Protestantism is an aspect of Christianity , which began in the 16th century, with the German Catholic priest Martinho Lutero .
Origin – Protestant Reformation
Martin Luther was unhappy with the church’s attitudes based on its economic and political power, including the payment of the faithful in atonement for their sins and the ostentation of the clergy.
Thus, in order to create the need to correct, to “reform” the Catholic church, Luther writes a manifesto known as 95 theses that are posted on the door of the church in Wittemberg, Germany.
The criticisms, however, were not accepted by Pope Leo X, who, in 1530, excommunicates Martin Luther and, consequently, leads to the separation of the church, giving rise to the Protestant church.
The Protestant religion gets its name because it originated in protests against the attitudes of the Catholic Church.
Protestants in Brazil and in the World
It was the Dutch who, in 1624, brought religion to our country, founding churches in the Northeast, but it was only around 1824 that religion began to spread in Brazil.
With the arrival of the royal family to Brazil, and with the opening of ports to friendly nations, the English and Germans brought, respectively, the Anglican and Lutheran churches. Later, other churches were brought in.
The number of Protestant believers has grown substantially in Brazil. Estimates show that there is a tendency for Protestantism to reach the number of Catholic believers who are currently the main religion in the country.
Protestantism has many ramifications. There are Presbyterian Protestants, Lutherans, Adventists, Baptists, among others. In Brazil, Baptists are first in number of believers.
With the Protestant Reformation, Protestantism began to gain adherents in Europe, especially in Germany.
Today, the USA is the country with the largest number of Protestant believers in the world.
Protestants and Catholics
Protestants, unlike Catholics, do not believe that salvation is achieved through the sacraments , but that the Bible itself contemplates everything necessary for that to happen.
Based on the sacred scripture, it dispenses the authority of someone who guides the church, because when following the Bible, they follow the very word of God. Thus, Protestants do not recognize the authority of the pope as the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church does .
Protestants, like orthodox Catholics , do not worship the saints and do not believe in the existence of purgatory, for both there is only heaven and hell.
Ascetic Protestantism and Capitalism
At the time of the Protestant Reformation, sociologist Max Weber speaks for the first time about asceticism .
Asceticisms is a philosophy that believes that the purification of the body leads to the purification of the soul, thus, it believes in renouncing worldly practices to achieve spirituality.
Max Weber’s best-known book, and one of the most important for Sociology, deals with the relationship between religion and economic issues and is called “The Protestant ethics and the“ spirit ”of capitalism” .
