Should i be protestant

But what you are is not determined once and for all — there is something open. You are helped to make a coherent CV, so to speak, which you can be proud to show to others," says Dalsgaard.

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Niels Ebdrup. Mars - We have become plagued with increasing doubts about who we are. At the time when he lived, his country had been affected by Protestant ideology for centuries.

For example, John Calvin in France and Huldrych Zwingli in Switzerland proposed new ideas about the practice of Holy Communion, and a group called Anabaptists rejected the idea that infants should be baptized in favor of the notion that baptism was reserved for adult Christians. Broadly speaking, most of the challenges to the Catholic Church revolved around the notion that individual believers should be less dependent on the Catholic Church, and its pope and priests, for spiritual guidance and salvation.

Instead, Protestants believed people should be independent in their relationship with God, taking personal responsibility for their faith and referring directly to the Bible, the Christian holy book, for spiritual wisdom.

Subsequently, King Henry rejected the Pope's authority, instead creating and assuming authority over the Church of England, a sort of hybrid church that combined some Catholic doctrine and some Protestant ideals.

Over the next 20 years, there was religious turbulence in England as Queen Mary — reinstated Catholicism in England while persecuting and exiling Protestants, only to have Queen Elizabeth I and her Parliament attempt to lead the country back toward Protestantism during her reign — Some English citizens did not believe Queen Elizabeth's efforts to restore England to Protestantism went far enough.

These citizens fell into two groups, both labeled Puritans by their opponents. The first group, known as separatists, believed the Church of England was so corrupt that their only choice was to leave England, separate from the church, and start a new church.

They called this the English Separatist Church. Around or , some of the separatists tried to start the new lives they imagined in Holland, in the Netherlands. Ultimately, the endeavor failed due to poverty and the sense that the children were assimilating too much into Dutch culture, so many of the separatists returned to England. By , members of the English Separatist Church were ready for a second try at establishing a new life and church.

Those who set sail aboard the Mayflower for New England and eventually landed near Plymouth, Massachusetts, would, in time, become known as the Pilgrims. The other group of English citizens who did not believe Queen Elizabeth's reform efforts went far enough were called nonseparatists; over time, the term " Puritan " would become synonymous with the nonseparatists.

They did not seek to leave the Church of England; they wanted only to reform it by eliminating the remnants of Catholicism that remained. In terms of theology, most of them were Calvinists. Although they did not desire to separate from the Church of England, some Puritans saw emigrating to New England as their best chance at true reform of the church and freedom to worship as they chose.

In , a decade after the Pilgrims embarked on a similar journey for similar reasons, the first Puritans traveled to the New World and established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston, Massachusetts. Though the separatists and nonseparatists disagreed about whether to sever ties to the Church of England, both groups of early North American colonists shared a dissatisfaction with the church and a mindset that they were free to establish a church more in alignment with their spiritual views.

Perhaps predictably, this freedom to practice religion according to one's beliefs led to the creation of countless different churches, denominations, and doctrines in the colonies. Equally predictable, throughout history this diversity has led to disagreements.

Catholics, on the other hand, do not base their beliefs on the Bible alone. Along with the Holy Scripture, they are additionally bound by the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Catholics and Protestants have a different view on the nature of the church. The word "catholic" means "all-embracing," and the Catholic Church sees itself as the only true church worldwide, under the leadership of the pope.

In contrast, the Protestant Churches which have emerged from Reformation, also called "Evangelical," which means "according to the Gospel," do not make up one united Church. There are rather several tens of thousands of different denominations around the world. Officially, all of these many churches are considered equal. Protestants are not open at all to papal primacy.

According to the Evangelical view, this dogma contradicts statements in the Bible. Catholics see in the pope the successor of the Apostle Peter, the first head of their Church, who was appointed by Jesus. The papal office is justified by an allegedly unbroken chain of consecrations, ranging from the first century to the present. This continuous chain, known as the apostolic succession, is overall significant for different spiritual offices in the Catholic Church.

With the Sacrament of Holy Orders, bishops, priests and deacons receive a lifelong seal of God giving them sacramental authority over Catholic laypeople. This consecration can only be given to men. Protestants do not consecrate specific persons into office, but rather accept the principle that priesthood can be transferred to every believer — even to women. The Catholics' views on the spiritual office are reflected in the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, a rite commemorating the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples before his crucifixion.

Once consecrated by a priest in the name of Jesus, bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. Non-Catholics may not participate in Communion.

In the Protest Church, every baptized person is invited to share and is allowed to lead the Lord's Supper. This approach is not accepted by Catholics. Additionally, Eucharist has a different meaning for Catholics and Protestants. The bread, known as the Host, embodies Jesus and can therefore be prayed to. For Protestants, the ritual only serves to commemorate Jesus' death and resurrection. In the Roman Catholic Church, there are seven solemn rites, called sacraments: baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, matrimony, penance, holy orders and extreme unction.

The church believes these sacraments were instituted by Jesus and that they confer God's grace. Most Protestant churches only practice two of these sacraments: baptism and the Eucharist called Lord's Supper. They are perceived as symbolic rituals through which God delivers the Gospel. They are accepted through faith. Read more: How Martin Luther became the first Christian pop star.