Protestant Church: what is it, how did it arise? Main differences from the Catholic Church. List of countries where Protestantism is widespread. Protestants - who are they? Catholics and Protestants Protestants in Russia

One of the three main directions of Christianity, along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, is Protestantism. Protestantism is a collection of numerous independent churches and sects associated with the broad anti-Catholic movement of the 16th century in Europe, called the Reformation. The medieval bourgeoisie, fighting against the Catholic Church, which sanctified feudalism, set as its goal not to abolish it, but only to reform it, to adapt it to its class interests.

Protestantism shares common Christian ideas about the Existence of God, His Trinity, the Immortality of the Soul, heaven and hell. Protestantism put forward three new principles: salvation by personal faith, the priesthood of all believers, and the exclusive authority of the Bible. According to the teachings of Protestantism, original sin perverted the nature of man, depriving him of the ability to do good, so he can achieve salvation not through good deeds, sacraments and asceticism, but only through personal faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Every Christian of the Protestant faith, being baptized and elected, receives “initiation” to supernatural communication with God, the right to preach and perform divine services without intermediaries, that is, the church and the clergy. Thus, in Protestantism, the dogmatic distinction between priest and layman is removed, and therefore the church hierarchy is abolished. A minister of the Protestant Church is deprived of the right to confess and absolve sins. Unlike Catholics, Protestants do not have a vow of celibacy for church ministers; there are no monasteries or monasticism. Worship in the Protestant church is extremely simplified and reduced to preaching, prayer and singing psalms in the native language. Having rejected the Holy Tradition, the Bible was proclaimed the only source of doctrine. Currently, Protestantism is most widespread in the Scandinavian countries, the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Canada. The world center of Protestantism is located in the USA, where the headquarters of Baptists, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and other religious movements are located. A variety of Protestantism are the Lutheran and Anglican churches.

§ 75. The Protestant churches which arose as a result of the reform movement are quite numerous. Their structure, both national and religious, is diverse. The hierarchy of the Lutheran Church originates from the Catholic hierarchy that preceded it. It does not have diplomatic missions.

§ 76. The Anglican Church in Great Britain has the status of a state church. In the English protocol, English archbishops and bishops are assigned strictly defined places. It retained the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church: archbishop, bishop, suffragan, dean, archdeacon, canon, pastor, vicar, curate and deacon.

Archbishops have the right to address themselves as "His Grace".
Bishops have the right to be addressed as "Lord".
The rest of the church hierarchy is called "Reverend".

Who are Protestants

Do you know who Protestants are and what they fought against? Are you sure that Protestants, Orthodox and Catholics have nothing in common? Are you wondering what Protestants believe? Then read on.

WHAT IS “CHURCH”?

There is a misconception that a church is an architectural structure. In fact, the word “church” (from the Greek ecclesia) means “an assembly of people.” Therefore, a church is a meeting of people who believe in Jesus Christ, and a temple is a building where the church gathers.

NUMBER OF CHRISTIANS IN THE WORLD

In terms of the number of followers, Christianity is the largest religion in the world. According to research, adherents of Christianity make up 33% of the world's population.

Just over half of all Christians (more than 1.2 billion) are Catholics. The second (in terms of the number of believers) direction of Christianity is Protestantism. There are currently about 800 million Protestants in the world. The third major movement within Christianity unites Orthodox believers and has about 314 million adherents.

WHAT ARE “CONFESSIONS”?

Confession (from the Latin Confession - confession) is a feature of religion within a certain religious teaching, as well as an association of believers who adhere to this religion. Confessions are different branches of Christianity, united in basic dogmas, but differing in the details of doctrine and the form of worship. Protestantism is one of the three, along with Catholicism and Orthodoxy, main denominations of Christianity, which is a collection of independent churches, church unions and denominations.

WHERE DOES THE PROTESTANT MOVEMENT START FROM?

