Explain the distinction between Protestantism and Lutheranism, and why the distinction is important.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Luther had very specific ideas, which included a priesthood of all believers and salvation through faith alone, ideas that resonated with a widespread desire for an overhaul of the Catholic Church and participation by the laity. However, Luther's positions on justification and salvation were merely one of a burgeoning number of challenges to church authority. Many people offered different approaches to reforms of the church, and a large-scale fragmentation of religion occurred in the wake of Luther's trial and the widespread popularity of his pamphlets. While his ideas had a particular following, others built on his works and took them as a basic platform for splitting away from the Catholic Church. Zwingli, for example, argued for no representation in churches of Christ or the saints, and argued that Communion was merely a symbolic offering commemorating the Last Supper. Anabaptists argued that only adults who were capable of understanding the concepts of religion should be baptized, and that any person who would read the Bible was capable of understanding it through divine guidance. Calvinism suggested that Luther's basic concepts were sound but added several other ideas, including predestination (the idea that God had predetermined whether an individual was bound for salvation or damnation). Protestantism took different forms in different areas, some supported by local political structures, but all with various degrees of opposition to what was perceived as the religious monopoly held by the Catholic Church.