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126-520: The Fifth Monarchists , or Fifth Monarchy Men , were a Protestant sect with Millennialist views, active during the 1649 to 1660 Commonwealth of England . The group took its name from a prophecy that claimed the four kingdoms of Daniel would precede the Fifth, which would see the establishment of the Kingship and kingdom of God on earth. One of a number of Nonconformist sects that emerged during

252-649: A papal bull issued by Pope Boniface VIII on 18 November 1302. The bull laid down dogmatic propositions on the unity of the Catholic Church , the necessity of belonging to it for eternal salvation ( Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus ), the position of the Pope as supreme head of the Church, and the duty thence arising of submission to the Pope in order to belong to the Church and thus to attain salvation. The bull ends, "Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it

378-413: A "Christianity of Reason", in which human reason (initiated by criticism and dissent) would develop, even without help by divine revelation. His plays about Jewish characters and themes, such as "Die Juden" and " Nathan der Weise ", "have usually been considered impressive pleas for social and religious toleration". The latter work contains the famous parable of the three rings, in which three sons represent

504-801: A "remarkable feature" of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. Cyrus the Great assisted in the restoration of the sacred places of various cities. In the Old Testament , Cyrus was said to have released the Jews from the Babylonian captivity in 539–530 BCE, and permitted their return to their homeland. The Hellenistic city of Alexandria , founded 331 BCE, contained a large Jewish community which lived in peace with equivalently sized Greek and Egyptian populations. According to Michael Walzer ,

630-452: A Christian delegation from the Sinai requested for the continued activity of the monastery, and regional Christianity per se . The original no longer exists, but a claimed 16th century copy of it remains on display in the monastery. While several twentieth century scholars accepted the document as a legitimate original, some modern scholars now question the documentary's authenticity. Since

756-672: A Christian to come to God through Christ without human mediation. He also maintained that this principle recognizes Christ as prophet , priest, and king and that his priesthood is shared with his people. Protestants who adhere to the Nicene Creed believe in three persons ( God the Father , God the Son , and the God the Holy Spirit ) as one God. Movements that emerged around the time of

882-705: A certain part of Protestantism rather than to Protestantism as a whole. The English word traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States . Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran , preferring the term evangelical , which was derived from euangelion , a Greek word meaning "good news", i.e. " gospel ". The followers of John Calvin , Huldrych Zwingli , and other theologians linked to

1008-459: A conversation about the nature of truth between seven cultivated men from diverse religious or philosophical backgrounds: a natural philosopher, a Calvinist, a Muslim, a Roman Catholic, a Lutheran, a Jew, and a skeptic. All agree to live in mutual respect and tolerance. Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592), French Catholic essayist and statesman, moderated between the Catholic and Protestant sides in

1134-531: A general edict of toleration of Christianity, in his own name and in those of Licinius and Constantine I (who converted to Christianity the following year). Saint Catherine's Monastery of the Sinai region of Egypt claims to have once had possession of an original letter of protection from Mohammed , known as the Ashtiname of Muhammad and traditionally dated to 623 CE. The monastery's tradition holds that

1260-608: A group of companions founded Connecticut . They combined the democratic form of government that had been developed by the Separatist Congregationalists in Plymouth Colony ( Pilgrim Fathers ) with unlimited freedom of conscience. Like Martin Luther, Hooker argued that as faith in Jesus Christ was the free gift of the Holy Spirit it could not be forced on a person. In 1649 Maryland passed

1386-567: A handful of Protestant denominational families; Adventists , Anabaptists , Anglicans/Episcopalians , Baptists , Calvinist/Reformed , Lutherans , Methodists , Moravians , Plymouth Brethren , Presbyterians , and Quakers . Nondenominational , charismatic and independent churches are also on the rise, having recently expanded rapidly throughout much of the world, and constitute a significant part of Protestantism. These various movements, collectively labeled "popular Protestantism" by scholars such as Peter L. Berger , have been called one of

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1512-535: A less critical reading of the Bible developed in the United States—leading to a " fundamentalist " reading of Scripture. Christian fundamentalists read the Bible as the "inerrant, infallible " Word of God, as do the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches, but interpret it in a literalist fashion without using the historical-critical method . Methodists and Anglicans differ from Lutherans and

1638-607: A long tradition of religious freedom. The right to worship freely was a basic right given to all inhabitants of the Commonwealth throughout the 15th and early 16th centuries, however complete freedom of religion was officially recognized in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1573 in the Warsaw Confederation . The Commonwealth kept religious-freedom laws during an era when religious persecution

1764-472: A nation where Catholicism was the state religion. The main concern was civil unity —the edict separated civil law from religious rights, treated non-Catholics as more than mere schismatics and heretics for the first time, and opened a path for secularism and tolerance. In offering general freedom of conscience to individuals, the edict offered many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty and

1890-799: A number of Protestant theologians such as John Calvin , Martin Bucer , Wolfgang Capito , and Johannes Brenz as well as Landgrave Philip of Hesse opposed the execution of Anabaptists. Ulrich Zwingli demanded the expulsion of persons who did not accept the Reformed beliefs, in some cases the execution of Anabaptist leaders. The young Michael Servetus also defended tolerance since 1531, in his letters to Johannes Oecolampadius , but during those years some Protestant theologians such as Bucer and Capito publicly expressed they thought he should be persecuted. The trial against Servetus, an Antitrinitarian , in Geneva

2016-472: A priest with possessions, such as a pope, was in such grave sin), may have translated the Bible into vernacular English , and preached anticlerical and biblically centred reforms. His rejection of a real divine presence in the elements of the Eucharist foreshadowed Huldrych Zwingli's similar ideas in the 16th century. Wycliffe's admirers came to be known as " Lollards ". Beginning in the first decade of