On October 31, 1517, in the city of Wittenberg (Germany), priest Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the gates of the local church in protest against violations of the biblical commandments by the Catholic Church of that time. This event marked the beginning of the emergence of a movement for the Reformation of the Church, which received the name “Protestantism,” which (from the Latin - protestans) means “publicly proving.”

Protestantism did not try to reform Catholicism from within; the new movement broke away from this Church and was defined as the Reformation (from the Latin reformayio - “restoration in its original form”). Reformation Protestants considered themselves not so much innovators who brought new teachings, but rather adherents of ancient traditions who rediscovered ancient truths that had been lost during the centuries of the Middle Ages.

FUNDAMENTALS OF PROTESTANT BELIEF

The Protestant doctrine is based on five theses, formed during the Reformation and received the “Five “Only”” (translated from Latin - Quinque sola):

1. Sola Scriptura – “Only the Bible.”
The only and absolute rule and standard by which all doctrines and all teachers are to be judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

2. Sola fide – “Only by faith.”
Justification can only be by faith, regardless of the performance of good deeds and any external sacred rites.

3. Sola gratia – “By grace alone.”
A person cannot earn salvation or somehow participate in my salvation. Salvation is a good gift from God to man.

4. Solus Christus - “Only Christ.”
Christ is the only mediator between God and man, and salvation is possible only through faith in Him.

5. Soli Deo Gloria - “Glory to God alone.”
Man must honor and worship only God, since salvation is granted only through His will and actions.

FORM OF SERVICE IN THE PROTESTANT CHURCH

Protestant houses of worship are generally free of opulent decoration, images and statues. The church building can be any building that is leased. Protestant worship centers on preaching, prayer, the singing of psalms and hymns, and communion.

The Protestant movement has been successfully developing throughout the world to this day. In 92 countries of the world, Protestantism is the largest denomination of Christianity, including in 49 countries, Protestants make up the majority of the population. And countries professing Protestantism are economically and culturally developed.

In society there is such a phenomenon as Protestant churches, or as they are often called in our country - “sects”. Some people are fine with it, others are very negative about it. You can often hear that Baptists, who are Protestants, sacrifice babies, and Pentecostals turn off the lights at meetings.

In this article we want to provide you with information about Protestantism: to reveal the history of the Protestant movement, the basic doctrinal principles of Protestantism, and to touch upon the reasons for the negative attitude towards it in society.

The Big Encyclopedic Dictionary reveals the meaning of the words “Sect”, “Sectarianism”, “Protestantism”:
SECT (from Latin secta - teaching, direction, school) is a religious group, community that has broken away from the dominant church. In a figurative sense, a group of people isolated in their own narrow interests.

SECTANTISM - religious, designation of religious associations that are in opposition to one or another dominant religious movement. In history, social and national liberation movements often took the form of sectarianism. Some sects acquired features of fanaticism and extremism. A number of sects cease to exist, some turn into churches. Known: Adventists, Baptists, Doukhobors, Molokans, Pentecostals, Khlysty, etc.

PROTESTANTISM (from Latin protestans, gen. protestantis - publicly proving), one of the main trends in Christianity. Broke away from Catholicism during the Reformation in the 16th century. Unites many independent movements, churches and sects (Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anglican Church, Methodists, Baptists, Adventists, etc.). Protestantism is characterized by the absence of a fundamental opposition between the clergy and the laity, the rejection of a complex church hierarchy, a simplified cult, the absence of monasticism, and celibacy; in Protestantism there is no cult of the Mother of God, saints, angels, icons, the number of sacraments is reduced to two (baptism and communion).

The main source of doctrine is Holy Scripture. Protestantism is widespread mainly in the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavian countries and Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Latvia, Estonia. Thus, Protestants are Christians who belong to one of several independent Christian churches.

