Protestantism

===Main principles===
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|image1=Mikolow protestant church pulpit.jpg
|caption1=Two central figures of the [[Reformation|Protestant Reformation]], [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]], depicted on a church [[pulpit]]; both Luther and Calvin emphasized making preaching a centerpiece of worship.
|image2=Lutherbibel.jpg
|caption2=The [[Bible]] translated into [[vernacular]] by Martin Luther. In Protestantism, the Bible is the supreme authority of [[religious text|scripture]].}}
Various experts on the subject tried to determine what makes a Christian denomination a part of Protestantism. A common consensus approved by most of them is that if a Christian denomination is to be considered Protestant, it must acknowledge the following three fundamental principles of Protestantism.<ref name = "Encyclopedia of Protestantism">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-surname=Melton |editor-given=J. Gordon |editor-link=J. Gordon Melton |year=2005 |title=Encyclopedia of Protestantism |place=New York |publisher=Facts On File |series=Encyclopedia of World Religions |url={{Google books|id=bW3sXBjnokkC|plainurl=y|page=}} |isbn=0-8160-5456-8 |archive-date=2021-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323181207/https://books.google.com/books?id=bW3sXBjnokkC&pg=PR11 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

====Scripture alone====
{{main|Sola scriptura}}
The belief, emphasized by Luther, in the Bible as the highest source of authority for the church. The early churches of the Reformation believed in a critical, yet serious, reading of scripture and holding the Bible as a source of authority higher than that of [[Sacred Tradition|church tradition]]. The many abuses that had occurred in the Western Church before the Protestant Reformation led the Reformers to reject much of its tradition. In the early 20th century, a less critical reading of the Bible developed in the United States—leading to a "[[Christian fundamentalism|fundamentalist]]" reading of Scripture. Christian fundamentalists read the Bible as the "inerrant, [[Biblical infallibility|infallible]]" Word of God, as do the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches, but interpret it in a [[Biblical literalism|literalist]] fashion without using the [[historical-critical method]]. Methodists and Anglicans differ from Lutherans and the Reformed on this doctrine as they teach ''[[prima scriptura]]'', which holds that Scripture is the primary source for Christian doctrine, but that "tradition, experience, and reason" can nurture the Christian religion as long as they are in harmony with the Bible ([[Protestant Bible|Protestant canon]]).<ref name="WELS2014"/><ref name="Humphrey2013">{{cite book|last=Humphrey|first=Edith M.|title=Scripture and Tradition |year=2013|publisher=Baker Books|language=en |isbn=978-1-4412-4048-4|page=16|quote=historically Anglicans have adopted what could be called a prima Scriptura position.}}</ref>

"Biblical Christianity" focused on a deep study of the Bible is characteristic of most Protestants as opposed to "Church Christianity", focused on performing rituals and good works, represented by Catholic and Orthodox traditions. However, [[Quakers]], [[Pentecostalists]] and [[Spiritual Christianity|Spiritual Christians]] emphasize the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] and personal closeness to God.<ref>Woodhead, Linda. ''Christianity: A Very Short Introduction'' (Oxford University Press, 2014). pp. 57–70.</ref>

====Justification by faith alone====
{{main|Sola fide}}
The belief that believers are [[justification (theology)|justified]], or pardoned for sin, solely on condition of faith in [[Jesus|Christ]] rather than a combination of faith and [[good works]]. For Protestants, good works are a necessary consequence rather than cause of justification.<ref name="SchaffHerzog">{{cite book|first1=Johann Jakob|last1=Herzog|last2=Philip Schaff|first2=Albert|title=The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge|year=1911|page=419|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AmYAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA419|access-date=27 June 2015|archive-date=6 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906050433/https://books.google.com/books?id=AmYAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA419|url-status=live}}</ref> However, while justification is by faith alone, there is the position that faith is not ''nuda fides''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Justification by Faith in Catholic-Protestant Dialogue|last=Lane|first=Anthony|publisher=T & T Clark|year=2006|isbn=0567040046|location=London|page=27}}</ref> John Calvin explained that "it is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone: just as it is the heat alone of the sun which warms the earth, and yet in the sun it is not alone."<ref name=":0" /> Lutheran and Reformed Christians differ from Methodists in their understanding of this doctrine.<ref name="Bucher2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.orlutheran.com/html/methodism.html|title=Methodism|last=Bucher|first=Richard P.|year=2014|publisher=Lutheran Church Missouri Synod|location=Lexington|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725061927/http://www.orlutheran.com/html/methodism.html|archive-date=25 July 2014|quote=Also, for Methodists full salvation involves not only justification by faith, but repentance and holy living as well. Whereas in Lutheran theology the central doctrine and focus of all our worship and life is justification by grace through faith, for Methodists the central focus has always been holy living and the striving for perfection. Wesley gave the analogy of a house. He said repentance is the porch. Faith is the door. But holy living is the house itself. Holy living is true religion. “Salvation is like a house. To get into the house you first have to get on the porch (repentance) and then you have to go through the door (faith). But the house itself—one’s relationship with God—is holiness, holy living” (Joyner, paraphrasing Wesley, 3).}}</ref>

====Universal priesthood of believers====
The universal [[Priesthood of all believers|priesthood of believers]] implies the right and duty of the Christian laity not only to read the Bible in the [[vernacular]], but also to take part in the government and all the public affairs of the Church. It is opposed to the hierarchical system which puts the essence and authority of the Church in an exclusive priesthood, and which makes ordained priests the necessary mediators between God and the people.<ref name="SchaffHerzog" /> It is distinguished from the concept of the priesthood of all believers, which did not grant individuals the right to interpret the Bible apart from the Christian community at large because universal priesthood opened the door to such a possibility.<ref name="willsky">{{Cite book|title=American Unitarianism and the Protestant Dilemma: The Conundrum of Biblical Authority|last=Willsky-Ciollo|first=Lydia|publisher=Lexington Books |year=2015 |isbn=978-0739188927|location=Lanham, MD|pages=9–10}}</ref> There are scholars who cite that this doctrine tends to subsume all distinctions in the church under a single spiritual entity.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life|last=Chan|first=Simon|publisher=IVP Academic|year=1998|isbn=978-0830815425|location=Downers Grove, IL|page=105}}</ref> Calvin referred to the universal priesthood as an expression of the relation between the believer and his God, including the freedom of a Christian to come to God through Christ without human mediation.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=The Church in the Theology of the Reformers|last=Avis|first=Paul|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|year=2002|isbn=1592441009|location=Eugene, OR|page=95}}</ref> He also maintained that this principle recognizes Christ as [[prophet]], priest, and king and that his priesthood is shared with his people.<ref name=":1" />