Time line of the development of the Protestant Christian Church

Time line of the development of the Protestant Christian Church

Introduction

Between 1900 and 1930, the once seemingly unified Protestant America became a nation diverse in its religious beliefs and practices and open to new religious thought along both liberal and conservative lines. For most of the 19th century, American political leaders referred to the United States not only as a democratic republic but also as a Christian nation, by which they meant its values were those of Protestant Christianity. With the influx of the new immigration after 1900, it was clear that Americans faced a world in which religious diversity was increasing not only among Protestants and their dissenting sects but also in the growing number of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Jewish citizens (Ostrander, 2000).

The Reformation refers to a series of extraordinary religious and social changes that occurred in Western Europe in the 16th century. During that period, Christian leaders who were attempting to reform the church led successful revolts against the authority of the pope. The term Protestant was first used in 1529, when a group of German princes protested against the activities of Roman Catholic rulers. Today, approximately half of the American religious population identifies itself as Protestant heirs of the Reformation.

Discussion

The Reformation is generally considered to have begun in October 1517, when the German monk Martin Luther reportedly nailed a placard inscribed with 95 theological theses on a church door in Wittenberg. Four years later, when summoned before the Holy Roman Emperor at Worms, Luther refused to rescind his attacks on the papacy. Luther was forced to flee Worms under the threat of death but was given asylum in Saxony. There, under the protection of Frederick, his prince, he was able to continue the church reforms he had earlier proposed. Although Luther always denied that he intended to found a "Lutheran" church, he inspired the religious tradition that later bore his name. News of Luther's accomplishments quickly spread beyond the borders of Saxony and aroused intellectual and spiritual ferment throughout northern and western Europe (Handy, 1977).

Luther's most important contribution to the Reformation was his teaching on justification by grace through faith. He was obsessed with the question of how a person could earn God's love or find eternal salvation. Like all the original Protestant reformers, he believed that the Bible contained all Christians needed to know ...