Protestant Reformation

Solus Christus

Solus Christus

Solus Christus Solus Christus or In Christo solo (Latin in + ablative, sōlō Christō, meaning “in Christ alone”) is one of the five solae that summarize the Protestant Reformers‘ basic belief that salvation is by faith in Christ alone. Doctrine Through the atoning work of Jesus Christ alone, apart from individual works, Christ is the only mediator between God and man. It holds that...

Soli Deo Gloria

Soli Deo Gloria

Soli Deo Gloria Soli Deo gloria is a Latin term for Glory to God alone. It has been used by artists like Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, and Christoph Graupner to signify that the work was produced for the sake of praising God. The phrase has become one of the five solae propounded to summarise the Reformers’ basic beliefs...

The Protestants from the Tyrolean Zillertal valley who had to leave their home in 1837

Anti-Protestantism

Anti-Protestantism Anti-Protestantism is bias, hatred, or distrust against some or all branches of Protestantism and/or its followers. Anti-Protestantism dates back to before the Protestant Reformation itself, as various pre-Protestant groups such as Arnoldists, Waldensians, Hussites, and Lollards were persecuted in Roman Catholic Europe. Protestants were not tolerated throughout most of Europe until the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 approved Lutheranism as an alternative for Roman Catholicism as a state religion of various states within the Holy Roman Empire...

Michael the Deacon and Martin Luther convene in Wittenberg, painted by Inès Lee and commissioned by Sir John Das (2018).

History Of Lutheranism

History Of Lutheranism This article covers the history of Lutheranism. Lutheranism as a religious movement originated in the early 16th century Holy Roman Empire as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church. The movement originated with the call for a public debate regarding several issues within the Catholic Church by Martin Luther, then a professor of...

martin luther, germany, reformation, protestant, bible, scripture

What Is Protestantism?

What Is Protestantism? Protestantism encompasses forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with doctrines and religious, political, and ecclesiological impulses of the Protestant Reformation. The word Protestant is derived from the Latin protestatio, meaning declaration. It refers to the letter of protestation by Lutheran princes against the decision of the Diet of Speyer...

The Gordon Riots, by Charles Green

Anti-Catholicism

Anti-Catholicism Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the United States, turned anti-Catholicism, opposition to the Pope (anti-Papalism), mockery of Catholic rituals, and opposition to Catholic adherents into major political themes. The anti-Catholic sentiment which resulted from this trend...

Law and Grace painting by Lucas Cranach

Theology Of Martin Luther

Theology Of Martin Luther The theology of Martin Luther was instrumental in influencing the Protestant Reformation, specifically topics dealing with justification by faith, the relationship between the Law and Gospel (also an instrumental component of Reformed theology), and various other theological ideas. Although Luther never wrote a systematic theology or a “summa” in the style of St. Thomas...

Nathan Söderblom is ordained as archbishop of the Church of Sweden, 1914. Although the Swedish Lutherans can boast of an unbroken line of ordinations going back prior to the Reformation, the bishops of Rome today do not recognize such ordinations as a valid due to the fact they occurred without authorization from the Roman See.

Criticism Of Protestantism

Criticism Of Protestantism Criticism of Protestantism covers critiques and questions raised about Protestantism, the Christian tradition which arose out of the Protestant Reformation. While critics praise Protestantism’s Christ-centered and Bible-centered faith, Protestantism is faced with criticism mainly from the Catholic Church and some Orthodox Churches, although Protestant denominations have also engaged...

Peak of the Reformation & beginning of the Counter-Reformation (1545–1620)

Counter-Reformation

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation also called the Catholic Reformation or the Catholic Revival was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and largely ended with the conclusion of the European wars of religion in 1648. Initiated to address the effects of...

John Calvin

John Calvin

John Calvin John Calvin (Jean Calvin; born Jehan Cauvin; 10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, aspects of which include the...

Fausto Sozzini was an Italian theologian who helped define Unitarianism and also served the Polish Brethren church

Socinianism

Socinianism Socinianism is a system of Christian doctrine named for Italians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle and nephew, respectively, which was developed among the Polish Brethren in the Minor Reformed Church of Poland during the 16th and 17th centuries and embraced by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania during the same period. It is most...

Jowai Presbyterian Church, India

Presbyterianism

Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism, which traces its origins to Great Britain, particularly Scotland. Presbyterian churches derive their name from the presbyterian form of church government, which is governed by representative assemblies of elders. A great number of Reformed churches are organized this way, but the word Presbyterian, when capitalized,...

Luther Martin Luther Wittenberg Reformation

Reformation

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a movement within Western Christianity in the sixteenth-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Roman Catholic Church and papal authority in particular. Although the Reformation is usually considered to have started with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517, there was no schism between the Catholic Church...

Hutterite women and children at the new Springvale Colony on the bridge over the Rosebud River, March 1919, construction activity still evident. (Glenbow, NA 4079-75).

Restorationism

Restorationism Restorationism (or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer and more ancient form of the religion. Fundamentally, “this vision seeks to correct faults or deficiencies...

Christian Zionism

Christian Zionism Christian Zionism is a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 were in accordance with Bible prophecy. The term began to be used in the mid-20th century, superseding Christian Restorationism. However, Christian advocacy...

Facade Mural Art Luther Luther Was Here

Martin Luther

Martin Luther Martin Luther, O.S.A. (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; in particular, he disputed the...

Five solae in Reformation Church

Five Solae

Five Solae The five solae (Anglicized to five solas) of the Protestant Reformation are a foundational set of principles held by theologians and clergy to be central to the doctrine of salvation as taught by the Reformed branches of Protestantism. Each sola represents a key belief in the Lutheran and Reformed traditions in...