Protestant

1. (Definition) A Protestant is a person -- specifically, a Christian who is NOT a Catholic. 2. (Historical Origins) First seen in the 15th Century when the German princes use Martin Luther's 95 Theses as an excuse to break Rome's rule over them by forming their own churches unaffiliated with Catholicism. Another important schism from the Catholic Church occured when Henry VIII created the Anglican Church because the pope would not allow him to divorce his wife. 3. (Word origin) The word originates from "protest" -- Protestants protested against various teachings of the Catholic Church. All other definitions of Protestants and Protestantism, while possibly superficially correct, mostly refer to specific sects of Protestantism such as Baptists, Episcopalians and Lutherans.