Name for Christian Protestant Church. Protestants: what do they believe in and how to understand them? Prayers for the dead

Who are Protestants

Do you know who Protestants are and what they fought against? Are you sure that Protestants, Orthodox Christians and Catholics have nothing in common? Are you wondering what Protestants believe? Then read on.

WHAT IS A “CHURCH”?

There is a misconception that a church is an architectural structure. In fact, the word "church" (from the Greek - ecclesia) means "an assembly of people." Therefore, the church is the gathering of people who believe in Jesus Christ, and the temple is the building where the church gathers.

NUMBER OF CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD

By the number of followers, Christianity is the largest religion in the world. According to research, adherents of Christianity - 33% of the world's population.

Just over half of all Christians (over 1.2 billion) are Catholics. The second (by the number of believers) direction of Christianity is Protestantism. There are currently about 800 million Protestants in the world. The third major trend within Christianity unites Orthodox believers and accounts for about 314 million of its adherents.

WHAT ARE "CONFESSIONS"?

Confession (from Lat. Confession - confession) is a feature of a religion within a certain religious teaching, as well as an association of believers who adhere to this religion. Denominations are different branches of Christianity, united in the basic dogmas, but differing in the details of the teaching and the form of worship. Protestantism is one of the three, along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, the main denominations of Christianity, which is a collection of independent churches, church unions and denominations.

WHERE DOES THE PROTESTAN MOVEMENT BEGIN?

On October 31, 1517, in the city of Wittenberg (Germany), the priest Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the gates of the local church in protest against the violations of the Bible commandments by the Catholic Church of that time. This event marked the beginning of the emergence of the movement for the Reformation of the Church, which was called "Protestantism", which (from Latin - protestans) means "publicly proving."

Protestantism did not try to reform Catholicism from within, the new movement split off from this Church and was redefined as the Reformation (from Lat. Reformayio - "restoration in its original form"). The Protestants of the Reformation considered themselves not so much innovators who carry a new teaching, but as adherents of ancient traditions, rediscovering ancient truths that were lost over the centuries of the Middle Ages.

FOUNDATIONS OF THE BELIEF OF PROTESTANTS

The doctrine of the Protestants was based on five theses formed during the Reformation and received "Five" only "" (translated from Latin - Quinque sola):

1. Sola Scriptura - "Only the Bible".
The only and absolute rule and standard according to which all dogmas and all teachers should be evaluated are only the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

2. Sola fide - "Only by faith."
Justification can only be by faith, regardless of the performance of good deeds and any external sacred rites.

3. Sola gratia - "Only by grace."
A person cannot deserve salvation or somehow participate in my salvation. Salvation is a good gift from God to man.

4. Solus Christus - "Only Christ".
Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and salvation is possible only through faith in Him.

5. Soli Deo Gloria - "Glory to God alone."
A person should honor and worship only God, since salvation is bestowed only through His will and actions.

FORM OF SERVICE IN THE PROTESTANT CHURCH

Protestant prayer houses are generally free of opulent decorations, images, and statues. Any leased structure can serve as a church building. Protestant worship focuses on preaching, praying, singing psalms and hymns, and the sacrament.

The Protestant movement has been successfully developing all over the world to this day. In 92 countries of the world Protestantism is the largest trend of Christianity, including in 49 countries Protestants make up the majority of the population. And the countries professing Protestantism are economically and culturally developed.

Church in Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three, along with Orthodoxy and Catholicism, the main directions of Christianity, which is a collection of independent churches, church unions and denominations. The origin of Protestantism is associated with the Reformation, a widespread anti-Catholic movement in 16th century Europe.

History of origin

Protestantism emerged in Europe in the first half of the 16th century as a denial and opposition to the medieval institutions of the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation, the ideal of which was a return to apostolic Christianity. According to the proponents of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church departed from the original Christian principles as a result of numerous layers of medieval scholastic theology and rituals. Martin Luther became the leader of the religious revolution. Luther's first open speech against church politics took place in 1517 - he publicly and fiercely condemned the trade in indulgences, then nailed 95 theses outlining his position on the church doors.

Protestantism, in contrast to Catholicism, has never been a single whole, having arisen as an aggregate of differing currents from each other. Sometimes Protestantism is defined as a system of faith and worship practice based on the principles of the Reformation. But Protestants also claim to have returned to the simple faith of the early church, which was distorted by the later innovations of medieval Catholicism and Orthodoxy.