2142-588: A religious group with a distinctive and coherent doctrine , they were primarily united by shared political beliefs. The links this created between different factions gave them influence disproportionate to their numbers. The Fifth Monarchists took their inspiration from the four kingdoms of Daniel . This prophesied that the Fifth Monarchy, or Kingdom of God , would be preceded by the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman kingdoms. Followers believed

2268-627: A religious sect with a distinctive and coherent doctrine . In general, Fifth Monarchists also opposed Religious tolerance for non-Protestants, and unlike groups such as the Diggers had no desire to end the existing social order or extend political rights, since they argued only the "Saved" were worthy of power. Exceptions included the Levellers sympathiser Christopher Feake , and Mary Cary , who supported gender equality and measures to alleviate poverty; prior to her death in 1654, she wrote under

2394-782: A revolt erupted. Hussites defeated five continuous crusades proclaimed against them by the Pope . Later theological disputes caused a split within the Hussite movement. Utraquists maintained that both the bread and the wine should be administered to the people during the Eucharist. Another major faction were the Taborites , who opposed the Utraquists in the Battle of Lipany during the Hussite Wars . There were two separate parties among

2520-401: A split with elements of the movement like John Carew who held Baptist or Anabaptist views, notably their opposition to the use of violence. Rogers and Feake were arrested, while the government placed other members under surveillance and thereafter alternated persecution with tolerance in an attempt to split the movement. This policy had some success, with Rogers, Goffe, John Jones Maesygarnedd and

2646-588: A student of law to discipline the city of Geneva . His Ordinances of 1541 involved a collaboration of Church affairs with the city council and consistory to bring morality to all areas of life. After the establishment of the Geneva academy in 1559, Geneva became the unofficial capital of the Protestant movement, providing refuge for Protestant exiles from all over Europe and educating them as Calvinist missionaries. The faith continued to spread after Calvin's death in 1563. Religious tolerance An overview of

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2772-478: Is Jovinian , who lived in the fourth century AD. He attacked monasticism , ascetism and believed that a saved believer can never be overcome by Satan. In the 9th century, the theologian Gottschalk of Orbais was condemned for heresy by the Catholic Church. Gottschalk believed that the salvation of Jesus was limited and that his redemption was only for the elect. The theology of Gottschalk anticipated

2898-452: Is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes justification of sinners through faith alone , the teaching that salvation comes by unmerited divine grace , the priesthood of all believers , and the Bible as the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice. The five solae summarize the basic theological beliefs of mainstream Protestantism. Protestants follow

3024-598: Is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff." In Poland in 1264, the Statute of Kalisz was issued, guaranteeing freedom of religion for the Jews in the country. In 1348, Pope Clement VI (1291–1352) issued a bull pleading with Catholics not to murder Jews, whom they blamed for the Black Death . He noted that Jews died of the plague like anyone else, and that

3150-751: Is diverse, being divided into various denominations on the basis of theology and ecclesiology , not forming a single structure as with the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy . Protestants adhere to the concept of an invisible church , in contrast to the Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Assyrian Church of the East , and the Ancient Church of

3276-512: Is furthered by a more harmonious relationship between interlocutors." Although Erasmus did not oppose the punishment of heretics, in individual cases he generally argued for moderation and against the death penalty. He wrote, "It is better to cure a sick man than to kill him." Saint Thomas More (1478–1535), Catholic Lord Chancellor of King Henry VIII and author, described a world of almost complete religious toleration in Utopia (1516), in which

3402-973: Is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran, Calvinist, and United (Lutheran and Reformed) Protestant traditions in Europe, and those with strong ties to them. Above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area , such as the Protestant Church in Germany . Thus, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, while the German evangelikal , refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism . The English word evangelical usually refers to evangelical Protestant churches, and therefore to

3528-447: Is the guiding principle of the work of Luther and the later reformers. Because sola scriptura placed the Bible as the only source of teaching, sola fide epitomizes the main thrust of the teaching the reformers wanted to get back to, namely the direct, close, personal connection between Christ and the believer, hence the reformers' contention that their work was Christocentric. The other solas, as statements, emerged later, but

3654-467: Is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone: just as it is the heat alone of the sun which warms the earth, and yet in the sun it is not alone." Lutheran and Reformed Christians differ from Methodists in their understanding of this doctrine. The universal priesthood of believers implies the right and duty of the Christian laity not only to read the Bible in

3780-539: The Bible . On 8 December, the moderate majority passed a motion urging Cromwell to dissolve Parliament, leading to the establishment of the Protectorate on 16th. The result was open conflict between the regime and the Fifth Monarchists; Harrison, Overton and Rich were dismissed from the army, while Rogers and Feake attacked Cromwell for his Apostasy and preached revolt to their followers. This caused

3906-527: The Book of Revelation , some believed Christ would return in 1666, which corresponded with the biblical number of the beast , while it was also common to refer to a "Thousand Years". Many supported " Antinomianism ", a rejection of the legal system on the grounds that the "Saved" were not bound by the Ten Commandments , while they also believed it was their duty to resist any regime which hindered

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4032-641: The Catholic Church . On 31 October 1517, known as All Hallows' Eve , Martin Luther allegedly nailed his Ninety-five Theses , also known as the Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, on the door of the All Saints' Church in Wittenberg , Germany, detailing doctrinal and practical abuses of the Catholic Church, especially the selling of indulgences . The theses debated and criticized many aspects of

