Protestantism: origins, beliefs, branches, and historical impact

In the 16th century, the "protestation" was a traditional legal instrument of imperial law by which a minority of estates and imperial cities could present their concerns at an imperial diet. The Latin verb protestari has a basic positive meaning: "to be called to witness for something", "to bear witness to something". Today, the terms "Protestant" (coined from the external perception by the Roman Curia) and "evangelical" (coined from the self-perception of the parishioners and their regional churches) are used interchangeably in the German vernacular. However, German churches standing in the tradition of the Reformation refer to themselves as "evangelical" rather than "Protestant." An exception is the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (Protestantische Landeskirche). The terms "church(es) of the Reformation" and "Reformation church(es)" are also used.

In addition, there are the terms "Lutheran" or "A.B. (Augsburg Confession)", which designate the churches in the tradition of the Wittenberg Reformation, and "Reformed" or "H.B. (Helvetic Confession)", which designate the churches in the tradition of the Swiss reformers Ulrich Zwingli (Zurich), John Calvin (Geneva) and John Oekolampad (Basel). Depending on the form of organization, there are unions that abandon differentiation, such as the united churches of the Bremen Protestant Church or the United Church of Christ in the United States. In the area of the Evangelical Free Churches, designations such as Evangelical Free Church, Evangelical Methodist, Free Evangelical Congregation, Old Evangelical Baptist or Evangelical Free Congregation can be found.

"Evangelical" must be distinguished from the term "evangelical," which originated in the 20th century, especially when translated into or from other languages. In English-speaking countries, the terms "Protestantism" and "Protestant" are indispensable, since "evangelical" means "evangelical" in addition to "Protestant", especially in North America. Also, there is no English equivalent for the adjective "reformed." The adjective "reformed" means "reformed" and is used, for example, in designations for certain churches, such as Dutch Reformed Church. The historical term "evangelical" originated in the environment of Puritanism in England.

More generally, denominations that arose after the Reformation are also called Protestant, which hold the same or similar principles as the Reformation churches and therefore distanced themselves from the Roman Catholic Church. In this sense, for example, the Anglican Church is counted as Protestantism. After the Declaration of Independence, American Anglicans called themselves the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The Protestant Free Churches also belong to the Protestant spectrum. In the German-speaking world, these include the Mennonites, who came into being during the Reformation, as well as the Baptists, the Methodists, the Seventh-day Adventists and the Pentecostals. The Waldensians, who had already arisen in the 12th century, joined Swiss and French Protestantism respectively in the 16th century. The Presbyterians, Congregationalists and a number of other churches, which are widespread in the English-speaking world, belong to the Reformed church fellowship. The Unitarians also originated as a Reformation church, but part of them broke away from Christianity from the late 19th century. The Quakers also arose around the English Reformation.

The most influential reformers were Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon (Evangelical Lutheran Churches), Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin and John Knox (Reformed Churches), and Thomas Cranmer and Martin Bucer (Anglican Church). The leading theologians in the early days of the free churches with the largest membership were Konrad Grebel, Felix Manz and Menno Simons (Anabaptists/Mennonites), Robert Browne and John Cotton (Congregationalists), Thomas Helwys and John Smyth (Baptists), George Fox (Quakers), and John Wesley, Charles Wesley and George Whitefield (Methodists).

The German Protestant regional churches have organized themselves into the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The Protestant Free Churches are united in the Association of Protestant Free Churches. Through emigration and mission, larger or smaller Protestant churches (world Protestantism) have arisen in many countries of the world. They are growing particularly strongly in China and Latin America. Most Lutheran churches are united in the Lutheran World Federation, the Reformed churches in the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The Protestant free churches also have corresponding international associations, such as the World Council of Methodist Churches, the Baptist World Alliance and the Mennonite World Conference. The vast majority of Protestant churches are members of the World Council of Churches. Evangelicals form the majority of the population in Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Iceland and New Zealand. In Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, there are about the same number of Protestants as Catholics.

·         The most influential Protestant thinkers and founding personalities (images when available)

No historical image available: Konrad Grebel (1498-1526), Anabaptist; Joerg Blaurock (1492-1529), Anabaptist; Felix Manz (1498-1527), Anabaptist; and Thomas Helwys (1550-1616), Baptist.