• 10/07/2026

Keywords: 'Protestant'

‘Protestant’ (PROT-uh-stuhnt) can mean at least two different things. Pay attention to the context, so you don’t mix them up!

‘Protestant’ in the NARROW sense refers to the Churches which separated from the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century.
This process began when Martin Luther publicly criticised the teachings of the Catholic Church in 1517.
His supporters became known as ‘Protestants’ (from the Latin word prōtestārī, ‘to testify’).
The sixteenth-century Protestant churches include:
- The Lutheran Churches
- The Reformed Churches
- The Anabaptist Churches
Their theologies are somewhat different, but they do have a few beliefs in common:
- They value Scripture (the Bible) over tradition.
- They believe that people are justified (saved) by their faith alone, not by doing good works.
- They have a ‘priesthood of all believers’, rather than a separate ordained priesthood.
‘Protestant’ in the BROAD sense refers to any Church which is neither Catholic nor Orthodox.
Because this second sense is so broad, it is difficult to say anything that is true of all these churches!
The Church of England is a special case.
It could be considered Protestant in both senses.
But Anglicans sometimes refer to themselves as a via media (‘middle way’), which is neither fully Catholic nor fully Protestant.
For the exam, you must know what one or more Protestant Churches teach about:
- Believers’ Baptism
- The Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion)
- Justification
  - N.B. This is true of the AQA Specification (2025: 11–12). If you use a different exam board, check their specification!
It will usually be easiest to pick one or two Protestant denominations and just learn their beliefs for all of these!