They are Christians, and together with Catholics and Orthodox Christians they share the fundamental principles of Christianity. For example, they all accept the Nicene Creed, adopted by the first Council of the Church in 325, as well as the Nicene Creed of Constantinople, adopted by the Council of Chalcedon in 451 (See box). They all believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, in His divine essence and future coming. All three schools accept the Bible as the Word of God and agree that repentance and faith are necessary to have eternal life.

However, the views of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants on some issues differ. Protestants value the authority of the Bible above all else. Orthodox and Catholics value their traditions more highly and believe that only the leaders of these Churches can interpret the Bible correctly. Despite their differences, all Christians agree with the prayer of Christ recorded in the Gospel of John (17:20-21): “I pray not for these only, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one... "

HISTORY OF PROTESTANTITY One of the first Protestant reformers was priest, professor of theology Jan Hus, a Slav who lived in the territory of modern Czech Republic and became a martyr for the faith in 1415. Jan Hus taught that Scripture is more important than tradition. The Protestant Reformation spread throughout Europe in 1517 when another Catholic priest and theology professor named Martin Luther called for renewal of the Catholic Church. He said that when the Bible conflicts with church traditions, the Bible must be obeyed. Luther said that the Church was doing wrong by selling the opportunity to go to heaven for money. He also believed that salvation came through faith in Christ and not through trying to “earn” eternal life through good works.

The Protestant Reformation is now spreading throughout the world. As a result, such churches as Lutheran, Anglican, Dutch Reformed, and later Baptist, Pentecostal and others, including charismatic, were formed. According to Operation Peace, there are about 600 million Protestants, 900 million Catholics and 250 million Orthodox Christians worldwide.

At first glance, it may seem that Protestants appeared on the territory of the CIS only with the collapse of the USSR and came from America. In fact, Protestants first came to Russia during the time of Ivan the Terrible and by 1590 they were already in Siberia. Over a nine-year period (from 1992 to 2000), 11,192 Christian communities were registered on the territory of Ukraine, of which 5,772 (51.6%) were Orthodox and 3,755 (33.5%) Protestant (According to the State Committee of Ukraine for Religious Affairs) .

Thus, Protestantism in Ukraine has long gone beyond the boundaries of “a group of people secluded in their own narrow interests,” since more than a third of all churches in the country cannot be called a “sect.” Protestant churches are officially registered by the state, they are open to everyone and do not hide their activities. Their main goal remains to convey to people the Gospel of the Savior.

DOCTRINAL PRINCIPLES

CHURCH TRADITIONS Protestants have nothing against church traditions, except when these traditions contradict Scripture. They substantiate this primarily with the remark of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew (15:3, 6): “...Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?... Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.”

BAPTISM Protestants believe in the Bible's statement that baptism should follow only repentance (Acts 2:3) and believe that baptism without repentance is meaningless. Protestants do not support infant baptism because an infant cannot repent due to his ignorance of good and evil. Jesus said, “Suffer the little children and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). Protestants rely on the fact that the Bible does not describe a single case of infant baptism, especially since even Jesus waited until he was 30 years old for his baptism.

ICONS Protestants believe that the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:4) prohibit the use of images for worship: “You shall not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth.” Leviticus 26:1 says: “You shall not make idols or graven images for yourselves, neither shall you set up pillars for yourselves, nor shall you place gravestones with images on your land to bow down to them; for I am the Lord your God.” Therefore, Protestants do not use images for worship for fear that some people may worship these images instead of God.

PRAYERS TO THE SAINTS Protestants prefer to follow the instructions of Jesus, where He taught us to pray saying: “Pray like this: Our Father who art in heaven!” (Matt. 6:9). Moreover, there are no examples in Scripture of anyone praying to Mary or the saints. They believe that the Bible forbids praying to people who have died, even to Christians in heaven, basing this on Deuteronomy (18:10-12), which says: “You shall not have anyone who inquires of the dead.” God condemned Saul for contacting Saint Samuel after his death (1 Chron. 10:13-14).

