Protestantism

Protestantism is a form of Christianity that originated in the Protestant Reformation. It emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone, the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace, the priesthood of all believers, and the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. The five solæ summarize the basic theological beliefs of mainstream Protestantism. Protestants follow the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began in the 16th century with the goal of reforming the Catholic Church from perceived errors, abuses, and discrepancies. The Reformation began in the Holy Roman Empire in 1517, when Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses as a reaction against abuses in the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, which purported to offer the remission of the temporal punishment of sins to their purchasers. Luther's statements questioned the Catholic Church's role as negotiator between people and God, especially when it came to the indulgence arrangement, which in part granted people the power to purchase a certificate of pardon for the penalization of their sins. Luther argued against the practice of buying or earning forgiveness, claiming instead that salvation is a gift God gives to those who have faith. Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark–Norway, Sweden, Finland, Livonia, and Iceland. Calvinist churches spread in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland, France, Poland and Lithuania, led by Protestant Reformers such as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli and John Knox. The political separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church under King Henry VIII began Anglicanism, bringing England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement, under the leadership of reformer Thomas Cranmer, whose work forged Anglican doctrine and identity. Protestantism is divided into various denominations on the basis of theology and ecclesiology. Protestants adhere to the concept of an...