Individualism In America Case Study

One of the main reasons that protestantism was born was the anticlericalism movement that was gaining followers. The Catholic Church was selling indulgences, documents that if bought will free the soul of one who bought or a loved one from

Since Protestantism was not only a religion but a way of life, and since priests and other clergy members were no longer as necessary in religion, in many countries the state and the church began to fuse, and formed a single, all powerful rule. As a result, many Protestant

During the 16th century, Protestantism emerged as a new sect of Christianity. This process was not calm or peaceful in the slightest. Protestant leaders like Martin Luther and John Calvin fiercely attacked and denied traditional Catholic beliefs, causing much controversy and debate upon religion. Many regions of Europe as a whole were converted to Protestantism, and many more Protestants emerged in areas where Catholicism remained the state religion. The Catholic faith became less and less appealing to people as the abuses of the clergy were now publicly addressed by reformers and a new, personal approach to religion was offered in Protestantism. In addition, rulers favored Protestantism as a state religion because it meant that no power

The hostility between Protestants and Catholics in pre-Independence America has survived in the 20th century, albeit in a different form – political partisanship. In one notable example, the former pastor of the East Waynesville Baptist Church in Waynesville, North Carolina ‘told the congregation that anyone who planned to vote for Democratic Senator John Kerry should either leave the church or repent.’ The church later expelled nine members who did vote for Senator Kerry. While the First Amendment

By the middle of the 1700’s, a significant organization took place. From New England to Georgia, different groups of Baptists began to form churches. They had only one doctrinal requirement that united them, i.e., the believer’s baptism by full immersion in water; also, Baptists then had different theological doctrinal beliefs. Notwithstanding, in the 1700’s, Baptist leaders sought to unify and homogenize the Baptist theology; they founded colleges and formed associations. However, the cause of “religious liberty,” was also a unanimous and significant characteristic that united the majority of Baptists. Their participation within their communities distinguished from other denominations. The Baptists were not contending for tolerance but for absolute “religious liberty.” Theirs demand was not for their right only but for the right of all dissenters and non-conformists as well. Some historians affirm that religious liberty in America was accomplished due to the diligence of the American Baptist, which now is proven to be the greatest contribution to American science and statecraft.”11

The last reason McGrath gives for the need of a new study is the fact that Protestantism itself has changed in the last fifty years. This study brings to the reader and to the scholar an updated version of the present-day Protestant movement, its impact in present-day society and an analysis of its significance in the future of Christianity.

The Fundamentalist-Modernist dispute was a religious dispute that occurred in the 1920s and 1930s within the confines of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America that ended up creating separation in most of the American Christian movements also. In fact, convinced that the literal truth of the Bible formed the basis of Christian belief, fundamentalists initiated a campaign to eradicate Protestant denominations of modernism and to fight the new individual freedoms that seemed to contradict traditional morality (Foner 788). What is more, the press portrayed fundamentalism as a movement of backwoods bigots. Yet, it was a national phenomenon. Fundamentalism continued to be an important strain of 1920s politics and culture (Foner

Between 1820 and 1860, Americans constructed 40,000 new churches compared to the 10,000 they constructed in the 40 years before 1820. At the end of the revival period, ”one-third of all Americans attended church regularly.”(P.400) Many of the early revival preachers embraced Christian evangelicalism, the established groups sought to take advantage of the popular enthusiasm to build their particular denominations. Methodists and the Baptists established themselves as leading American denominations as a result of the Second Great Awakening. The two faiths had a mutual sense of affinity with regard to doctrine, but the Baptists created a radically decentralized hierarchy that empowered local ministers and individual churches.