THE VIRGIN MARY Protestants believe that Mary was a wonderful example of Christian obedience to God and that she remained a virgin until Jesus was born. The basis for this is the Gospel of Matthew (1:25), which says that Joseph, her husband, “knew her not before she gave birth to her firstborn Son,” and other passages from the Bible that talk about the brothers and sisters of Jesus ( Matthew 12:46, 13:55-56, Mark 3:31, John 2:12, 7:3). But they do not believe that Mary was sinless because in Luke 1:47 she called God her Savior; if Mary had been without sin, she would not have needed a Savior.

CHURCH Protestants believe that there is only one true Church, but do not believe that it is part of any man-made organization. This true Church consists of all people who love God and serve Him through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of what denomination they belong to.

CHURCH FATHERS Protestants respect and value the teachings of the Church Fathers (church leaders who lived after the apostles) when these teachings are in agreement with Scripture. This is based on the fact that often the Church Fathers do not agree with each other.

POWERS OF SAINTS Protestants do not believe that the relics of saints contain any special power because the Bible does not teach this. Protestants believe that the Bible does not indicate that Christians should honor the bodies of the dead.

CUTANES AND THE TITLE “FATHER” Protestant ministers do not wear cassocks because neither Jesus nor the apostles wore any special clothing. There is also no indication in this regard in the New Testament. They are not usually called "father" because Jesus said in Matthew 23:9, "And call no one on earth your father..." which, in their opinion, means that we should not declare anyone -or your spiritual master.

SIGN OF THE CROSS AND THE CROSS Protestants do not object to the sign of the cross, but since Scripture does not teach it, they do not teach it either. The Protestant and Catholic Churches, unlike the Orthodox Church, prefer to use a simple cross.

ICONOSTASES Protestants and Catholics believe that the iconostasis symbolizes the curtain separating people from the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem. They believe that when God tore it in two at the death of Jesus (Matt. 27:51), He was saying that we are no longer separated from Him because of the blood He shed so that we could be forgiven.

WORSHIP PLACES Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Protestants believe that worship is sanctified not by the place where the service is held, not by the building, but by the presence of Christ among the believers. The Bible also says that Christians are the temple of God, not buildings: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). The Bible shows that the early Christians held services in many different places: in the school (Acts 19:9), in the Jewish synagogues (Acts 18:4, 26;19:8), in the Jewish temple (Acts 3:1) , and in private homes (Acts 2:46; 5:42; 18:7; Philip.1:2; 18:7; Col.4:15; Rom.16:5 and 1 Cor.16:19 ). Evangelism services, according to the Bible, took place near the river (Acts 16:13), in the street crowd (Acts 2:14) and in the public square (Acts 17:17). There is no evidence in the Bible that the first Christians held services in a church building.

REASONS FOR NEGATIVE ATTITUDES TOWARDS PROTESTANTS Officially, Orthodoxy came to the territory of present-day Ukraine in 988, when the rulers of Rus' introduced Orthodox Christianity as the state religion. Much earlier, the disciples of Christ came to the land of the Scythians in order to convey the Good News of the Savior to the barbarian peoples. The most famous is the coming to Kyiv of Jesus’ disciple, Andrew, who was popularly called “The First Called.” At that time, there was no division of Christianity into Roman and Byzantine, that is, into Catholic and Orthodox, and Andrei represented completely Protestant views - he preached based only on the word of God; held meetings wherever possible (there were no churches yet); baptized only adults.

With the strengthening of the position of the Orthodox Church in Rus', and then in Tsarist Russia, everything non-Orthodox became anti-state. At first this was due to wars in which Catholics fought against Orthodox Christians, and then to the strengthening of the power of the sovereign, since it is much easier to manage one religion than several. Protestants or “non-believers” were expelled to remote regions, and everyone who remained hid from persecution. The authorities and leadership of the Orthodox Church in every possible way encouraged the humiliation of the rights of other religions.

