Protestantism - Protestant Doctrines

Protestant Doctrines

Although the doctrines of Protestant denominations are far from uniform, some beliefs extending across Protestantism are the doctrines of sola scriptura and sola fide.

• Sola scriptura maintains that the Bible (rather than church tradition or ecclesiastical interpretations of the Bible) is the primary and supreme source of binding authority for all Christians. This does not exclude other sources of binding authority, rather it places other forms of authority in subordination to the authority of Scripture.
• Sola fide holds that salvation comes by grace through faith alone in Jesus as the Christ, rather than through good works.

Protestant churches generally reject the Catholic doctrines of papal supremacy and magisterial authority, including both papal infallibility and the general infallibility of the Church. Because of this, Protestant ministers and church leaders have somewhat different roles and authority in their communities than do Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox priests and bishops.