Category:Christianity: Difference between revisions

The second largest global major Christian faith is [[:Category:Protestant|Protestant]], which began in 16th-century [[:Category:Europe|Europe]], as a result of the Protestant Reformation which arose due to various perceived abuses, errors, mistakes, and theological divergences from the then established Catholic Church.  In 1517, Martin Luther, a [[:Category:German|German]] priest and former Augustinian friar, published an academic thesis for discussion about problems regarding the Catholic Church.  This was subsequently described as a 'protestation', and forms the major tenets of Protestant Christianity.  Significantly, Protestantism is more diverse than Catholicism.  Lutheranism (named after the theological teachings of its founder, Martin Luther) is the earliest and largest branch; this spread from [[:Category:Germany|Germany]], into surrounding countries including [[:Category:Denmark|Denmark]], [[:Category:Norway|Norway]], [[:Category:Sweden|Sweden]], [[:Category:Finland|Finland]], [[:Category:Latvia|Latvia]], [[:Category:Estonia|Estonia]], and [[:Category:Iceland|Iceland]].  The second branch of Protestantism is the Calvinist churches, created by Protestant reformer John Calvin, and assisted by Huldrych Zwingli and John Knox; Calvinism also started in Germany, and spread into [[:Category:Hungary|Hungary]], the [[:Category:The Netherlands|Netherlands]], [[:Category:Scotland|Scotland]], [[:Category:Switzerland|Switzerland]], and [[:Category:France|France]].  Anglicanism began in [[:Category:England|England]], when King Henry VIII ordered the political separation of the Church of England from the Pope in Rome; thus bringing England and [[:Category:Wales|Wales]] into the broad Reformation movement of Protestantism, under the guidance and leadership of reformer Thomas Cranmer, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, whose work forged Anglican doctrine and identity known until today.  Other main branches of Protestantism include Adventism, Anabaptism, Baptists, Methodism, and Pentecostalism; smaller branches include Moravians, Plymouth Brethren, Presbyterianism, and Quakers.