After 1917, the new government tried to completely get rid of the “opium of the people” by destroying churches and physically exterminating believers. But after certain difficulties and discontent of the population, the power of the councils left only one church to exist - the Orthodox. And Protestants, along with Catholics, Greek Catholics, and representatives of other denominations, are either serving time in camps or hiding from the authorities. In such conditions, the only way to hold Protestant meetings was in houses and basements, and to protect them from the eyes of “well-wishers,” the lights were turned off. At the same time, to discriminate against anti-state religions, stories about the sacrifices of Baptists, the low cultural and educational level of Pentecostals, the witchcraft of charismatics, and more are spread in the press and among the people. Thus, for decades, society has subconsciously cultivated a negative attitude towards everything non-Orthodox. And now it is very difficult for people to overcome these negative stereotypes and accept Protestants as Christians.

Now that you know the history of the Protestant movement, its basic doctrinal principles, and understand the reasons for the negative attitude towards Protestantism in society, you can decide for yourself whether or not to accept Protestants as Christians. But today says the following: Protestants are 3755 churches in Ukraine in 9 years!

Yes, they differ from the usual Orthodox Church in some issues, but the goal of both the Orthodox, Catholics, and Protestants is the same - to preach the Gospel and lead people to Salvation. And Protestants have been coping with it better and better lately. It is Protestants who conduct mass evangelism and meetings in which more and more people come to Jesus Christ. It is Protestants who tell people about the Savior through all types of media.

By basing their ministry directly on the Bible, Protestants provide people with another path to Christ, a path to salvation. By fulfilling the instructions of Jesus Christ, Protestants bring His Salvation closer!

Roman CAT

Christian newspaper "Word of Awakening" http://gazetasp.net/

Denomination or sect, church or...

The Big Encyclopedic Dictionary reveals the meaning of the words “Sect”, “Sectarianism”, “Protestantism”:

SECT(from Latin secta - teaching, direction, school) - a religious group, community that has broken away from the dominant church. In a figurative sense, a group of people isolated in their own narrow interests.

SECTARIANISM- religious, the designation of religious associations that are in opposition to one or another dominant religious movement. In history, social and national liberation movements often took the form of sectarianism. Some sects acquired features of fanaticism and extremism. A number of sects cease to exist, some turn into churches. Known: Adventists, Baptists, Doukhobors, Molokans, Pentecostals, Khlysty, etc.

However, the views of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants on some issues differ. Protestants value the authority of the Bible above all else. Orthodox and Catholics value their traditions more highly and believe that only the leaders of these Churches can interpret the Bible correctly. Despite their differences, all Christians agree with the prayer of Christ recorded in the Gospel of John (17:20-21): “I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one...”

HISTORY OF PROTESTANTITY

One of the first Protestant reformers was a priest, professor of theology Jan Hus, a Slav who lived in the territory of modern Czech Republic and became a martyr for the faith in 1415. Jan Hus taught that Scripture is more important than tradition. The Protestant Reformation spread throughout Europe in 1517 when another Catholic priest and theology professor named Martin Luther called for renewal of the Catholic Church. He said that when the Bible conflicts with church traditions, the Bible must be obeyed. Luther said that the Church was doing wrong by selling the opportunity to go to heaven for money. He also believed that salvation came through faith in Christ and not through trying to “earn” eternal life through good works.

DOCTRINAL PRINCIPLES

CHURCH TRADITIONS

Protestants have nothing against church traditions, except when these traditions contradict Scripture. They base this primarily on Jesus' remark in Matthew (15:3, 6): “...Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?... Thus you have made void the commandment of God by your tradition.”

BAPTISM

Protestants believe in the Bible's statement that baptism should follow only repentance (Acts 2:3) and believe that baptism without repentance is meaningless. Protestants do not support infant baptism because an infant cannot repent due to his ignorance of good and evil. Jesus said: “Suffer the little children and do not hinder them from coming to Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14). Protestants rely on the fact that the Bible does not describe a single case of infant baptism, especially since even Jesus waited until he was 30 years old for his baptism.

