Principles of Protestantism

The root word of Protestantism is protest, which means “to express strong dissent or objection.” Do Protestants today know the protest of their forefathers? Are Protestants today still standing in protest? During the Reformation, our forefathers stood for and died for the principles of Protestantism. Can you do the same? Do you know the principles of Protestantism?

The Bible alone is the foundation of faith

Protestants took the position that the Bible, and the Bible alone, constituted the rule of faith and doctrine, that the word of God is the only unerring guide for human souls, and that it is unnecessary and harmful to take the words of priests and prelates instead of the word of God. The Bible alone is the religion of true Protestantism.

All men may read and understand the Bible

The Protestant Reformers believed that the Bible was written for all mankind, and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, everyone could read and understand God’s Word.

Truth is progressive — Accept all new truth

Protestant Reformers believed that truth is progressive, and all should be ready to accept new light as it shines from God’s Word.

“The Puritans had joined themselves together by a solemn covenant, as the Lord’s free people, ‘to walk together in all His ways made known or to be made known to them.’…Here was the true spirit of reform, the vital principle of Protestantism.…John Robinson…said: ‘Brethren, . . I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than I have followed Christ. If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry; for I am very confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy word.’.…‘Remember your church covenant, in which you have agreed to walk in all the ways of the Lord, made or to be made known unto you. Remember your promise and covenant with God and with one another, to receive whatever light and truth shall be made known to you from His written word; but withal, take heed, I beseech you, what you receive for truth, and compare it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it; for it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick antichristian darkness, and that full perfection of knowledge should break forth at once.’”
The Great Controversy
, 291, 292.

Church has no authority against the Scriptures

“In the presence of the monarch and the leading men of Sweden, Olaf Petri with great ability defended the doctrines of the reformed faith against the Romish champions. He declared that the teachings of the Fathers are to be received only when in accordance with the Scriptures. …Christ said, ‘My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me’ (John 7:16); and Paul declared that should he preach any other gospel than that which he had received, he would be accursed (Galatians 1:8). ‘How, then,’ said the Reformer, ‘shall others presume to enact dogmas at their pleasure, and impose them as things necessary to salvation?’…He showed that the decrees of the church are of no authority when in opposition to the commands of God, and maintained the great Protestant principle that ‘the Bible and the Bible only’ is the rule of faith and practice.” Ibid.,243.

Stood for freedom of speech

The Reformers believed in the right to teach and preach their convictions of truth. They denied the power of the church to try to control what they could preach.

Freedom to worship according to your conscience

The Protestant Reformers believed all men have the right to freedom of conscience, the freedom for all to worship according to the dictates of their own conscience.

Protesting the Principles of Rome

Bible interpreted by the leaders

“The mistake made by the Roman Catholic is that he reads the Bible in the light of the priests and rulers of the church, the early fathers, or other Catholic expositors.” Review and Herald, August 13, 1859.The Roman Church reserves to the clergy the right to interpret the Scriptures.” On the ground that ecclesiastics alone are competent to explain God’s word, it is withheld from the common people.” The Great Controversy,596.

Human traditions above the commands of God

“The spirit of the papacy,—the spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commands of God,—is permeating the Protestant churches…” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 390.

Rome’s plans reach far into the future

“The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation.” Signs of the Times, June 30, 1898.

Rome will use oppression to further it’s cause

“It was a fundamental principle of the [Jesuit] order that the end justifies the means. By this code, lying, theft, perjury, assassination, were not only pardonable but commendable, when they served the interests of the church.” The Great Controversy, 235.

Rome never changes

“It is the boast of Rome that she never changes. The principles of Gregory VII and Innocent III are still the principles of the Roman Catholic Church.” Ibid., 581.

America, a Protestant Nation

America was founded upon religious freedom. Many of our forefathers came to the shores of America fleeing from Roman oppression.

Fleeing from Papal religious intolerance

“Those who first found an asylum on the shores of America rejoiced that they had reached a country free from the arrogant claims of popery and the tyranny of kingly rule. They determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Signs of the Times, November 1, 1899.

Government founded on Religious Liberty

“Among the Christian exiles who first fled to America and sought an asylum from royal oppression and priestly intolerance were many who determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty. Their views found place in the Declaration of Independence, which sets forth the great truth that ‘all men are created equal’ and endowed with the inalienable right to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’…Freedom of religious faith was also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism became the fundamental principles of the nation. The Great Controversy,441.

Our greatest fear is to forget the past

Have Protestants forgotten the cruelty of Roman oppression, the slaughter of thousands of Christians? Have Protestants forgotten that Rome never changes? She may work in secret, but her plan is still the same—to take control of government power and rule with oppression. Take a look at a very recent Apostolic letter (decree) from Pope John Paul II, given May 28, 1998, and instituted into the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church.

“Canon 1436:

  1. Whoever denies a truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or who calls into doubt, or who totally repudiates the Christian faith, and does not retract after having been legitimately warned, is to be punished as a heretic or an apostate with a major excommunication; a cleric moreover can be punished with other penalties, not excluding deposition.
  2. In addition to these cases, whoever obstinately rejects a teaching that the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops, exercising the authentic Magisterium, have set forth to be held definitively, or who affirms what they have condemned as erroneous, and does not retract after having been legitimately warned, is to be punished with an appropriate penalty.”

It is now time for Protestant churches to take a stand, before it is too late, and protest any concessions with Rome or Roman principles.

The greatest fear of the future is to forget the past.