Protestant, What Are You Protesting?
Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary: protestant
PROT’ESTANT, a. Pertaining to those who, at the reformation of religion,protested against a decree of Charles V. and the diet of Spires; pertaining to the adherents of Luther, or others of the reformed churches; as the protestant religion. PROT’ESTANT, n. One of the party who adhered to Luther at the reformation in 1529, and protested, or made a solemn declaration of dissent from a decree of the emperor Charles V. and the diet of Spires, and appealed to a general council. This name was afterwards extended to the followers of Calvin, and Protestants is the denomination now given to all who belong to the reformed churches. The king of Prussia has, however, interdicted the use of this name in his dominions.
In our Sunday sermon this question arose: Protestant, What Are You Protesting? All throughout my church going years the definition of protestant has always been addressed simply as “not being Catholic”. When one really looks at the root of the word, we find that it is not a true definition. The Protestant Reformation was not to do away with the Catholic Church it began as an effort to reform the church and to remove those elements that were not scriptural. Protestantism began as a protest! It was a protest against what the church was teaching; grace PLUS works for salvation. It is a true statement, and scripture teaches that true faith will produce works but these works play no part in the salvation process. Salvation is of God and God alone. Faith is the result of the regeneration and the quickening of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit quickens those who were actually and completely saved, redeemed in the sacrificial atonement of Christ’s death. Christ died for and saved those chosen and elect by the Father before the foundation of the world apart from anything they can or would offer. Sadly, I think many churches today have added works back into the equation in the form of choice. That is, Christ made our salvation possible but didn’t actually complete His work of redemption. We must bring our action of choice to the equation and thus only through our action can we be saved. We have become such an individualistic society, believing that there is still something good enough in everyone that merits salvation, that individual choice has become a sacred right. My question for evaluation today is this: Are we protestant, meaning simply not Catholic or are we in the true meaning of the word, protesters? If so, what are we protesting? Is it grace and grace alone that saves us or is it God’s grace only if we so choose?
|
|
Posted in Christianity
September 18th, 2007 at 2:37 am
Yes, there were many things Luther wanted to reform in Roman Catholicism, however at the heart of his protest was salvation by grace through faith. To put it simply, historic Protestantism holds to the doctrine of the Trinity – one living and true God existing in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost; being the same in substance, equal in power and glory. Additional foundational beliefs can be represented in the 5 Solas of the Reformation:
1. Scripture alone is the standard.
2. By Christ’s work alone are we saved.
3. Salvation by grace alone.
4. Justification by Faith alone.
5. For the glory of God alone.
To put it simply, with the vast number of new denominations and “Christian like” religions, many claim to be Protestant that aren’t and society accepts them as Protestant simply because they are not Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. Those “Protestant” denominations that deny that Christ is the only way to God, that believe sacred Scripture, God’s Word, is contained in other texts other than the Christian Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and that believe our entrance into heaven will be judged on the basis of our works and deeds in this life are not Protestant. Even our government labels certain faith groups as Protestants when by their own confessions and creeds they cannot and do not hold to the historic doctrines of the Reformation. The definition has changed over the years and we have let culture define for us who and what we should be and believe. As a Protestant, that is what I am protesting. Let’s be sure we the church define who we are, not relegate that responsibility to our culture.
If the discussion is about whether or not Baptists are Protestant then the point has been missed. Maybe that misunderstanding comes from the examples given. This is not a denominational discussion – I’m Baptist. Particular Baptists generally trace their heritage down through the Reformers while General Baptists trace their heritage through the Anabaptists. To find out more about those distinctions I would recommend visiting The Spurgeon Archive’s Hall of Church History.
September 18th, 2007 at 4:31 am
I’m not even a Christian and it’s clear what I’d be protesting were I protestant. Luther wanted the Church to reform the worst excesses of his day. The worst excesses of American religion these days aren’t indulgences or greedy priests, but rather that the average American Christian sees the bible verses about “the Kingdom of God” and “the Kingdom of Heaven” and somehow reads “United States of America”; that they can’t tell the difference between “blessings from God” and “real estate with no money down”; and that they can read Revelation and believe that it somehow requires the US to bomb Iraq, and then claim that vivid descriptions of such, including nuclear weapons and air warfare, are a ‘literal’ interpretation of the book.
September 18th, 2007 at 6:32 am
Click link to read more about the
5 Solas. This site explains them pretty well.
What do you mean by Christ as we know Him? Do you mean Christ as He is revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments?
Let me see if I can address the heart of your concern. Do you feel the post as written is a statement of judgment against those who believe differently? The post was meant to point out the theological distinctiveness of Protestantism. There is a difference in the fundamental precepts of the religions (not denominations) you mentioned. For example, the LDS are not Trinitarian, only believe the Bible to be accurate to the extent it agrees with their other books of “scripture”, they deny the divinity of Christ and add works/merit to salvation. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are not Trinitarian and also deny the divinity of Christ, have “corrected” the New Testament to support these views and hold to a works/merit salvation for the 144,000. These are not judgmental statements, they are theological distinctives that identify them as something other than Protestant. In fact, I would go as far as saying they are not Christian. They use the same terminology and the Bible in some form or fashion, however their teachings deny the truth of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Old and New Testament. This isn’t being judgmental, it’s being honest and truthful, understanding their doctrines and identifying the heretical teachings.
As for James 3, yes we are to show mercy and not judge individuals according to economic/cultural status (vs. 1-13). All throughout the epistles of Timothy (1 Tim 1:6-16, 2 Tim 2:15, 3:13-4:5) Paul exhorts us to be grounded in sound doctrine so that false doctrine can be identified, exposed and warned against – with love and mercy, but with firm resolve.
I’m going to stop here because I guess I don’t truly understand what your objection to the post really is. Rather than ramble, can you tell me what you think the issue is?
September 18th, 2007 at 6:48 am
Sorry…miss communication. I meant I felt like I was rambling in my answer. It just kept getting longer and longer and I wasn’t going anywhere specific
September 18th, 2007 at 6:50 am
Wow, a lot of discussion on a post I didn’t think had all that much to discuss.
My point in the original post was simply this…
Are we Protestant simply because we are not Catholic or is there more to what it means to be Protestant, if so then what is it that defines us?
September 26th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I removed my comments here because they were not taken in the way they were intended and so defenses went up on both sides. I apologize for any confusion that led from my part. God only needs to be glorified and that doesn’t happen when confusion abounds..
God bless,
Sallie