Models of Authority in Protestant Churches

S. Jacob Plamthodathil
2001 Zenodo  
Martin Luther, who is ordinarily accepted as the founder of Protestantism, was a free and creative theologian of the Reformation. On the last day of October 1517, he nailed what is known as the 'ninety five theses' to a church door in Wittenberg protesting against the 'authority' of the church for practising the doctrine of Indulgences. He turned to the Bible for 'authority' that is generally referred to as the Word of God by most Protestants. The Bible has been considered to have an 'invisible
more » ... authority' though it materializes itself in the printed words. It may be observed that the spirit of Protestantism shifted the focus of authority to an 'invisible authority'. However, the Protestant churches also have a human aspect organizationally and the 'invisible' authority often finds 'visible' expression at various levels.
doi:10.5281/zenodo.4289464 fatcat:qgftp3vu2veqzadvnk5epteus4