ICONS

Protestants believe that the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:4) prohibit the use of images for worship: “You shall not make for yourself any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth.”. The Book of Leviticus (26:1) records: “You shall not make for yourselves idols or graven images, nor shall you erect pillars for yourself, nor shall you place stones with images on your land to bow down to them; for I am the Lord your God.” Therefore, Protestants do not use images for worship for fear that some people may worship these images instead of God.

PRAYERS TO THE SAINTS

Protestants prefer to follow the instructions of Jesus, where He taught us to pray saying: “Pray like this: Our Father who art in heaven!”(Matt. 6:9). Moreover, there are no examples in Scripture of anyone praying to Mary or the saints. They believe that the Bible forbids praying to people who have died, even to Christians in heaven, basing this on Deuteronomy 18:10-12, which says: “The one who inquires of the dead should not be with you.”. God condemned Saul for contacting Saint Samuel after his death (1 Chron. 10:13-14).

THE VIRGIN MARY

Protestants believe that Mary was a perfect example of Christian obedience to God, and that she remained a virgin until Jesus was born. The basis for this is the Gospel of Matthew (1:25), which says that Joseph, her husband, “I did not know Her when She finally gave birth to Her firstborn Son”, and other passages from the Bible that talk about the brothers and sisters of Jesus (Matt. 12:46, 13:55-56, Mark 3:31, John 2:12, 7:3). But they do not believe that Mary was sinless because in Luke 1:47 she called God her Savior; if Mary had been without sin, she would not have needed a Savior.

CHURCH

Protestants believe that there is only one true Church, but do not believe that it is part of any human-made organization. This true Church consists of all people who love God and serve Him through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of what denomination they belong to.

CHURCH FATHERS

Protestants respect and value the teachings of the Church Fathers (church leaders who lived after the apostles) when these teachings are in agreement with Scripture. This is based on the fact that often the Church Fathers do not agree with each other.

RELICS OF SAINTS

Protestants do not believe that the relics of saints contain any special power because the Bible does not teach this. Protestants believe that the Bible does not indicate that Christians should honor the bodies of the dead.

SUTANES AND THE TITLE “FATHER”

Protestant ministers do not wear cassocks because neither Jesus nor the apostles wore any special clothing. There is also no indication in this regard in the New Testament. They are not usually called "father" because Jesus said in Matthew 23:9: “And don’t call anyone on earth your father...”, which according to them means that we should not claim anyone as our spiritual master.

SIGN OF THE CROSS AND CROSS

Protestants do not object to the sign of the cross, but since Scripture does not teach it, they do not teach it either. The Protestant and Catholic Churches, unlike the Orthodox Church, prefer to use a simple cross.

ICONOSTASES

Protestants and Catholics believe that the iconostasis symbolizes the veil that separates people from the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple. They believe that when God tore it in two at the death of Jesus (Matt. 27:51), He was saying that we are no longer separated from Him because of the blood He shed so that we could be forgiven.

WORSHIP PLACES

Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew (18:20): “For where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them.”. Protestants believe that worship is sanctified not by the place where the service is held, not by the building, but by the presence of Christ among the believers. The Bible also says that Christians are the temple of God, not buildings: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16).

The Bible shows that the early Christians held services in many different places: in the school (Acts 19:9), in the Jewish synagogues (Acts 18:4, 26;19:8), in the Jewish temple (Acts 3:1) , and in private homes (Acts 2:46; 5:42; 18:7; Philip.1:2; 18:7; Col.4:15; Rom.16:5 and 1 Cor.16:19 ). Evangelism services, according to the Bible, took place near the river (Acts 16:13), in the street crowd (Acts 2:14) and in the public square (Acts 17:17). There is no evidence in the Bible that the first Christians held services in a church building.