4158-657: The Council of Constance in 1414, presented a thesis, Tractatus de potestate papae et respectu infidelium (Treatise on the Power of the Pope and the Emperor Respecting Infidels). In it he argued that pagan and Christian nations could coexist in peace and criticized the Teutonic Order for its wars of conquest of native non-Christian peoples in Prussia and Lithuania. Vladimiri strongly supported

4284-616: The Diet of Worms (1521), Martin Luther refused to recant his beliefs citing freedom of conscience as his justification. According to Historian Hermann August Winkler, the individual's freedom of conscience became the hallmark of Protestantism . Luther was convinced that faith in Jesus Christ was the free gift of the Holy Spirit and could therefore not be forced on a person. Heresies could not be met with force, but with preaching

4410-491: The Edict of Torda decreeing religious toleration of all Christian denominations except Romanian Orthodoxy . It did not apply to Jews or Muslims but was nevertheless an extraordinary achievement of religious tolerance by the standards of 16th-century Europe. In 1571, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II granted religious toleration to the nobles of Lower Austria, their families and workers. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had

4536-488: The Holy Spirit and personal closeness to God. The belief that believers are justified , or pardoned for sin, solely on condition of faith in Christ rather than a combination of faith and good works . For Protestants, good works are a necessary consequence rather than cause of justification. However, while justification is by faith alone, there is the position that faith is not nuda fides . John Calvin explained that "it

4662-576: The Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier . The term protestant , though initially purely political in nature, later acquired a broader sense, referring to a member of any Western church which subscribed to the main Protestant principles. A Protestant is an adherent of any of those Christian bodies that separated from the Church of Rome during the Reformation, or of any group descended from them. During

4788-710: The Maryland Toleration Act , also known as the Act Concerning Religion, a law mandating religious tolerance for Trinitarian Christians only (excluding Nontrinitarian faiths). Passed on September 21, 1649 by the assembly of the Maryland colony, it was the first law requiring religious tolerance in the British North American colonies. The Calvert family sought enactment of the law to protect Catholic settlers and some of

4914-663: The Netherlands , Scotland , Switzerland , France , Poland , and Lithuania by Protestant Reformers such as John Calvin , Huldrych Zwingli and John Knox . The political separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church under King Henry VIII began Anglicanism , bringing England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement, under the leadership of reformer Thomas Cranmer , whose work forged Anglican doctrine and identity. Protestantism

5040-521: The Protestant Reformation and summarize the reformers' basic differences in theological beliefs in opposition to the teaching of the Catholic Church of the day. The Latin word sola means "alone", "only", or "single". The use of the phrases as summaries of teaching emerged over time during the Reformation, based on the overarching Lutheran and Reformed principle of sola scriptura (by scripture alone). This idea contains

5166-406: The Protestant Reformation began discussion of the circumstances under which dissenting religious thought should be permitted. Toleration "as a government-sanctioned practice" in Christian countries, "the sense on which most discussion of the phenomenon relies—is not attested before the sixteenth century". Centuries of Roman Catholic intoleration of other faiths was exemplified by Unam sanctam ,

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5292-464: The Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two evangelical groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed . The word also pertains in the same way to some other mainline groups, for example Evangelical Methodist . As time passed by, the word evangelical was dropped. Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in

5418-943: The Unitas Fratrum —"Unity of the Brethren"—which was renewed under the leadership of Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf in Herrnhut , Saxony , in 1722 after its almost total destruction in the Thirty Years' War and the Counterreformation ("Catholic Reformation") . Today, it is usually referred to in English as the Moravian Church and in German as the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine . In the 15th century, three German theologians anticipated

5544-466: The Wars of Religion . Montaigne's theory of skepticism led to the conclusion that we cannot precipitously decide the error of others' views. Montaigne wrote in his famous "Essais": "It is putting a very high value on one's conjectures, to have a man roasted alive because of them...To kill people, there must be sharp and brilliant clarity." In 1568, King John II Sigismund of Hungary, encouraged by his Unitarian Minister Francis David (Dávid Ferenc), issued

5670-433: The Wars of the Three Kingdoms , its best known adherent was Major-General Thomas Harrison , executed in October 1660 as a regicide . Oliver Cromwell was a sympathiser until 1653, when many fifth Monarchists opposed his creation of The Protectorate . Members believed the execution of Charles I in January 1649 marked the end of the Fourth Monarchy, and viewed the Protectorate and 1660 Stuart Restoration as preventing

5796-401: The execution of Charles I in January 1649 marked the end of the Fourth or Roman Monarchy. Several became regicides in the belief his death would usher in the Kingdom of the Saints, or rule by those who were "saved", such as the Fifth Monarchists. The role of these so-called "Saints" was to prepare the masses for the Second Coming , although exactly when this would happen was debated. Based on

5922-434: The gospel revealed in the Bible. Luther: "Heretics should not be overcome with fire, but with written sermons." In Luther's view, the worldly authorities were entitled to expel heretics. Only if they undermine the public order, should they be executed. Later proponents of tolerance such as Sebastian Franck and Sebastian Castellio cited Luther's position. He had overcome, at least for the Protestant territories and countries,

6048-426: The theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation , a movement that began in the 16th century with the goal of reforming the Catholic Church from perceived errors, abuses, and discrepancies . The Reformation began in the Holy Roman Empire in 1517, when Martin Luther published his Ninety-five Theses as a reaction against abuses in the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church, which purported to offer

6174-410: The vernacular , but also to take part in the government and all the public affairs of the Church. It is opposed to the hierarchical system which puts the essence and authority of the Church in an exclusive priesthood, and which makes ordained priests the necessary mediators between God and the people. It is distinguished from the concept of the priesthood of all believers, which did not grant individuals

