Protestant and Orthodox Denominations, Essay Example

Mandatory Question 1: When and where was this denomination started?

-The movement towards Protestantism begun in 1517 in Germany under Martin Luther’s leadership

Mandatory Question 2: Who was involved in starting this denomination? (an individual or set of individuals, or a recognizable group such as an ethnicity)

–Martin Luther was the primary individual to promote the religion followed by other reformers in the being of John Calvin and John Knox who established the said religious affirmation in areas outside Germany including Switzerland and France.

Mandatory Question 3: Where in the world, today, is this denomination prominent? This could range from universal (Catholics) to a general area (the American South), or a specific location (Vodou in Haiti).

In America, Protestantism is seen to have a constant rise at the rate of 4% each year while Catholicism has a decline of at least 1.5% annually. Considerably, America still remains to be the area where the focal point of the highest population of Protestants resides in.

Mandatory Question 4: Is this denomination part of the Magisterial, Anglican, Radical, or other form of the Reformation? Why? OR Is this denomination part of the Eastern Orthodox form of Christianity? Why? (What logic did you use to determine this?)

Believing on the primacy of the scriptures while specifically avoiding the rule or authority of the papal governance, Protestantism is considered to follow the principles of reformation as it intends to create a distinct diversion from what has become a traditional ground for particular religions in the world today.

Optional Question 1: What are the current figures for number of members of this denomination?

Out of the 7,000,000,000 population of people in the world, Protestantism takes at least 12% to belong to their church at an approximately 840,000,000 individuals involved in the said church.

Optional Question 2: Is there a named leadership structure for this denomination? If so, who are the current leaders? If not, do they have an ideological or cosmological reason for not having centralized leadership?

This denomination follows a hierarchical form of governance. They have leaders among each church but do not have an overall umbrella that stands as an overall leader to the group like the papal system. The condition of such administrational option basically shows how much this religious denomination despises the idea of having a papal-like system of religious authority to stand as their supposed ‘connection’ to God.

Works Cited

Cook, Martin L. (1991). The Open Circle: Confessional Method in Theology. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press. xiv, 130 p.

Dillenberger, John, and Claude Welch (1988). Protestant Christianity, Interpreted through Its Development. Second ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.

McGrath, Alister E. (2007). Christianity’s Dangerous Idea. New York: HarperOne.

Nash, Arnold S., ed. (1951). Protestant Thought in the Twentieth Century: Whence & Whither? New York: Macmillan Co.