A statue of Martin Luther in Erfurt, Germany. PICTURE: RNS/Emily McFarlan Miller
The theological differences that led to the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago have dwindled since in both the United States and Western Europe.
That’s the finding of a Pew Research Center survey released Thursday, weeks before late October’s 500th anniversary of the schism in western Christianity.
Among US Protestants, many seem unaware of the differences, voicing beliefs today that are more traditionally Catholic than they are Protestant.
“I think it’s fair to say the differences between the two groups have diminished to a degree that might have shocked Christians of earlier centuries,” said Greg Smith, associate director of research at Pew Research Center.
“Maybe it’s not a huge surprise in the context of modern-day United States, but if you look back at the longer term – at the 500th anniversary of the Reformation – that would be quite surprising to a Christian of 300, 400, 500 years ago.”
Of course, Dr Smith noted, no survey data exists to measure responses to the same questions in the 1500s.
According to the survey, more Protestants reported they believe salvation comes through a mix of faith and good works (52 per cent) – the traditionally Catholic position – than through “faith alone” (46 per cent). That belief – sola fide in Latin – is one of five solas that form the backbone of Protestant Reformers’ beliefs.
The same shares of Protestants also reported they believe Christians should look to the Bible, church teachings and tradition for guidance – the Catholic position – rather than the “Bible alone”, or the Protestant belief in sola scriptura.
Only 30 per cent of US Protestants affirmed both sola fide and sola scriptura. Belief in both doctrines was higher among white evangelical Protestants (44 per cent) than white mainline Protestants (20 per cent) or black Protestants (19 per cent) and jumped even higher (59 per cent) among white evangelicals who reported they attend church at least once a week.
US Catholics, in contrast to Protestants, voiced beliefs more in line with the teachings of their church: 81 per cent reported both good deeds and faith were needed to get into heaven, and 75 per cent reported Christians should look to the Bible, church teaching and tradition for guidance.
And while differences between Catholics and Protestants once led to wars and persecution, most US Catholics (65 per cent) and Protestants (59 per cent) now agree they have more in common than not.
The US survey of more than 2,500 adults, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, was conducted online from 30th May to 9th August. The margin of error for results based on each sample in that survey is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