One of the three main directions of Christianity, along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, is Protestantism. Protestantism is a collection of numerous independent churches and sects associated with the broad anti-Catholic movement of the 16th century in Europe, called the Reformation. The medieval bourgeoisie, fighting against the Catholic Church, which sanctified feudalism, set as its goal not to abolish, but only to reform it, to adapt it to its class interests.

Protestantism shares common Christian ideas about the Existence of God, His Trinity, the Immortality of the Soul, Heaven and Hell. Protestantism put forward three new principles: salvation by personal faith, the priesthood of all believers, and the exclusive authority of the Bible. According to the teachings of Protestantism, original sin perverted the nature of man, deprived him of the ability to do good, therefore he can achieve salvation not with the help of good deeds, sacraments and asceticism, but only through personal faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Every Christian of the Protestant denomination, being baptized and elected, receives "initiation" for supernatural communion with God, the right to preach and perform worship without intermediaries, that is, the church and the clergy. Thus, in Protestantism, the dogmatic difference between a priest and a laity is removed, in connection with which the church hierarchy is abolished. A minister of the Protestant church is deprived of the right to confess and forgive sins. Unlike Catholics, Protestants do not have a vow of celibacy for church ministers, there are no monasteries and monasticism. Divine services in the Protestant church are extremely simplified and reduced to preaching, prayer and singing psalms in their native language. Having rejected the Holy Tradition, the Bible was proclaimed as the only source of doctrine. Currently, Protestantism is most widespread in the Scandinavian countries, the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Canada. The world center of Protestantism is located in the United States, where the headquarters of Baptists, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and other religious movements are based. A variety of Protestantism are the Lutheran and Anglican churches.

§ 75. The Protestant churches that arose as a result of the reform movement are quite numerous. Their structure, both national and religious, is diverse. The hierarchy of the Lutheran Church originates from the preceding Catholic hierarchy. It has no diplomatic missions.

§ 76. The Anglican Church in Great Britain has the status of a state church. In the English protocol, strictly defined places are assigned to the English archbishops and bishops. She retained the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church: archbishop, bishop, vicar bishop, dean, archdeacon, canon, pastor, vicar, curat and deacon.

Archbishops have the right to appeal "His Grace".

Bishops have the right to call "Lord".

The rest of the representatives of the church hierarchy are called "Reverend".

A distinctive feature of Protestantism that emerged in Europe in the 16th century on the foundations of the Bible is the plurality of its various forms and manifestations, the changing historical mosaic of independent Protestant churches.

The largest Protestant denominations include the following:

Anglican Church

Lutheran churches

Reformed churches

Free evangelical churches (these are denominations that originated from the Reformed churches as a result of various events in subsequent centuries):

Charismatic churches

Pentecostal churches

Baptist churches

Evangelical Christians

Methodist churches

Mennonite churches

Society of Friends

Salvation Army

Protestant theology does not contradict the theological decisions of the Ecumenical Councils. The whole world knows the famous five theses of Protestantism:

1. Sola Scriptura - "Scripture Only"

"We believe, teach and confess that the only and absolute rule and standard according to which all dogmas and all teachers should be evaluated are only the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments."

2. Sola fide - "Only by faith"

This is the doctrine of justification by faith alone, regardless of the performance of good works and any external sacred rites. Protestants do not discount good deeds; but they deny their significance as a source or condition for the salvation of the soul, considering them inevitable fruits of faith and evidence of forgiveness.

3. Sola gratia - "Only by grace"

This is the doctrine that salvation is grace, i.e. a good gift from God to man. A person cannot deserve salvation or somehow participate in his salvation. Although man accepts God's salvation by faith, all the glory for man's salvation is to be given to God alone. The Bible says: "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from you, God's gift: not from works, so that no one can boast" (Eph. 2: 8,9).

4. Solus Christus - "Only Christ"

From the point of view of Protestants, Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and salvation is possible only through faith in Him. Scripture states: "For there is one God, one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2: 5). Protestants traditionally deny the mediation of the Virgin Mary and other saints in the work of salvation, and also teach that the church hierarchy cannot to be a mediator between God and people. All believers are a "universal priesthood" and are equal in rights and in an equal position before God.

