What Is the Difference Between the Protestant and Anglican Churches?
The primary difference between the Anglican church and most Protestant denominations is that the Anglican church accepts the Apocrypha as part of the Holy Scripture whereas most Protestant denominations do not.
In terms of time, there is a large gap between the Old Testament and the New Testaments that comprise the traditional Holy Bible. A set of texts used by some churches, including the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches, is the Apocrypha. The word “apocrypha” itself means “hidden.” Most Protestant denominations do not accept the Apocrypha as holy texts because they were not part of the original Hebrew text. The problem with applying this comparison across all Protestant denominations is that “Protestant” is an umbrella term that is applied to many different churches with a wide variety of beliefs. In essence, a Protestant Church is any Christian church that evolved from the teachings of Martin Luther. Those who supported the teachings of Martin Luther protested his being labeled as a heretic, thus the name “Protestants.” There are many Protestant denominations that neither agree with nor support the others’ beliefs. It should also be mentioned that although the Anglican church does accept the Apocrypha based on tradition, it does not rely on the teachings of these books as heavily as the Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches.