6300-480: The "weeds" (heretics) in the world, because civil persecution often inadvertently hurts the "wheat" (believers) too. Instead, Williams believed it was God's duty to judge in the end, not man's. This parable lent further support to Williams' belief in a wall of separation between church and state as described in his 1644 book, The Bloody Tenent of Persecution . In the Middle Ages , there were instances of toleration of particular groups. The Latin concept tolerantia

6426-402: The 15th century, Jan Hus —a Catholic priest, Czech reformist and professor—influenced by John Wycliffe's writings, founded the Hussite movement. He strongly advocated his reformist Bohemian religious denomination. He was excommunicated and burned at the stake in Constance , Bishopric of Constance , in 1415 by secular authorities for unrepentant and persistent heresy. After his execution,

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6552-432: The 19th century, Western intellectuals and spiritualists have viewed Buddhism as an unusually tolerant faith. James Freeman Clarke said in Ten Great Religions (1871) that "Buddhists have founded no Inquisition; they have combined the zeal which converted kingdoms with a toleration almost inexplicable to our Western experience." Bhikkhu Bodhi , an American-born Buddhist convert, stated: Buddhist tolerance springs from

6678-411: The Bible as the highest source of authority for the church. The early churches of the Reformation believed in a critical, yet serious, reading of scripture and holding the Bible as a source of authority higher than that of church tradition . The many abuses that had occurred in the Western Church before the Protestant Reformation led the Reformers to reject much of its tradition. In the early 20th century,

6804-489: The Catholic Church. By 1215, the Waldensians were declared heretical and subject to persecution. Despite that, the movement continues to exist to this day in Italy, as a part of the wider Reformed tradition . In the 1370s, Oxford theologian and priest John Wycliffe —later dubbed the "Morning Star of Reformation"—started his activity as an English reformer. He rejected papal authority over secular power (in that any person in mortal sin lost their authority and should be resisted:

6930-419: The Church and the papacy, including the practice of purgatory , particular judgment , and the authority of the pope. Luther would later write works against the Catholic devotion to Virgin Mary , the intercession of and devotion to the saints, mandatory clerical celibacy, monasticism, the authority of the pope, the ecclesiastical law, censure and excommunication , the role of secular rulers in religious matters,

7056-449: The Church of England such as Baptists and Congregationalists. They were allowed their own places of worship and their own teachers, if they accepted certain oaths of allegiance. The Act, however, did not apply to Catholics and non-trinitarians, and continued the existing social and political disabilities of Dissenters, including their exclusion from political office and from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge . François-Marie Arouet,

7182-475: The Dominicans of Cologne, to confiscate all religious texts from the Jews as a first step towards their forcible conversion to the Catholic religion. Despite occasional spontaneous episodes of pogroms and killings, as during the Black Death, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a relatively tolerant home for the Jews in the medieval period. In 1264, the Statute of Kalisz guaranteed safety, personal liberties, freedom of religion , trade, and travel to Jews. By

7308-405: The East , which all understand themselves as the one and only original church—the " one true church "—founded by Jesus Christ (though certain Protestant denominations, including historic Lutheranism, hold to this position). Some denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of church membership , while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of

7434-498: The French writer, historian and philosopher known as Voltaire (1694–1778) published his Treatise on Toleration in 1763. In it he attacked religious views, but also said, "It does not require great art, or magnificently trained eloquence, to prove that Christians should tolerate each other. I, however, am going further: I say that we should regard all men as our brothers. What? The Turk my brother? The Chinaman my brother? The Jew? The Siam? Yes, without doubt; are we not all children of

7560-424: The Hussites: moderate and radical movements. Other smaller regional Hussite branches in Bohemia included Adamites , Orebites , Orphans , and Praguers. The Hussite Wars concluded with the victory of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund , his Catholic allies and moderate Hussites and the defeat of the radical Hussites. Tensions arose as the Thirty Years' War reached Bohemia in 1620. Both moderate and radical Hussitism

7686-455: The Protestant Reformation, but are not a part of Protestantism (e.g. Unitarianism ), reject the Trinity . This often serves as a reason for exclusion of the Unitarian Universalism , Oneness Pentecostalism , and other movements from Protestantism by various observers. Unitarianism continues to have a presence mainly in Transylvania , England, and the United States. The Five solae are five Latin phrases (or slogans) that emerged during

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7812-418: The Protestant reformation. Ratramnus also defended the theology of Gottschalk and denied the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist; his writings also influenced the later Protestant reformation. Claudius of Turin in the 9th century also held Protestant ideas, such as faith alone and rejection of the supremacy of Peter. In the late 1130s, Arnold of Brescia , an Italian canon regular became one of

7938-407: The Reformation and put heavy stress of holiness and piety, Starting in 1475, an Italian Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola was calling for a Christian renewal. Later on, Martin Luther himself read some of the friar's writings and praised him as a martyr and forerunner whose ideas on faith and grace anticipated Luther's own doctrine of justification by faith alone. Some of Hus' followers founded

8064-480: The Reformation, the term protestant was hardly used outside of German politics. People who were involved in the religious movement used the word evangelical ( German : evangelisch ). For further details, see the section below. Gradually, protestant became a general term, meaning any adherent of the Reformation in the German-speaking area. It was ultimately somewhat taken up by Lutherans, even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or evangelical as

