What do Christians believe?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: What do Christians believe?
Position‹4 of 7›: Protestant Christians
Argument‹7 of 7: What do Protestants believe?

Protestants believe in a union with God Almighty without the interjection of the middle man, i.e. the priest. While ministers are knowledgeable and blessed enough to help man interpret the Scripture, the relationship between God and man himself is holy and has no space for saints or any other intermediary.

The argument

Protestants reject the Roman Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy and the transubstantiation of bread and wine into literally the body of Christ. Different Protestant denominations differ in their belief in the Trinity. Those that subscribe to the Nicene Creed do believe in the Trinity whilst others do not. The break from Catholicism was in protest to the widespread corruption in the Catholic church demonstrated through the sale of indulgences and relics. They wanted religion less pomp and closer to people – people could directly communicate with God through prayer and not via clergy. Ceremonies were held in the person’s own language rather than Latin, which no one understood. It was direct relationship with God that bypassed the papist clergy. Protestants by and large reject the idea of a priest as an intermediary standing between God and humans, advocating on behalf of the latter. For Protestants, the Holy Spirit brings humans to respond positively to the offer of grace revealed in scripture. Ministers can present this offer in the form of sermons, but everyone stands alone before God. This means that the priestly vocation, or "calling," does not give a person special status.

Premises

[P1]Protestants reject papal supremacy, transubstantiation, and the need for clergy as intermediaries between God and humans. [P2] They hold that individuals can communicate directly with God through prayer and respond personally to grace revealed in scripture. [P3] This conviction arose in protest against Catholic corruption and inaccessible practices like Latin ceremonies and the sale of indulgences. [C] Therefore, Protestant Christians believe in a direct, scripture-based relationship with God that bypasses priestly mediation and rejects key Catholic doctrines.

Counter-arguments

Catholic and Orthodox Christians dispute the theological claims embedded here. They argue that a sacramental priesthood and apostolic succession are grounded in scripture and the practice of the early Church, not late corruptions, and that the Reformation's rejection of a priesthood and of transubstantiation broke with a continuous tradition rather than restoring an original purity. They also note that 'Protestant belief' is not a single position — denominations differ so widely on the Trinity, sacraments, scripture and authority that the summary describes a family of often-conflicting churches rather than one coherent creed. On this view the Reformation framing of 'closer to the people, less pomp' is a partisan reading of a contested schism.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Catholic and Orthodox Christians hold that a sacramental priesthood and apostolic succession are grounded in scripture and the early Church, so the Protestant rejection of them is a break with tradition, not a recovery of original practice. [Rejecting P2] 'Protestant belief' spans denominations that disagree fundamentally — including on the Trinity, sacraments and authority — so the entry describes a divided family of churches rather than one coherent set of beliefs.