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Religious Studies & Theology vocabulary · World Religions and Traditions

Protestantism

Meaning in religious studies & theology, with examples

/ˈprɒtɪstəntɪzəm/nounCommon term

In religious studies & theology, Protestantism means: The branch of Christianity that grew out of the sixteenth-century Reformation, stressing the authority of the Bible and salvation by grace through faith.

In Turkish: Protestanlık, Protestan Hristiyanlık

How it is used

Includes many denominations: Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist), Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal and others; Anglicanism is sometimes treated separately. Key principles are often summed up as sola scriptura (scripture alone) and sola fide (faith alone). Followers are Protestants.

Example sentences

  1. Protestantism divided into many denominations within a few generations.

  2. Weber linked the rise of modern capitalism to the ethics of ascetic Protestantism.

Common collocations

  • evangelical Protestantism
  • mainline Protestantism
  • Protestant churches
  • Protestant work ethic
  • ReformationThe sixteenth-century religious movement in Western Christianity, usually dated from Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517, that led to the creation of Protestant churches.
  • ChristianityA monotheistic religion based on the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, whom Christians believe to be the Son of God; it began in the first century CE.
  • denominationA recognized branch of a religion, especially of Christianity, with its own name, organization and traditions, such as the Lutheran, Methodist or Baptist churches.
  • CatholicismThe faith, teaching and practice of the Catholic Church, the largest Christian church, which is led by the Pope as Bishop of Rome.

More terms: World Religions and Traditions

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