REASONS FOR NEGATIVE ATTITUDES TOWARD PROTESTANTS

Orthodoxy officially came to the territory of what is now Ukraine in 988, when the rulers of Rus' introduced Orthodox Christianity as the state religion. Much earlier, the disciples of Christ came to the land of the Scythians in order to convey the Good News of the Savior to the barbarian peoples. The most famous is the coming to Kyiv of Jesus’ disciple, Andrew, who was popularly called “The First Called.” At that time, there was no division of Christianity into Roman and Byzantine, that is, into Catholic and Orthodox, and Andrei represented completely Protestant views - he preached based only on the word of God; held meetings wherever possible (there were no churches yet); baptized only adults.

Roman CAT

newspaper "Word of Awakening"»

Materials used when writing this article:

The differences in modern Protestantism are not so much differences between different directions, churches and denominations in doctrine and structure, but rather differences between trends within Protestantism itself. Since the middle of the 20th century, major movements of Protestantism in our country, as well as in the whole world, have been strongly influenced by the external environment, a world that is increasingly becoming secular. There are fewer and fewer people who regularly attend worship services. At the same time, circles for intensive study of the Bible and understanding it in relation to the era appear; faith becomes not just inherited from the past generation, but independently gained.

All these remarks apply entirely to the Protestant churches in this country, or to the "sects" as they were recently called.

Sectarian movements, “reformation” in the broad sense, appeared in Rus' around the 14th century. Its main forms were Skoptchestvo, Christian Belief, Doukhoborism, Sabbatarianism, usually represented by various groups. All of them resolutely rejected the Orthodox Church, external piety in favor of internal faith (“God is not in the logs, but in the ribs”), and sought to create self-governing communities as prototypes of the “kingdom of God.”

The first Protestant association in Russia was the sect of Mennonites or “peaceful Anabaptists” that arose in Holland in the 16th century. Their preaching was distinguished by the ideas of humility and submission, renunciation of violence and war, which were later clearly entrenched in the religious requirement of renouncing military service and the use of weapons. This brought upon them severe persecution by the authorities. After Catherine II allowed foreigners to settle in Russia (1763), Mennonites from Germany began to move to the south of Ukraine and the Volga region. Their appearance in Russia did not have much impact on the religious situation of that time.

The widespread spread of Protestantism in our country began in the 60-70s of the 19th century with the emergence of followers of Evangelical Baptists from Germany. They carried out active preaching work and began to found communities in the regions of the Caucasus, Southern Ukraine, the Baltic states and St. Petersburg. The first Russian Baptist was the merchant N. Voronin, who was baptized in faith in Tiflis in 1867. The growth in the number of evangelical Christians, Baptists and followers of other movements of Protestantism caused an extremely negative reaction from the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Soon persecution and repression began.

In the resolution of the meeting of Orthodox leaders under the leadership of K.P. Pobedonostsev, who was at that time chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, said in particular: “The rapid growth of sectarianism is a serious danger for the state. All sectarians should be prohibited from leaving their place of residence. All crimes against the Orthodox Church should be dealt with not in secular, but in spiritual courts. The passports of sectarians must be marked in a special way so that they are not accepted for work or residence anywhere until life in Russia becomes unbearable for them. Their children must be taken away by force and raised in the Orthodox faith."

Only in 1905, with the issuance of the decree on religious tolerance of April 17 and the Manifesto on the granting of civil liberties of October 17, were Protestant churches able to conduct missionary and publishing activities.

The largest Protestant movement in Russia is Baptistism. The name comes from the Greek “to immerse”, “to baptize in water”. The current name of the church was formed from the names of two related movements: Baptists, who initially bore the name “Christians baptized by faith” and mainly lived in the south of the Russian state, and the church of “Evangelical Christians”, which appeared somewhat later, mainly in the north of the country.