5. Soli Deo gloria - "Glory to God only"

This is the doctrine that a person should honor and worship only God, since salvation is granted only and solely through His will and actions. No man has the right to equal glory and reverence with God.

Sacred texts

Bible - a canonical collection of texts considered sacred in Judaism and Christianity. Orthodox and Catholic Bible texts differ from Protestant ones by the presence of additional books in the Old Testament, which are considered "non-canonical".

The content of the Christian Bibles ranges from the Protestant canon (66 books) to the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (81 books). The first part of the Christian Bible, the Old Testament, is basically a regrouped Hebrew Bible, divided into 39 books. The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity also include Deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament canon. The second part - the New Testament - consists of 27 books: 4 canonical Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, 21 Epistles of the Apostles and the Revelation of John the Theologian.

The Old Testament idea of \u200b\u200bholiness as an indispensable attribute of God, most fully revealed in the book of Leviticus, led to the spread among Christians of the names "Holy Bible" or "Holy Scripture." Many Christians regard the entire canonical text of the Bible as divine revelation. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew, with the exception of some portions written in Aramaic. The New Testament is written in ancient Greek.

Catholics, trusting the Septuagint, they accepted these texts into their Vulgate - an early medieval Latin translation of the Bible, canonized by Western ecumenical councils, and equated them with the rest of the canonical texts and books of the Old Testament, recognizing them equally inspired by God. These books are known to them as Deuterocanonical, or Deuterocanonical.

Orthodox they also include 11 Deuterocanonical books and insertions in the rest of the books in the Old Testament, but with a note that they "have come down to us in the Greek language" and are not part of the main canon. Insertions in canonical books they put in brackets and stipulate in notes. Reformation of the XVI century. n. e., rejecting many norms of early Christianity, preferring the opinion of the Ancient Church to the canon of the Masoretes, and rejected the introduction of books and parts of books that were not preserved in the Hebrew language into the Old Testament. Modern Protestant faiths base their theses on the Masoretic Bible. The missing 11 books from the non-canonical Bible are encouraged to read, although they are not considered to be inspired by God himself. Anglicans also publish some non-canonical books in the Bible for believers to read.

Apocrypha - works of late Jewish and early Christian literature that are not included in the biblical canon. The concept of "apocrypha" originally referred to the works of Gnosticism, which sought to keep its teachings in secret. Later, the term "apocrypha" was attributed to early Christian texts and were not included in the biblical canon. There are apocrypha, which slightly differ from the traditional Christian doctrine and, in general, confirm the Holy Tradition of the ancient Church, for example, in iconography and worship: for example, there is an apocrypha called "Proto-Gospel of James" - it is not recognized by the Church as inspired by the scriptures, but is accepted as evidence Legends. In many ways, the text is simply a fixation of Church Tradition.

The Book of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, and the Psalms of Solomon are usually referred to as the Old Testament apocrypha. They were all written during the Hellenistic period following the codification of the Old Testament by Ezra, however they are distinguished from the Deuterocanonical books because of their claim to a mysterious (esoteric) meaning.

Gospel - biography of Jesus Christ; a book or collection of books, each of which tells about the divine nature of Christ, about birth, life, miracles, death, resurrection and ascension. The Gospels contain descriptions of the birth and life of Jesus Christ, his death and miraculous resurrection, as well as sermons, teachings and parables.

Each of the authors of the Gospel emphasized those moments of the life and work of Jesus Christ, which he considered the most important. Some events are mentioned only in some and not mentioned in other Gospels. The Synoptic Gospels became the source of many stories, quotes and ideas for European social culture in subsequent centuries. The Nativity of the infant Jesus Christ, the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes, Transfiguration, Last Supper, Resurrection and Ascension are widely known. The main events mentioned in the Gospels in the life of Christ gradually began to be celebrated as church holidays by those peoples who adopted Christianity. Authorship: According to most scholars, the authors of the Gospels are not known for certain. The traditional attribution of the Gospel texts to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John was carried out in the 2nd century, and in the 18th century the credibility of the authorship was questioned. At the Second Vatican Council, when discussing the "Constitution on Revelation" (Dei Verbum), the clause "God's Church has always affirmed and claims that the authors of the Gospels are those whose names are named in the canon of sacred books, namely: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John ". Instead of listing these names, they decided to write “holy authors”.

