What is Protestantism?

from the old testament

• The Old Testament repeatedly emphasizes that God’s Word is the ultimate authority. God’s people were commanded to listen to His Word, obey it, and not add to or take away from it (Deuteronomy 4:1–2; 6:4–9). The prophets also confronted God’s people when their traditions, leaders, or practices ran counter to what God had commanded (Isaiah 29:13; Jeremiah 7:23–24). This provides an important biblical foundation for the Protestant emphasis on testing beliefs and practices against the Bible rather than treating human tradition as equal to God’s Word.
• The Old Testament also shows that salvation ultimately comes from God, not human effort. Abraham was counted righteous because he believed God (Genesis 15:6), and Habakkuk declares, “the righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). The sacrificial system pointed beyond itself to humanity’s need for God’s forgiveness and ultimately to the coming Messiah (Isaiah 53:4–6).

from the new testament

• The New Testament makes especially clear that salvation is a gift of God’s grace received through faith in Jesus Christ, not something we earn through good works. Paul writes that we are saved by grace through faith and “not a result of works” (Ephesians 2:8–9), and Romans teaches that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28). This became one of the central convictions of the Protestant Reformation: we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ, not because we have earned salvation.
• The New Testament also teaches the authority and sufficiency of Scripture. Paul says that Scripture is “breathed out by God” and equips believers for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17). The Bereans were even commended for examining the Scriptures to see whether Paul’s teaching was true (Acts 17:11). Jesus Himself challenged religious traditions when they contradicted God’s commands (Mark 7:6–13) because human traditions must never replace God’s Word.
• The New Testament also teaches that Jesus Christ—not a human priest, church leader, or institution—is our mediator with God (1 Timothy 2:5) and that believers can approach God directly through Christ (Hebrews 4:14–16). At the same time, Scripture does not teach that Christians should live independently of the church; believers are called to gather, worship, teach one another, serve one another, and live in community (Acts 2:42–47; Hebrews 10:24–25).
• Finally, the New Testament emphasizes that all believers are called to follow and serve Christ. Christians have different gifts and roles, but every believer belongs to Christ and is called to participate in His mission (1 Corinthians 12:12–27; 1 Peter 2:9). This connects with the Protestant emphasis often described as the “priesthood of all believers” as opposed to a special priesthood.

implications for today

Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that emphasizes the authority of Scripture, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and the believer’s direct access to God through Christ. It began in the 1500s as reformers challenged teachings and practices they believed had departed from biblical Christianity, particularly the idea that church tradition and church authority could stand alongside or above Scripture.

At the heart of Protestant belief are the five solas: Scripture alone as the ultimate authority, faith alone as the means by which we receive justification, grace alone as the source of salvation, Christ alone as the only Savior and Mediator, and to the glory of God alone as the purpose of salvation.

In contrast, Roman Catholicism—the major Christian tradition Protestantism arose in opposition to—also teaches that salvation comes through Christ and affirms the authority of Scripture but gives a significant authoritative role to Sacred Tradition and the teaching authority of the Church, including the Pope and bishops, and recognizes seven sacraments rather than the two ordinances generally recognized by Protestants. Protestants generally reject the idea that a priesthood is necessary to mediate between believers and God. Instead, they emphasize that Jesus alone is our Mediator and that every Christian can approach God through Him. However, Protestantism is not simply “anti-Catholic”; it is a broad family of Christian traditions—including Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, Pentecostal, and many non-denominational churches—that share core convictions while differing on many secondary doctrines. At its core, Protestantism asks Christians to continually bring their beliefs and practices back to the question: “What does the Bible say?”