Protestantism

A doctrine of Christian churches stemming from the Reformation. Despite the large diversity of Protestant churches (Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, etc.) and their independence, they are united by a number of characteristics. It is thus that Protestants consider the Bible as the sole source of faith and try to eliminate from religion everything that is not prescribed by the scriptures and the church’s early fathers, those most close in time to the apostolic era. It is for that reason that they translated and disseminated the holy texts in vernacular languages and encouraged education for the people. It is also generally agrees that, in Calvinist areas above all, the importance placed on personal judgement encouraged the appearance of democratic forms of government and that the abolition of the authority of the clergy opened up the path to modern capitalism.