To begin, the Protestant Reformation began in reaction to the Catholic Church’s rather corrupt practices. Prior to the Reformation, the only major Christian denomination in Western Europe at the time was Catholicism, headed by the Pope in Rome. Through many acts of violence such as the formation of the Spanish Inquisition and the slaughter of the Cathars, amongst others, Europe’s Monarchs had wiped out and suppressed any form of religious competition. With the Catholic Church holding a tight stranglehold over Europe, Catholicism was the only option. This allowed

The Protestant reformers believed the Pope was the “antichrist” and wanted to correct the errors of the Papacy. These ideals were brought to New England in the Colonial era by predominately British Puritans who were fleeing persecution from the Church of England. The new settlers disseminated their anti-clericalism beliefs through written and spoken propaganda, cementing the anti-Catholic movement with a serious of laws that imposed specific proscriptions. Religion played a far greater role in people’s lives, which made religious differences a matter of great concern. U.S. culture and Protestantism had evolved along parallel lines, stressing individualism and self–reliance, whether in making one’s fortune or in gaining salvation through the teachings of the bible (Parrillo, 2014, p. 391). U.S. Protestants feared the Catholic Church because of their structured practices and bureaucratic operations that extended back to the Pope in Rome. Many Protestants believed that Catholicism was enigmatic and also felt that if a Catholic loyalist gained any political power, they would take control of the country and Rome would gain complete

While many are unaware, the Protestant Reformation continues to be impactful in how people in America today view freedom, government, and rights. In general, the Reformation has played a role on the construction of America’s social order and diversity, the day-to-day natural life, and religious freedom. Beginning with the American Constitution, the foundation of Christianity (unversed in any other part of the world), unites religious moral standards with the American way of thinking regarding cultural diversity, equal rights, religious belief, and sexual characteristics.

During the elizabethan era most were considered Catholics, however in the early 1500s the practice of roman Catholics was questioned during the reformation according to Linda Alchin. The beliefs of German, Martin Luther caused Protestantism. Martin Luther's supporters protested against the rules and regulations, which resulted in the laws that put a limit on the new ideas Martin was trying to spread (Alchin 2). The protesters decided to create there own religion and beliefs, now known as the Protestants.

Author Kurt Anderson mostly blames a certain group of people in his book Fantasyland, How America went Haywire. In a nutshell, Protestants are the problem. Anderson spends chapter after chapter, starting with Martin Luther and continuing through American history of how Protestant beliefs have been detrimental to America. In his view which comes across as snide and derisive, they are the bane of American existence because they believe in magic and supernatural things and have left most of reason behind. Anderson practically sneers (many words are in italics for emphasis) when he writes of Protestants. Certainly, some Protestants may be gun nuts, and preppers but not all. Most of my Protestant friends don’t own a gun and they send their children to public school. (Anderson is not a fan of homeschooling or private religious education).

Moving on from political to social effects the Protestant Reformation brought about the idea if individualism and emphasis on faith, while European Expansion brought about disease and slavery. Individualism is a social theory favoring freedom of action of individuals over state control (Arnold). Martin Luther’s ideas spread and people began to see that the Catholic Church was not so great after all. People started to take a stand

Protestant doctrine varied greatly from the doctrines of Catholicism. The main deviance in Protestant doctrine in is the answer of how a person obtains salvation. In Catholic doctrine a person obtains salvation through good works and penance. Luther felt that there is no amount of good works a person could perform to be worth of everlasting salvation. In "Justification by Faith Alone" Luther says, "… I grasp that the justice of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us through faith" (Luther 261). Luther's statement means that the way to obtain salvation is to believe and trust Jesus Christ and God (Kagen 357). Also Protestantism emphasized scripture over ritual. Luther attacked the catholic ritual in his “Babylonian Captivity of the Church.” He said that only two of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church were biblical. Those two sacraments are baptism and the Eucharist. The Catholic Church’s policy of selling indulgences was another important part of the Catholic Church Luther attacked. He thought the idea that a person could buy their way to salvation was utterly wrong. He went on to say that the pope was not infallible (Kagen 360). That idea went completely against what the Catholic Church believed. These were some of the ways that Protestant Doctrine differed from Catholic Doctrine.