Protestants
It has been over four centuries, since the beginning of the Protestant religion took place in America. Martin Luther, finding himself angry with the Catholic Church and wanting to break away from the restrictions and false beliefs planted inside many mines, started to define his own, new religion of Protestantism. Martin Luther believed the real way to find God, was through the soul of the person. Thus, a new religion was brought to the surface of the world, inspiring many people to question their beliefs and morals. Today, as we mark upon the 21st century, Protestantism is a very powerful belief, that has continued to make its mark upon society. The common beliefs that were started as the foundation of Protestants are still present in our society today. There are three main unifying themes that unite the many Protestant denominations: Individualism, Moralism and Higher law. Although many people have chosen to branch off to separate denominations the basic beliefs of Protestantism still implies in many situations. Under the guidance of Martin Luther, Protestants pressed for individualism. It was Luther's belief that the Roman Catholic hierarchy had become corrupt
This type of conformity to their own aspect of Protestantism is also evident in Puritans, Episcopalians and Pentecostalism. While they all have changed with time Protestantism is evident in all aspects if these religions. "Alcohol, gambling, sexual promiscuity and even dancing, they thought, could corrupt people and separate them from Jesus" (Albanese 410). Baptists follow Protestant traditions but believe that the practice of baptism should be preformed later in life opposed to at birth. and their practices were not in the best interest of the church. Puritans take Moralism to the extreme, not all Protestant denominations stress this belief as intensely as the Puritans, but the basic principle is still implied. What this did for the religion was provide viable truths found in the scriptures not just "a series of doctrinal truth to be accepted" (Albanese 104). Who is right? The teacher is following t!he high law of her religion but is in violation with United States law. An example of this would be Baptist. The problem with higher law was "in a nation of self-reliant and self-directed individuals, what law or authority could be the final court of appeal" (Albanese 421)? If a government says that something you are doing is against the law but your church encourages this action, what do you do? An example of where this could be an issue is religion in public schools. They practiced a life of being spiritually pure. If a teacher is preaching religion in a public school they can be arrested. It was believed that to be one with God you had to live a just, moral life, not just attend sermons. The basic creed of this concept put an emphasis on listening to what your conscience tell you is right and through that all is well. Through this form of "sola scritura" one could establish a personal relationship with god and decipher his word in your own way.
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