Protestant church

The view into the nave of the castle church in Wittenberg

The castle church in Torgau , at Hartenfels Castle , is the first new Protestant church in the world.

Altar of the Evangelical Lutheran church building in Flensburg-Adelby

As a Protestant church call themselves churches in the tradition of the Reformation . The term Protestant Church is also used largely synonymously .

History of the term

The term was already used in the Middle Ages, including in the church-critical slogan Vita evangelica et apostolica . During the Reformation, the term evangelical (i.e. according to the biblical message of the gospel ) was deliberately used critically in opposition to the Catholic Church. The term was used by Martin Luther to denote his teaching and his followers after they were referred to as Lutherans. He firmly refused to use this name after himself. In the self-understanding of the Evangelicals, their doctrine of faith is different from that of the Roman Catholic Church based directly on the Gospel .

In the course of confessionalization , the term “Protestant Church” becomes the generic term for Lutheran and Reformed churches . After the Peace of Westphalia, the Corpus Evangelicorum also made the term a constitutional term for both groups . Many of the independent free churches also describe themselves as Protestant . The term " Protestant Church ", which is often used synonymously, referred to the historical Speyer protestation of the evangelical princes at the Diet of 1529 in Speyer .

The term "evangelical" must be distinguished from the relatively new term evangelical , which was transferred back into German from the English-language "evangelical" and is used here to denote a certain movement within (and outside) the (Protestant) churches.

Teaching

The common denominator of the Protestant churches are the "four solos" of the Reformation:

Sola fide - man is justified by faith alone, not by good works - Rom 3:28 LUT : So we now believe that man is justified without the works of the law, solely through faith.
Sola gratia - man is saved only by the grace of God, not by doing himself
Solus Christ - Christ alone, not the Church, has authority over believers

Sola scriptura - only the (Holy) Scripture is the basis of the Christian faith, not the tradition of the church

Protestant churches

Europe

Community of Evangelical Churches in Europe , amalgamation of almost all Lutheran , Reformed , United , Methodist and pre-Reformation churches in Europe (Leuenberg Church Community )

Other Protestant churches in Germany, some of which do not have the term Protestant in their names, see also under Association of Evangelical Free Churches or Free Churches .

Estonia

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church

Finland

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

France

Iceland

Icelandic State Church

Italy

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy

Evangelical Waldensian Church ( Chiesa Evangelica Valdese )

Latvia

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Protestant Church in the Netherlands , association of

Other Protestant churches in the Netherlands, some of which do not have the term Protestant in their names, see also the list of Dutch Reformed Churches