Gospel in worship: Taking out the Gospel and reading it is one of the most solemn moments of Orthodox worship. For this purpose, a special liturgical (altar or required) Gospel is used. It is most often written in Church Slavonic and is broken down not only into chapters and verses, but also into semantic conceptions. The cover of such a Gospel is richly decorated with images of the risen Christ (in the center) and the Evangelists (in the corners). The liturgical Gospel in the church is in the altar on the throne and on top of the antimension (which is consecrated exclusively by the bishop). Despite this, the altar Gospel is not consecrated by any special church order, since the text of the Gospel itself is considered sacred. During the consecration to the bishop, other bishops lay on the head of the protege precisely the text of the liturgical Gospel revealed for this liturgical Gospel in the image that here Christ himself, with his Gospel, ordains the priest to the highest ecclesiastical dignity.

The traditional date of the “birth” of Protestantism is October 31, 1517, when the German priest Martin Luther nailed on the door of the Castle Church of Wittenberg - the Saxon capital - 95 theses, in which he stated his disagreement with the dogmas of Catholicism. These theses became the basis of Lutheranism - the first major trend in Protestantism. Later, Luther found imitators who believed that their way of worshiping God would be more correct - this is how the teachings of Jacques Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli appeared, and later some others. Well, how do Protestants differ from Orthodox Christians and Catholics?

From the history of Protestant teachings

The first shoots of Protestantism emerged in the 12th century. These were the religious communities of the Waldensians and Albigensians. Later, the Lollards and followers of the Czech reformer Jan Hus - the Hussites - appeared. They all came into sharp conflict with the Catholic Church and were destroyed. It was even necessary to declare a crusade against the Albigensians in 1209.

Modern Protestantism as a set of religious teachings arose, as the name implies, as a protest against the ideological dictate of the Roman Catholic Church. By the end of the 15th century, the spiritual crisis of Catholicism became so obvious that the Pope even had to issue a special bull, forbidding clergy to maintain brothels. Can you imagine what kind of nativity scene was the holy throne at that time? Naturally, such a situation could not please everyone; dissatisfaction was ripening, and the last straw that overflowed the cup was the permission of Pope Leo the Ten to sell indulgences - testimonies of absolution. Permission was granted on October 18, 1517, and already 13 days later Luther's "95 Theses" appeared.

The era of the Reformation (16th century) gave rise to a number of Protestant denominations. These include:

• lutheranism;
• calvinism;
• zwinglianism;
• anglicanism;
• anabaptism.

The first three are named after the founders, the fourth term refers to the English state church. A romantic story is associated with the rise of Anglicanism. Loving King Henry the Eighth, unable to obtain permission from the Pope to divorce Catherine of Aragon (Spanish), broke off relations with Rome and ordered to create his own “pocket” church, which happily divorced him from his unloved first wife (later he was married five more times). It is clear that, in fact, the break with Catholicism was in the interests of the British political elite, and the above episode was only a small stroke accompanying this act.

Anabaptism is not a homogeneous teaching and includes a number of independent trends that have survived to this day. These are Mennonites, Hutterites, Amish and a number of other denominations. They deny taking the military oath, recognize baptism performed only by adults, and have some other differences. The largest number of Anabaptists live in Germany and North America.

Features of the Protestant faith

The difference between Protestants and Orthodox is much greater than between Catholics and Orthodox, since the latter two areas largely preserve the religious tradition that developed in the first centuries of Christianity, in contrast to later Protestantism. The reformed churches have become a convenient tool in the hands of the developing bourgeoisie in the modern era, and they lack a number of concepts and institutions that are in Orthodoxy or Catholicism. For example, Protestants do not have saints, they do not recognize confession, repentance and the sacrament. They have no monks, and therefore no monasteries; there is no fast, elders, who for many Orthodox are spiritual mentors.

Protestants believe that anyone who has read the Bible can interpret the Bible. Sincere adherents of this Christian trend may argue that they have saints, but they only put in this concept a completely different meaning than the Orthodox. Protestantism emerged as a "light version" of Catholicism, understandable and accessible to semi-literate medieval burghers and peasants, each of whom interpreted the doctrine as it suits him best. Hence the large number of denominations that arose both in the 16th century and later.

