Christianity-Protestant

[] || McDougal Littell World History Patterns of Interactions Protestant: Faith In America Protestant in America
 * ** Section 1-Beliefs ** ||
 * Protestantism is one of the sects under Christianity. The Protestants believe that the supreme being is God. God is considered to be the Holy Trinity. Now, the Holy Trinity is the father:God, The son: Jesus, and The Holy spirit: who is God's continuing presence of the lives of the Protestant people.(Page 9 of the Protestant faith in America Book) God exists in a place called Heaven, which is considered the afterlife for the Protestant people. In order to get to this "heaven," you must basically live a good life on earth, and follow the rules of God. The Protestant faith is not as strict or biblical as of the Catholic faiith. They welcome everyone to join their faith including homosexuals, and unlike the Catholic faith they do not believe that only men can be of authority. For example, in Protestism the priest, "or higher level of authority", can be of either male or female. They are the ones who speak the word of the God, and try to portray his message through speaking to others during Sunday mass or gathering, where they go to worship God in places such as churches. Their sacred text called the Bible. They believe that the the Bible is the "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth." (B.I.B.L.E.). The Bible contains scriptures or stories that people have written that they believe are the teachings or the Word of God. ||
 * ** Section 2-History of the Faith in America ** ||
 * Protestantism began when Martin Luther, a monk in Germany, disagreed with the ways of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman church was selling indulgences, which are pardons that forgave people for their sins. Martin Luther though this was unfair and only benefited the rich. He nailed 95 theses to the church door. Eventually people began listening and agreeing with what Luther was saying. This period of time was known as the Protestant Reformation. The Pilgrims were the first Christians to come to America and they were the first to bring Protestantism as well. Since Protestantism had started and spread throughout Europe first, the first settlers may have been Protestant and brought this religion with them. As the colonies expanded, the number of Protestants grew. By 1600, Protestantism began dividing into different sects. The division was due to either geography and where people lived, influence of rulers, or the inability for Protestants to agree among each other. Those sects are Lutheranism, which is based off teachings of Martin Luther, Anglicanism, which is based off of King Henry VIII’s teachings, and Calvinism, which is based off the teachings of John Calvin. Within those three sects there are smaller branches such Baptist, Reformed, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, etc. (McDougal Littell World History Patterns of Interaction Book page 491)By the 1740s, Protestants were the dominating religious group in the colonies. Since they were the dominating group, many Protestants didn’t face discrimination. Now there are about 65 million Protestants in the United States. (McDougal Littell World History Patterns of Interaction Book page 491) George Whitefield was a minister for Church of England in the 1740s. George Whitefield preached several times a week and won the minds and hearts of those in all groups of Protestantism and Christianity. He came to the colonies as a Protestant Christian. (Protestant: Faith In America Book) ||
 * ** Section 3-How does the Faith Look in America ** ||
 * Protestantism is a fairly difficult sect to separate from the others at a glance. This sect is in almost all ways identical to the Catholic faith, except for a few differences. For instance, the Protestants do not believe in worshipping any idols, such as the virgin Mary, or any statues of Jesus Chirst. Also the only things that they take for holy practices is baptism, communion and other ceremonies that follow the communion. Another difference is that Protestants are not as open to believing in things such as evolution. They mainly believe in the teachings of the Bible, which says that only God created and put everything that is and was on this earth for a reason. Another thing to address is that the Protestants have no outward appearance that suggest that they follow this specific religion. They look like any average American, and the same goes for the Protestant churches. They look exactly the same as any Catholic church you might see or visit. There are more Protestants in the northeast section of America. This might be because Protestantism originated when the Pilgrims came to America. Since that's where the original colonies were, more Protestants and Protestant churches are located there.
 * Protestantism is a fairly difficult sect to separate from the others at a glance. This sect is in almost all ways identical to the Catholic faith, except for a few differences. For instance, the Protestants do not believe in worshipping any idols, such as the virgin Mary, or any statues of Jesus Chirst. Also the only things that they take for holy practices is baptism, communion and other ceremonies that follow the communion. Another difference is that Protestants are not as open to believing in things such as evolution. They mainly believe in the teachings of the Bible, which says that only God created and put everything that is and was on this earth for a reason. Another thing to address is that the Protestants have no outward appearance that suggest that they follow this specific religion. They look like any average American, and the same goes for the Protestant churches. They look exactly the same as any Catholic church you might see or visit. There are more Protestants in the northeast section of America. This might be because Protestantism originated when the Pilgrims came to America. Since that's where the original colonies were, more Protestants and Protestant churches are located there.
 * ** Section 4-Challenges Followers Face in America ** ||
 * Just as many other religions do, Protestantism faces many challenges in America. Since the Protestant faith is not as strict or biblical as the Catholic faith, American's tend to not see it so much as being a strong religion. For example, in most faiths, the men are always of higher authority but that is not the case in Protestantism. Both of the sexes are able to become high leaders of the church. Also, the Protestants welcome the gay community with open arms. They feel that people are all equal and no matter what sex they are attracted to, it does not matter because they are the children of God. Plus, since the Protestants do not strictly follow the bible as much as Catholics do, so some portions of America do not tolerate their religion because they feel that it is not strong enough to withstand on its own. Americans feel that they basically took from the Catholic faith, and tried to create their own religion, not based on the lord but on themselves. Although there are not laws against Protestants in particular, there are some laws that discriminate against a certain group of people that could be Christian. One of these laws is the law against gay marriage. In America there aren't laws that discriminate against Christians but in other countries such as Britain or Israel there are such laws. Many Protestants feel free to express their thoughts and feelings in the public. On the other hand, many of their opinions and thoughts can spark debates on topics such as the GLBT community. (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender). ||
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