8190-595: The Reformed on this doctrine as they teach prima scriptura , which holds that Scripture is the primary source for Christian doctrine, but that "tradition, experience, and reason" can nurture the Christian religion as long as they are in harmony with the Bible ( Protestant canon ). "Biblical Christianity" focused on a deep study of the Bible is characteristic of most Protestants as opposed to "Church Christianity", focused on performing rituals and good works, represented by Catholic and Orthodox traditions. However, Quakers , Pentecostalists and Spiritual Christians emphasize

8316-469: The Rump with a nominated body popularly known as " Barebone's Parliament "; out of 149 MPs, 15 can be identified as Fifth Monarchists, including Praise-God Barebone , Carew and Harrison. The inaugural session began in July 1653 but the different factions quickly became entangled in bitter disputes over tithes , which the Monarchists wanted to abolish rather than reduce, and reform of the legal system, which they argued should be based solely on laws contained in

8442-456: The Tares , which speaks of the difficulty of distinguishing wheat from weeds before harvest time, has also been invoked in support of religious toleration. In his "Letter to Bishop Roger of Chalons", Bishop Wazo of Liege (c. 985–1048) relied on the parable to argue that "the church should let dissent grow with orthodoxy until the Lord comes to separate and judge them". Roger Williams used this parable to support government toleration of all of

8568-410: The Utopians "can hold various religious beliefs without persecution from the authorities." However, More's work is subject to various interpretations, and it is not clear that he felt that earthly society should be conducted the same way as in Utopia. Thus, in his three years as Lord Chancellor, More actively approved of the persecution of those who sought to undermine the Catholic faith in England. At

8694-473: The Welsh preacher Morgan Llwyd becoming reconciled with the regime, leaving a minority of insurrectionists like Venner who was imprisoned in 1657 for planning a rising. By the time he was released in 1659, the Monarchists had lost much of their influence and were no longer a significant force. Following the Stuart Restoration in May 1660, Harrison was the first person to be found guilty of regicide and then hanged, drawn and quartered on 13 October. One reason

8820-712: The apparent failure of Parliament to further the "Godly Revolution", they agreed a programme of action to support their objectives, including active resistance to the Commonwealth government. Primarily recruited from the London Artisan class, the Fifth Monarchists attracted attention disproportionate to their actual numbers because these included senior officers of the New Model Army . Among them were Major Generals Thomas Harrison and Robert Overton , along with Colonels Nathaniel Rich , John Jones Maesygarnedd and William Goffe , as well as senior administrators such as John Carew . Many others were initially sympathetic to their views, including Cromwell and Sir Henry Vane , and

8946-404: The body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. They disagreed with one another concerning the presence of Christ and his body and blood in Holy Communion. Protestants reject the Catholic doctrine of papal supremacy , and have variant views on the number of sacraments , the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist , and matters of ecclesiastical polity and apostolic succession . Many of

9072-545: The bonds of human society, can have no hold upon an atheist". A passage Locke later added to An Essay Concerning Human Understanding questioned whether atheism was necessarily inimical to political obedience. Pierre Bayle (1647–1706) was a French Protestant scholar and philosopher who went into exile in Holland. In his " Dictionnaire Historique et Critique " and "Commentaire Philosophique" he advanced arguments for religious toleration (though, like some others of his time, he

9198-453: The bonds of peace, pending the day when we shall attain unity of faith." Castellio is remembered for the often quoted statement, "To kill a man is not to protect a doctrine, but it is to kill a man. Jean Bodin (1530–1596) was a French Catholic jurist and political philosopher. His Latin work Colloquium heptaplomeres de rerum sublimium arcanis abditis ("The Colloqium of the Seven") portrays

9324-659: The church as a body works), they had a different understanding of the process in which truths in scripture were applied to life of believers, compared to the Catholics' idea that certain people within the church, or ideas that were old enough, had a special status in giving understanding of the text. The second main principle, sola fide (by faith alone), states that faith in Christ is sufficient alone for eternal salvation and justification. Though argued from scripture, and hence logically consequent to sola scriptura , this

9450-582: The city provided "a useful example of what we might think of as the imperial version of multiculturalism." Before Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire , it encouraged conquered peoples to continue worshipping their own gods. "An important part of Roman propaganda was its invitation to the gods of conquered territories to enjoy the benefits of worship within the imperium ." Christians were singled out for persecution because of their own rejection of Roman pantheism and refusal to honor

9576-519: The coming of the Fifth. The belief by some elements that this justified military action meant they were persecuted by both regimes, and never became a mass movement. Many of their remaining leaders were executed after participating in Venner's Rising of January 1661, and the group dissolved. Along with millenarianism and Antinomianism , Fifth Monarchists shared many of their views with other Non-Conformists, notably Anabaptists . However, rather than being

9702-609: The coming of the Kingdom. Although the movement eventually split between those who opposed violence, the "suffering Saints", and the "insurrectionist Saints" like Thomas Venner who advocated taking up arms, these beliefs caused Oliver Cromwell and later contemporaries to see them as wild revolutionaries and enemies of the established order. The outbreak of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in 1639 led to an exponential increase in

9828-536: The concept. A distinction began to develop between civil tolerance , concerned with "the policy of the state towards religious dissent"., and ecclesiastical tolerance , concerned with the degree of diversity tolerated within a particular church. John Milton (1608–1674), English Protestant poet and essayist, called in the Areopagitica for "the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties" (applied, however, only to

9954-465: The conflicting Protestant denominations, and not to atheists, Jews, Muslims or even Catholics). "Milton argued for disestablishment as the only effective way of achieving broad toleration. Rather than force a man's conscience, government should recognize the persuasive force of the gospel." In 1609, Rudolph II decreed religious toleration in Bohemia . In 1636, Roger Williams and companions at

