The New Student's Reference Work/Protestantism

Protestantism, a term derived from the protest of Luther and his adherents against the decree passed by the Roman Catholic states at the second Diet of Speier, in 1529. The principles involved in this protest were that the Roman church has no authority over the Reformed church, that the authority of the Bible is supreme and above that of bishops and councils and that it is to be interpreted, not according to tradition, but by its own language. The right of private judgment in reference to the interpretation of the Scriptures is the principle of Protestantism that especially distinguishes it from Roman Catholicism. Protestant churches are divided into numerous branches, with wide differences of doctrine and forms of worship, but all agree in the assertion of independence from the Roman see.