The unification of churches of the Evangelical confession was achieved on the basis of the Agreement of Evangelical Christians and Baptists in 1944. In 1945, an agreement was concluded with representatives of Pentecostal churches, called the “August Agreement”, in 1947 an agreement was reached with Christians in the spirit of the apostles, and in 1963 Mennonites were accepted into the union.

Pentecostals base their doctrine on the Gospel's instructions about the "descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles" on the fiftieth day after Easter. Mennonites consider humility, renunciation of violence, even if it is committed for the common good, and moral self-improvement to be the most essential features of Christianity.

The Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists has been part of the Baptist World Union since its founding in 1905 and shares the seven biblical principles - theological foundations developed by the World Fellowship: “The Holy Scriptures, the books of the Old and New Testaments (canonical) are the basis of the Creed. The Church must consist "exclusively from regenerate people. The commandments about Baptism and the Lord's Supper (communion) also belong to regenerate people. Independence of each local church. Equality of all members of the local church. Freedom of conscience for all. Separation of church and state."

The Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists - both in general and in each local church - considers its tasks to be the preaching of the Gospel, the spiritual education of believers to achieve holiness, Christian piety and observance of the commandments of Christ in life, the development and strengthening of the unity of believers in accordance with the High Priestly Prayer of Christ, active participation in social service.

Now the Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists of Russia publishes two magazines, “Brotherly Messenger” and “Christian and Time,” more than a dozen newspapers, publishes Bibles, collections of spiritual songs, and other Christian literature.

Another Protestant church common in modern Russia is the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The founder of this movement is considered to be the American prophetess Ellen White, who, guided by her “visions” in which “the Lord revealed truths to her,” developed the ideas of Adventism. The main thing was the instruction to celebrate not only Sunday, but Saturday, of all days of the week, when it is impossible not only to work, but even to cook food. Thus, the fulfillment of the fourth biblical commandment was put at the forefront: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy: six days you shall work and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall not do any work. .." (Ex. 20: 8 - 10).

Seventh-day Adventists have developed dogma, rituals, and a way of life in which the so-called “sanitary reform” plays a special role. Its theological justification lies in the assertion that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and, in order not to destroy it, one should lead an appropriate lifestyle. They have food prohibitions, as well as a ban on drinking tea, coffee, alcoholic drinks, and smoking.

Today there are more than 30 thousand Seventh-day Adventists in our country, they have about 450 houses of worship. The central body of this church is located in the Tula region in the village of Zaoksky, where they operate a theological school and seminary, and a radio and television center. The Church publishes newspapers and a number of magazines jointly with foreign Adventists. Church members help kindergartens, hospitals, and the elderly. A rehabilitation center has been created in the Tula region under the leadership of Valentin Dikul, where sick children are helped.

Among other Protestant movements operating in modern Russia, one should name Christians of the Evangelical faith or Pentecostals. The name goes back to the Gospel story that during the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost (50th day after Easter), the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and they “were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues” (Acts 2:4). Believers of this denomination practice “speaking in other tongues” during prayer meetings, believing in the possibility of the Holy Spirit indwelling true believers. In Russia this church has several movements.

In 1992, a religious and social organization called the “Salvation Army” began to actively operate in our country. The movement arose in England in the last century, has a strict organization: Salvation Army soldiers swear an oath of allegiance to God, serve people and God, abstain from alcohol, smoking, drug addiction, and other bad habits. They are involved in evangelism and social work. In Moscow, the Salvation Army has opened 18 free canteens, helps refugees and the homeless, and provides humanitarian assistance to hospitals, kindergartens, and other people in need.

Currently in Russia there are over one million Protestant believers belonging to dozens of different Protestant denominations. Some of them arose in the last century, others appeared in recent years. The development of market relations and changes in the ideology of the state contribute to the strengthening of the position of Protestantism. Using the support of their foreign international centers, they conduct active missionary work to evangelize the population, distribute a huge amount of religious literature and other products.