10080-478: The contemporary world's most dynamic religious movements. As of 2024 , Protestantism has a total of approximately 625 million followers. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities , who issued a protest (or dissent) against the edict of the Diet of Speyer (1529) , were the first individuals to be called Protestants. The edict reversed concessions made to

10206-829: The contrary endeavoring each to crush and destroy the other by methods of Persecution. In a word, all the Mischief arises not from Toleration, but from the want of it." Following the Glorious Revolution , when the Dutch king William came to the English throne, the Toleration Act 1688 adopted by the English Parliament allowed freedom of worship to Nonconformists who had pledged to the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and rejected transubstantiation . The Nonconformists were Protestants who dissented from

10332-460: The disease also flourished in areas where there were no Jews. Christians who blamed and killed Jews had been "seduced by that liar, the Devil". He took Jews under his personal protection at Avignon , but his calls for other clergy to do so failed to be heeded. Johann Reuchlin (1455–1522) was a German humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew who opposed efforts by Johannes Pfefferkorn , backed by

10458-401: The dissemination of radical political and religious views, including Millennialist ideas. Although Millenarianism was common among Puritans and even shared by some Royalist members of the Church of England , Fifth Monarchists were unique in that the concept was central to their theology. However, one recent historian argues it is more accurate to see them as a political group, rather than

10584-496: The divine everywhere and in every way in accordance with our ancestral traditions, but also force all others to honour it. Those who attempt to distort our religion with strange rites you should hate and punish, not only for the sake of the gods … but also because such people, by bringing in new divinities, persuade many folks to adopt foreign practices, which lead to conspiracies, revolts, and factions, which are entirely unsuitable for monarch". In 311 CE, Roman Emperor Galerius issued

10710-637: The emperor as a god. There were some other groups that found themselves to be exceptions to Roman tolerance, such as the Druids , the early followers of the cult of Isis , the Bacchanals , the Manichaens and the priests of Cybele , and Temple Judaism was also suppressed. In the early 3rd century, Cassius Dio outlined the Roman imperial policy towards religious tolerance: You should not only worship

10836-538: The excommunication of Luther and condemnation of the Reformation by the Pope, the work and writings of John Calvin were influential in establishing a loose consensus among various groups in Switzerland, Scotland, Hungary, Germany and elsewhere. After the expulsion of its Bishop in 1526, and the unsuccessful attempts of the Bern reformer William Farel , Calvin was asked to use the organizational skill he had gathered as

10962-614: The first theologians to attempt to reform the Catholic Church. After his death, his teachings on apostolic poverty gained currency among Arnoldists , and later more widely among Waldensians and the Spiritual Franciscans , though no written word of his has survived the official condemnation. In the early 1170s, Peter Waldo founded the Waldensians. He advocated an interpretation of the Gospel that led to conflicts with

11088-561: The foundation of Rhode Island entered into a compact binding themselves "to be obedient to the majority only in civil things". Williams spoke of "democracie or popular government." Lucian Johnston writes, "Williams' intention was to grant an infinitely greater religious liberty than what existed anywhere in the world outside of the Colony of Maryland." In 1663, Charles II granted the colony a charter guaranteeing complete religious toleration. Also in 1636, Congregationalist Thomas Hooker and

11214-486: The four main doctrines on the Bible: that its teaching is needed for salvation (necessity); that all the doctrine necessary for salvation comes from the Bible alone (sufficiency); that everything taught in the Bible is correct (inerrancy); and that, by the Holy Spirit overcoming sin, believers may read and understand truth from the Bible itself, though understanding is difficult, so the means used to guide individual believers to

11340-745: The highpoint of their political influence came in April 1653 when Cromwell dismissed the Rump Parliament, an action which led the Fifth Monarchists to hail him as a new Moses . They also supported his declaration of war on the Dutch Republic . Despite it being waged against fellow Protestants, the Monarchists argued that it was their duty to spread the Kingdom of the Saints to every country, whether Protestant or Catholic.. Cromwell replaced

11466-400: The history of toleration and different cultures in which toleration has been practiced, and the ways in which such a paradoxical concept has developed into a guiding one, illuminates its contemporary use as political, social, religious, and ethnic, applying to LGBT individuals and other minorities, and other connected concepts such as human rights . Religious toleration has been described as

11592-443: The idea of conciliarism and pioneered the notion of peaceful coexistence among nations—a forerunner of modern theories of human rights . Throughout his political, diplomatic and university career, he expressed the view that a world guided by the principles of peace and mutual respect among nations was possible and that pagan nations had a right to peace and to possession of their own lands. Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (1466–1536),

11718-414: The individual ideas that were taken up by various reformers had historical pre-cursors; however, calling them proto-reformers is controversial, as often their theology also had components that are not associated with later Protestants, or that were asserted by some Protestants but denied by others, or that were only superficially similar. One of the earliest persons to be praised as a Protestant forerunner

11844-457: The key to a well-functioning civil society, Locke argued that more religious groups actually prevent civil unrest. In his opinion, civil unrest results from confrontations caused by any magistrate's attempt to prevent different religions from being practiced, rather than tolerating their proliferation. However, Locke denies religious tolerance for Catholics, for political reasons, and also for atheists because "Promises, covenants, and oaths, which are

11970-496: The mid-16th century, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was home to 80% of the world's Jewish population. Jewish worship was officially recognized, with a Chief Rabbi originally appointed by the monarch. Jewish property ownership was also protected for much of the period, and Jews entered into business partnerships with members of the nobility. Paulus Vladimiri (c. 1370–1435) was a Polish scholar and rector who at

