Protestants and Puritans
The Protestant religions emerged from a literal “protest,” against the Catholic Church in the 1500s. Martin Luther led this critique of Catholicism and ended up starting a whole new type of religion. Like Catholics, Protestants are Christian. They believe in the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Early “protesters,” however, like Martin Luther, began to criticize the way that the Catholic Church operated. They argued that individuals should not need to work through the church hierarchy to achieve salvation and go to heaven. They did not think that being baptized, or donating to the church, or even doing good deeds would “earn” a place for souls in heaven. Instead, early Protestants believed that salvation was achieved through “faith alone” rather than through doing good works or participating in ritual. They further argued that the Bible alone, rather than the Pope’s or Church’s teachings, provided the ultimate theological authority.
They also frowned upon the beauty and showiness of Catholic Cathedrals and artwork. In the Protestants’ view, such elaborate displays of riches seemed to imply that Grace could be “bought,” rather than accepted as a gift from God. With these ideas in mind, Protestant followers began to establish plain and simple churches. Unlike Catholic priests, Protestant ministers were not believed to possess any greater access to God than the average person had. They did not have “special” powers to perform sacraments or help people get into heaven. Protestants emphasized each individual’s direct relationship with God, particularly the powerful conversion experience that marked a person’s acceptance of God’s power and meaning. They encouraged all believers to become literate so that they could read the Bible for themselves, without help or interference.
During a time of great political unrest in England, a particular sect, or type, of Protestants emerged.s. The Puritans had taken the basic beliefs of Protestantism—that human beings could in no way “earn” salvation, only God could grant it as a gift; and that individuals did not need to participate in Catholic rituals to be saved—and expanded upon them. Drawing upon the ideas of Martin Luther and John Calvin, as well as their own innovations, the Puritans developed an extremely complex and vigorous approach to Christianity, which we will discuss in depth in our next lesson.