The followingoutline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Protestantism:
Protestantism – form of Christian faith and practice which arose out of theProtestant Reformation, a movement against what the Protestants considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the major branches of the Christian religion, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.
Sola Scriptura – by scripture alone (theological disputes are to be resolved by appealing ultimately to theBible, the soleinfallible authority of Christian doctrine and practice as opposed to the belief in theinfallibility of themagisterium ortradition)
Anabaptist – part of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe. Many consider Anabaptism to be a distinct movement from Protestantism. Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are descendants of the movement.
High church – a movement within Protestantism (especially inAnglican andLutheran traditions) to employ a very formal style of worship, similar to that of theCatholic Church.
Pietism – a Protestant movement born out of 17th century Lutheranism which emphasizes individualpiety overritualism. It is accused by its opponents as downplaying doctrine.
Evangelicalism – a Protestant Christian movement (having roots in the Pietist movement) which grew prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries during theGreat Awakenings; it emphasizespersonal conversion and individualpiety as well as unity between differentChristian denominations with the scope ofspreading theGospel (something they all share in common), while acknowledging the doctrinal differences that set them apart.
Ecumenism – a Christian movement, not particular to Protestantism, which seeks reconciliation between Christian denominations (Protestant as well as others) on doctrinal issues with the chief goal ofreunification.
Liberalism – a movement which is rooted inenlightenment thinking and emphasizes doctrinal reinterpretation (in light of new scientific discoveries) overcreedalism, tradition or church authority.
Confessionalism – a Protestant movement, opposed to both Ecumenism and Liberalism, which refers to denominations that hold to their particular doctrines as they are defined in their confessions of faith, as opposed to striving for doctrinal reconciliation with other denominations. Adherents to the movement tend to be dogmatic and have a very well structuredSystematic theology.
Progressivism – a movement which is rooted inpostmodern thinking and emphasizes theological diversity (to the point of affirming non-Christian religions as well) while being very active insocial issues likeracism,social justice and more.
Church Growth – also labeled as "Seeker Sensitive Movement" by its opponents, is a movement which aims to grow churches by appropriating their practices to what studies have shown people seek from a church.
Emerging church – a response to the formation ofMegachurches by the Seeker sensitive movement, it emphasizes the importance of a small and personal Christian community at the cost of doctrinal diversity.
Young, Restless, Reformed movement – a response to the Seeker sensitive movement, the movement rejects the question "what people want from the church?" asking instead "what God wants from the church?". It represents a return to the theology of thePuritans which resulted in the adoption ofCalvinist theology in historically non-Reformed churches.
Martin Luther – One of the first Protestant reformers in the 16th century, the termLutheran was coined when Catholicslabelled like-minded people Lutherans following the practice of naming a heresy after its leader in an attempt to discredit it.
The Ninety-Five Theses (31 October 1517) – Martin Luther's list of complaints against the church.
Lutheranism – the Protestant movement which identified itself with the theology of Martin Luther.
Calvinism – a Protestant theological system largely based on the teachings of John Calvin, a reformer.
Anabaptism – a 16th-century movement which rejectedinfant baptism; Many consider Anabaptism to be a distinct movement from Protestantism.Amish,Hutterites, andMennonites are descendants of this movement.
Nonconformism – the practice of refusing to adhere to the practices of the Church of England.
Dissenters – in this context, those who have separated themselves from the "Established Church" (Church of England).
Puritanism – Calvinist English Protestants who thought the Church of England was not truly reformed and sought to purify the Church from its remaining Roman Catholic practices.
Polish Brethren – members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a non-Trinitarian church in Poland (1565–1658).
Remonstrants – Dutch Protestants adhering to the views of Arminius, in opposition to Calvinism.
Counter-Reformation – a series of reforms within the Catholic Church that occurred in response to the Protestant Reformation.
Balthasar Hubmaier (1480–1528) – influential Anabaptist theologian, author of numerous works during his five years of ministry, tortured at Zwingli's behest, and executed in Vienna.
Lelio Sozzini (1525–1562) – Italian Protestant theologian and friend ofHeinrich Bullinger, he will later start to question classic Protestant theology. Unlike previous non-trinitarians, he denied thePre-existence of Christ starting a new non-trinitarian school of thought known asSocinianism.
Marcin Czechowic (1532–1613) – Polish arian (later socinian) pastor, biblical translator and leader of thePolish Brethren. He opposedinfant baptism but also the idea that people born to christian parents did not need baptism at all (the view ofFausto Sozzini). Because he wrote mostly in polish, he was not influential outside Poland.
Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536) – Dutch theologian and philosopher, agreed with many points of the reformation but disagreed with the reformers over the doctrine offree will and accused them of being schismatic, believing the Catholic Church must be reformed from within.
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