12096-554: The middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists . The German word reformatorisch , which roughly translates to English as "reformational" or "reforming", is used as an alternative for evangelisch in German, and is different from English reformed ( German : reformiert ), which refers to churches shaped by ideas of John Calvin , Huldrych Zwingli , and other Reformed theologians. Derived from

12222-411: The more readily accept them with full confidence and conviction." English philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) published A Letter Concerning Toleration in 1689. Locke's work appeared amidst a fear that Catholicism might be taking over England, and responds to the problem of religion and government by proposing religious toleration as the answer. Unlike Thomas Hobbes , who saw uniformity of religion as

12348-456: The name "MC", and many assumed she was a man. The Fifth Monarchists began life as a faction of the religious Independents who dominated the post-1648 Rump Parliament , with close links to Baptists and Anabaptists . Their emergence as a separate sect is usually dated to December 1651, when a group of preachers including Feake, John Rogers , and John Simpson met in London . Disillusioned by

12474-509: The only acceptable names for individuals who professed faith in Christ. French and Swiss Protestants instead preferred the word reformed ( French : réformé ), which became a popular, neutral, and alternative name for Calvinists. The word evangelical ( German : evangelisch ), which refers to the gospel , was widely used for those involved in the religious movement in the German-speaking area beginning in 1517. Evangelical

12600-697: The other denominations that did not conform to the dominant Anglicanism of England and her colonies. In 1657, New Amsterdam , governed by Dutch Calvinists , granted religious toleration to Jews. They had fled from Portuguese persecution in Brazil. In the Province of Pennsylvania , William Penn and his fellow Quakers heavily imprinted their religious values of toleration on the Pennsylvania government. The Pennsylvania 1701 Charter of Privileges extended religious freedom to all monotheists, and government

12726-414: The recognition that the dispositions and spiritual needs of human beings are too vastly diverse to be encompassed by any single teaching, and thus that these needs will naturally find expression in a wide variety of religious forms. The Edicts of Ashoka issued by King Ashoka the Great (269–231 BCE), a Buddhist, declared ethnic and religious tolerance. His Edict in the 12th main stone writing of Girnar on

12852-692: The reformation: Wessel Gansfort , Johann Ruchat von Wesel , and Johannes von Goch . They held ideas such as predestination , sola scriptura , and the church invisible , and denied the Roman Catholic view on justification and the authority of the Pope, also questioning monasticism . Wessel Gansfort also denied transubstantiation and anticipated the Lutheran view of justification by faith alone. Electors of Saxony Holy Roman Emperors Building Literature Theater Liturgies Hymnals Monuments Calendrical commemoration The Protestant Reformation began as an attempt to reform

12978-567: The reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to work in any field or for the State, and to bring grievances directly to the king. The edict marked the end of the religious wars in France that tore apart the population during the second half of the 16th century. The Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685 by King Louis XIV with the Edict of Fontainebleau , leading to renewed persecution of Protestants in France. Although strict enforcement of

13104-452: The relationship between Christianity and the law, good works, and the sacraments. The Reformation was a triumph of literacy and the new printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg . Luther's translation of the Bible into German was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy, and stimulated as well the printing and distribution of religious books and pamphlets. From 1517 onward, religious pamphlets flooded much of Europe. Following

13230-457: The remission of the temporal punishment of sins to their purchasers. The term, however, derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical . In the 16th century , Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark–Norway , Sweden , Finland , Livonia , and Iceland . Calvinist churches spread in Germany, Hungary ,

13356-495: The revocation was relaxed during the reign of Louis XV , it was not until 102 years later, in 1787, when Louis XVI signed the Edict of Versailles —known as the Edict of Tolerance —that civil status and rights to form congregations by Protestants were restored. Beginning in the Enlightenment commencing in the 1600s, politicians and commentators began formulating theories of religious toleration and basing legal codes on

13482-410: The right to interpret the Bible apart from the Christian community at large because universal priesthood opened the door to such a possibility. There are scholars who cite that this doctrine tends to subsume all distinctions in the church under a single spiritual entity. Calvin referred to the universal priesthood as an expression of the relation between the believer and his God, including the freedom of

13608-463: The same father and creatures of the same God?" On the other hand, Voltaire in his writings on religion was spiteful and intolerant of the practice of the Christian religion, and Orthodox rabbi Joseph Telushkin has claimed that the most significant of Enlightenment hostility against Judaism was found in Voltaire. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), German dramatist and philosopher, trusted in

13734-617: The suppression of Non-conformist sects, culminating in the Act of Uniformity 1662 . Although the Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London briefly revived belief in the end of a world ruled by carnal human beings, Fifth Monarchy ceased to exist as a separate sect, although some doctrines were absorbed by Baptists and others who believed "God's Kingdom" could be achieved through spiritual means. Protestant Protestantism

13860-458: The suppression of this freedom", and defending, "as a political ideal, the tolerant, secular, and democratic polity". After interpreting certain Biblical texts , Spinoza opted for tolerance and freedom of thought in his conclusion that "every person is in duty bound to adapt these religious dogmas to his own understanding and to interpret them for himself in whatever way makes him feel that he can

13986-566: The thinking they represent was also part of the early Reformation. The Protestant movement began to diverge into several distinct branches in the mid-to-late 16th century. One of the central points of divergence was controversy over the Eucharist . Early Protestants rejected the Catholic dogma of transubstantiation , which teaches that the bread and wine used in the sacrificial rite of the Mass lose their natural substance by being transformed into

