Criticism of Protestantism

Criticism of Protestantism covers critiques and questions raised about Protestantism, the Christian denominations which arose out of the Protestant Reformation. While critics may praise some aspects of Protestantism which are not unique to the various forms of Protestantism, Protestantism is faced with criticism mainly from the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, although Protestant denominations have also engaged in self-critique and criticized one another. According to both the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy, many major, foundational Protestant doctrines have been officially declared heretical.

The Catholic biblical critique asserts that the Sola scriptura principle of Lutheran and Reformed churches is inaccurate according to the Catholic doctrine. While Catholic tradition agrees with Protestantism that faith, not works, is necessary for "initial" justification, some contemporary Protestant Scholars such as N. T. Wright affirm that both faith and works are necessary for justification. Further complications have arisen from the fundamental difference between the Catholic definition of faith, which is dogmatic, and the Protestant definition, which is called "fiduciary faith".

Historically, certain notable Catholic works were written as a criticism of a Protestant work. For example, when the Lutherans gave the 1530 Augsburg Confession, the Catholics responded with the Confutatio Augustana. Also, Diogo de Payva de Andrada wrote the 1578 Defensio Tridentinæ fidei as a response to the Lutheran Martin Chemnitz, who published the Examination of the Council of Trent from 1565 to 1573.

While some Catholic leaders have been seeing the positive side of the German Reformer, Martin Luther, calling him "thoroughly Christocentric" and saying that his intention was "to renew the Church and not to divide it", Catholic doctrine views Protestantism as "suffering from defects", not possessing the fullness of truth and lacking "the fullness of the means of salvation".

Protestants also engage in self-criticism, a special target of which is the fragmentation of Protestant denominations. In addition, due to the fact that Protestantism is not a monolithic tradition, some Protestant denominations criticize the beliefs of other Protestants. For example, the Reformed churches criticize the Methodist churches for the latter denomination's belief in the doctrine of unlimited atonement, in a long-term debate between Calvinists and Arminians.

Sola scriptura, one of the Five Principles shared by Lutheran and Reformed churches, originated during the Protestant Reformation, is a formal principle of many Protestant denominations. Baptist churches as well share the Sola scriptura principle and state that the Bible alone is the sole source of knowledge, truth and revelation sent directly from God, the only true Word of God, sufficient of itself to be the supreme authority of the Christian faith.

In contrast, the Anglican Communion and the Methodist church uphold the doctrine of prima scriptura, which holds that Sacred tradition, reason and experience are the sources of Christian doctrine, but are nonetheless subordinate to the authority of the Bible as well.

According to Pope Benedict XVI, the Catholic Church holds a very different view on the Bible and does not consider itself to be a "Religion of the book": "while in the [Catholic] Church we greatly venerate the sacred Scriptures, the Christian faith is not a 'religion of the book': Christianity is the 'religion of the Word of God'... together with the Church's living Tradition, [the Scripture] constitutes the supreme rule of faith."