Who Came Up with the Names “Protestant” and “Denominational”?

Luther, a Catholic priest, dissented from Catholicism. Initially, he and his followers were called “Protestants” in derision in 1629. The term Protestants was applied shortly to all of the Reformers who dissented from Catholicism (McClintock and Strong). Differences among Reformers and their groups within Protestantism led to polarization or denominating themselves with names and creeds to distinguish them from each other as well as from the Catholic Church. The word “denominationalism” was coined in America for these diverse Protestant groups (Schaff).

Works Cited

McClintock, John and John Strong. “Protestants.” McClintock-Strong Encyclopedia. CD-ROM. Seattle:  Biblesoft, 2000.

Schaff, Philip. “Protestantism and Denominationalism.”History of the Christian Church. CD-ROM. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997.