14112-624: The third century BCE which state that "Kings accepted religious tolerance and that Emperor Ashoka maintained that no one would consider his / her is to be superior to other and rather would follow a path of unity by accuring the essence of other religions". However, Buddhism has also had controversies regarding toleration. In addition, the question of possible intolerance among Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, primarily against Muslims, has been raised by Paul Fuller. The books of Exodus , Leviticus and Deuteronomy make similar statements about

14238-457: The treatment of strangers. For example, Exodus 22:21 says: "Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt". These texts are frequently used in sermons to plead for compassion and tolerance of those who are different from us and less powerful. Julia Kristeva elucidated a philosophy of political and religious toleration based on all of our mutual identities as strangers. The New Testament Parable of

14364-453: The true teaching is often mutual discussion within the church (clarity). The necessity and inerrancy were well-established ideas, garnering little criticism, though they later came under debate from outside during the Enlightenment . The most contentious idea at the time though was the notion that anyone could simply pick up the Bible and learn enough to gain salvation. Though the reformers were concerned with ecclesiology (the doctrine of how

14490-589: The violent medieval criminal procedures of dealing with heretics. But Luther remained rooted in the Middle Ages insofar as he considered the Anabaptists ' refusal to take oaths, do military service, and the rejection of private property by some Anabaptist groups to be a political threat to the public order which would inevitably lead to anarchy and chaos. So Anabaptists were persecuted not only in Catholic but also in Lutheran and Reformed territories. However,

14616-472: The word "Reformation", the term emerged around the same time as Evangelical (1517) and Protestant (1529). Many experts have proposed criteria to determine whether a Christian denomination should be considered part of Protestantism. A common consensus approved by most of them is that if a Christian denomination is to be considered Protestant, it must acknowledge the following three fundamental principles of Protestantism. The belief, emphasized by Luther, in

14742-563: Was a "highly-developed political and judicial concept in medieval scholastic theology and canon law." Tolerantia was used to "denote the self-restraint of a civil power in the face of" outsiders, like infidels, Muslims or Jews, but also in the face of social groups like prostitutes and lepers. Heretics such as the Cathari , Waldensians , Jan Hus , and his followers, the Hussites , were persecuted. Later theologians belonging or reacting to

14868-481: Was a Dutch Renaissance humanist and Catholic whose works laid a foundation for religious toleration. For example, in De libero arbitrio , opposing certain views of Martin Luther , Erasmus noted that religious disputants should be temperate in their language, "because in this way the truth, which is often lost amidst too much wrangling may be more surely perceived." Gary Remer writes, "Like Cicero , Erasmus concludes that truth

14994-583: Was a French Protestant theologian who in 1554 published under a pseudonym the pamphlet Whether heretics should be persecuted (De haereticis, an sint persequendi) criticizing John Calvin 's execution of Michael Servetus : "When Servetus fought with reasons and writings, he should have been repulsed by reasons and writings." Castellio concluded: "We can live together peacefully only when we control our intolerance. Even though there will always be differences of opinion from time to time, we can at any rate come to general understandings, can love one another, and can enter

15120-633: Was an everyday occurrence in the rest of Europe. The Warsaw Confederation was a private compact signed by representatives of all the major religions in Polish and Lithuanian society, in which they pledged each other mutual support and tolerance. The confederation was incorporated into the Henrican articles , which constituted a virtual Polish–Lithuanian constitution. The Edict of Nantes , issued on April 13, 1598, by Henry IV of France , granted Protestants—notably Calvinist Huguenots —substantial rights in

15246-528: Was his justification of violent action against "un-Godly rulers", which meant he was viewed as an ongoing threat to the re-established order. This seemed confirmed on 6 January 1661, when Venner tried to incite a popular uprising to capture London in the name of "King Jesus", with fifty followers based in Norton Folgate . Most were killed or taken prisoner, with Venner and ten others executed for high treason on 19 and 21 January, while its failure led to

15372-470: Was increasingly persecuted by Catholics and Holy Roman Emperor's armies. In the 14th century, a German mysticist group called the Gottesfreunde criticized the Catholic church and its corruption. Many of their leaders were executed for attacking the Catholic church and they believed that God's judgement would soon come upon the church. The Gottesfreunde were a democratic lay movement and forerunner of

15498-503: Was not a case of church discipline but a criminal procedure based on the legal code of the Holy Roman Empire . Denying the Trinity doctrine was long considered to be the same as atheism in all churches. The Anabaptists made a considerable contribution to the development of tolerance in the early-modern era by incessantly demanding freedom of conscience and standing up for it with their patient suffering. Sebastian Castellio (1515–1563)

15624-400: Was not anxious to extend the same protection to Catholics he would to differing Protestant sects). Among his arguments were that every church believes it is the right one so "a heretical church would be in a position to persecute the true church". Bayle wrote that "the erroneous conscience procures for error the same rights and privileges that the orthodox conscience procures for truth." Bayle

15750-565: Was open to all Christians. Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677) was a Dutch Jewish philosopher. He published the Theological-Political Treatise anonymously in 1670, arguing (according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) that "the freedom to philosophize can not only be granted without injury to piety and the peace of the Commonwealth, but that the peace of the Commonwealth and Piety are endangered by

15876-582: Was repelled by the use of scripture to justify coercion and violence: "One must transcribe almost the whole New Testament to collect all the Proofs it affords us of that Gentleness and Long-suffering, which constitute the distinguishing and essential Character of the Gospel." He did not regard toleration as a danger to the state, but to the contrary: "If the Multiplicity of Religions prejudices the State, it proceeds from their not bearing with one another but on

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