Protestantism and liberalism

An overly arbitrary interpretation of Christian dogmas led to the emergence of the so-called Protestant business ethics. The main criterion for pleasing God is labor, business. Derivatives of this attitude to business is the recognition of success as pleasing God, and failure as a statement of unvirtue. Hence the word “loser”, which is widely known to us from popular Anglo-Saxon culture - a loser, as a manifestation of the highest degree of contempt and ridicule. Naturally, the Orthodox believer in this case considers Protestantism not as a religion, but as an ideological guide to doing business.

The perception of homosexuality as a variant of the norm, and not of sexual perversion, is also a logical development of liberal views generated by Protestantism. Catholicism and Orthodoxy are much more patriarchal about this issue, in accordance with the spirit of early Christianity. Some other problems of our time - for example, feminism - also developed from the Protestant model of perception of the world. The attitude towards "equality of the sexes" accepted in Protestant countries seems unnatural and wild to the Orthodox. Indeed: if humanity is divided into two sexes with different body functions, a different set of chromosomes (women have two X chromosomes, men have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome), even with slightly different mentality (hence the idea of "Female logic"), then it is more correct to speak not about equality, but about complementing each other.

Can we reach mutual understanding, or is the difference between Orthodox and Protestants too great for this? Yes of course we can! How can any two people understand each other, regardless of the views they hold. There would only be a desire to understand and an awareness of the extent of the influence of religion on the life of an individual!

To begin with, the word PROTESTANTISM does not come from the word PROTEST. It's just a coincidence in Russian. Protestantism or protestantism (from Latin protestans, genus protestantis - publicly proving).

In a number of world religions, Protestantism can be briefly described as one of the three, along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, the main directions of Christianity, which is a collection of numerous and independent Churches and denominations. It is necessary to dwell in more detail on the question: who are Protestants from the point of view of theology?

There is a lot to be said here. And we must start with what Protestants consider the basis of their faith. This is, first of all, the Bible - the Books of Holy Scripture. This is the infallible written Word of God. It is uniquely, verbally and completely inspired by the Holy Spirit and is unmistakably captured in the original manuscripts. The Bible is the ultimate and ultimate authority on all matters it touches.

In addition to the Bible, Protestants recognize the symbols of faith generally accepted for all Christians:

Protestant theology does not contradict the theological decisions of the Ecumenical Councils. The whole world knows the famous five theses of Protestantism:

1. Sola Scriptura - "Scripture Only"

"We believe, teach and confess that the only and absolute rule and standard according to which all dogmas and all teachers should be evaluated are only the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments."

2. Sola fide - "Only by faith"

This is the doctrine of justification by faith alone, regardless of the performance of good works and any external sacred rites. Protestants do not discount good deeds; but they deny their significance as a source or condition for the salvation of the soul, considering them inevitable fruits of faith and evidence of forgiveness.

3. Sola gratia - "Only by grace"

This is the doctrine that salvation is grace, i.e. a good gift from God to man. A person cannot deserve salvation or somehow participate in his salvation. Although man accepts God's salvation by faith, all the glory for man's salvation is to be given to God alone.

The Bible says: "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from you, God's gift: not from works, so that no one can boast" (Eph. 2: 8,9).

4. Solus Christus - "Only Christ"

From the point of view of Protestants, Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and salvation is possible only through faith in Him.

Scripture states: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2: 5).

Protestants traditionally deny the mediation of the Virgin Mary and other saints in the work of salvation, and also teach that the church hierarchy cannot be a mediator between God and people. All believers are a "universal priesthood" and are equal in rights and in an equal position before God.

5. Soli Deo gloria - "Glory to God only"

The Internet project "Wikipedia" very accurately defines the features of theology traditionally shared by Protestants: “Scripture is proclaimed the only source of doctrine. The Bible was translated into national languages, its study and application in one's own life has become an important task for every believer. The attitude towards Holy Tradition is ambiguous - from rejection, on the one hand, to acceptance and veneration, but, in any case, with a proviso - Tradition (as well as any other doctrinal opinions, including their own) is authoritative, since it is based on Scripture , and insofar as it is based on Scripture. It is this reservation (and not the desire to simplify and reduce the cost of the cult) that is the key to the refusal of a number of Protestant churches and denominations from one or another teaching or practice.

Protestants teach that original sin perverted human nature. Therefore, a person, although he remains fully capable of good deeds, cannot be saved by his own merits, but only by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. "

And although Protestant theology is not limited to this, nevertheless, on these grounds, it is customary to distinguish Protestants from among other Christians.