Protestantism is a division of Christianity, created with the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century in Europe and which led Martin Luther. This movement marked the end of Christian unity in Western Europe.
The Protestant Reformation began with dissatisfaction with the practices of the Catholic Church considered immoral. The initial intention was to promote a reform of the church, but it resulted in the creation of another religious aspect.
Protestantism is composed of several doctrines. Within historic Protestantism are the Lutheran, Presbyterian, Calvinist, Methodist, and Baptist churches.
From the 20th century onwards, new Protestant churches emerged: the Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches. In Brazil, these churches are better known as evangelical.
protestant religions
- Lutheran: first Protestant church, founded by Martin Luther in the 16th century in Germany.
- Anglican: Founded in England in the 16th century, it has its origins in Protestantism, but brings elements of the Catholic Church.
- Calvinist: created in the 16th century by the Frenchman John Calvin, who was influenced by the ideas of Martin Luther.
- Methodist: Created by Englishman John Wesley in the 18th century, it has its origins within the Anglican Church and focuses on love for others.
- Baptist: arising from Protestant ideas, Baptist churches do not have a common belief, they are independent, and their characteristics can vary widely.
- Presbyterian: Presbyterian churches were created in England and Scotland from the teachings of John Calvin.
- Pentecostal: Created in the 20th century, some examples of Pentecostal churches in Brazil are the Assembly of God, the Church of the Foursquare Gospel and the Pentecostal Church God is Love.
- Neo-Pentecostal: originating from the Pentecostal movement, they emerged around the 1970s. Some neo-Pentecostal churches in Brazil are the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, World Church of God's Power and Renascer em Cristo Church.
Understand what was the Protestant Reformation.
Protestantism in Brazil
The first Protestants to arrive in Brazil were the Dutch around the year 1630. The Dutch invaded the northeast from Pernambuco. In Recife alone, 22 Protestant churches were opened during the two decades of Dutch domination.
Protestantism would become even stronger from the 18th century onwards, when large waves of European immigrants immigrated to Brazil to work - many of them were Protestants.
Protestants are currently the second largest religious group in Brazil, only behind Catholics. In the 2010 census conducted by the IBGE, it was found that there were about 42 million evangelicals against 123 million Catholics.
Within the IBGE classification of evangelicals are both historical Protestants and Pentecostals and neo-Pentecostals.
The number of evangelicals, however, is growing. The census surveys showed that in a 10-year period, the number of evangelicals grew 61% and that every year an average of 14,000 evangelical churches are opened in the country. This growth is represented, above all, by the churches Pentecostals and neo-Pentecostal.
Learn more about Pentecostal churches.
How did Protestantism come about?
Protestantism arises with the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther. Luther was an Augustinian monk who wanted to reform the Catholic Church, as he did not agree with the abusive and immoral practices committed by priests.
Among these practices were the sale of indulgences (pardon), the sale of sacred relics, and the negotiation of ecclesiastical offices.
In 1517, Martin Luther placed on the door of the church in Wittemberg, Germany, a text where his words were written. 95 theses. These theses refuted, above all, the idea that salvation could be made through the purchase of indulgences.
Pope Leo X asked Luther to recant, but faced with his refusal, he excommunicated the monk. Luther created a new religion, which was called Lutheran, the first Protestant religion.
Other Protestant religions emerged in Europe in the following years under different leaderships, among them Anglicanism, Calvinism and the Baptist and Methodist churches.
See the meaning of indulgence
Differences between Catholicism and Protestantism
Denial of intermediaries: one of the main differences between these two Christian strands is that Protestants believe they can relate directly to God, without the need for an intermediary as in Catholicism (bishop, priest, pope). For this reason, Protestants do not make confessions.
Free Bible Exam: Protestants believe only what is written in the bible and that the faithful can get in touch with God from its reading, without the need for a priest's interpretation.
The Protestant bible has fewer books than the Catholic bible. Seven Old Testament books are not accepted by Protestants: Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Baruch, Ecclesiastical, 1 and 2 Maccabees.
Sacraments: unlike the Catholic religion, which has 7 sacraments, the Protestants kept only two: the baptism and the Eucharist. For Protestants, soul salvation depends only on faith in God.
Celibacy: in the Protestant religion celibacy is not practiced, that is, pastors can marry and have children, unlike what happens with Catholic priests.
saints and images: Protestants do not worship saints and images as they do in the Catholic Church.
Priesthood: Protestants do not recognize pope authority, do not hold Latin celebrations, and do not need to be in a church to hold services. In addition, several Protestant churches allow women to be pastors.
See also the meaning of christianity, Catholic church and religious diversity.
