Huguenots
These names of religious movements are closely related. To answer the question of who the Huguenots and Protestants are, you need to remember the history of 16th century France. The French began to call the Huguenots protesting against the rule of Catholics, but the first Huguenots were called Lutherans. Although an evangelical movement independent of Germany, directed against the reforms of the Roman Church, existed in France as early as the beginning of the 16th century. The struggle of Catholics against the Huguenots did not affect the increase in the number of adherents of this movement.
Even the famous St. Bartholomew's night, when the Catholics simply massacred and killed many Protestants, did not break them. In the end, the Huguenots achieved recognition by the authorities of the right to exist. In the history of the development of this Protestant movement, there were oppression, and the granting of privileges, then again oppression. Yet the Huguenots persevered. By the time of the end of the twentieth century in France, the Huguenots were, albeit a small number of the population, but they were very influential. A distinctive feature in the religion of the Huguenots (followers of the teachings of John Calvin) is that some of them believed that Goddetermines in advance which of the people will be saved, whether a person is sinful or not, and the other part of the Huguenots believed that all people are equal before God, and the Lord will give salvation to everyone who accepts this salvation. The disputes between the Huguenots did not stop for a long time.
Protestants and Lutherans
The history of Protestants began to take shape in the 16th century. And one of the initiators of this movement was M. Luther, who opposed the excesses of the Roman Church. One of the directions of Protestantism began to be called by the name of this person. The name "Evangelical Lutheran Church" became widespread in the 17th century. The parishioners of this church began to be called Lutherans. It should be added that in some countries all Protestants were first called Lutherans. For example, in Russia, until the revolution, all adherents of Protestantism were considered Lutherans. To understand who Lutherans and Protestants are, you need to turn to their teachings. Lutherans believe that during the Reformation, the Protestants did not create a new Church, but restored the ancient one. Also, according to Lutherans, God accepts any sinner as his child, and the salvation of a sinner is only the initiative of the Lord. Salvation does not depend on the efforts of a person, or on the passage of church rites, it is God's grace, for which you do not even need to prepare. Even faith, according to the teachings of the Lutherans, is given only by the will and action of the Holy Spirit and only by the people chosen by him. A distinctive feature of Lutherans and Protestants is that Lutherans recognize baptism, and even baptism in infancy, which Protestants do not.
Protestants today
Which religion is correct, it is not worth judging. Only the Lord knows the answer to this question. One thing is clear: the Protestants proved their right to be. The history of Protestants, starting from the 16th century, is the history of the struggle for existence, the struggle for the right to one's own opinion, to one's own opinion. Neither oppression, nor execution, nor ridicule could break the spirit of Protestantism. And today, Protestants are the second largest believers among the three Christian religions. This religion has penetrated almost all countries. Protestants make up approximately 33% of the total population of the globe, or 800 million people. There are Protestant churches in 92 countries of the world, and in 49 countries the majority of the population is Protestant. This religion prevails in countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Iceland, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, etc.
Three Christian religions, three directions - Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants. Photos from the life of parishioners of churches of all three denominations help to understand that these directions are so similar, but with significant differences. It would, of course, be wonderful if all three forms of Christianity would come to a common opinion on controversial issues of religion and church life. But while they differ in many ways and do not compromise. A Christian can only choose which of the Christian denominations is closer to his heart and live according to the laws of the chosen Church.
