O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid...
Isaiah 40:9
"The word "Protestant" as expressing a religious distinction, the word "Protestant" with a capital P,... came into the world with the word "Protest" that was used in the Protest that was made at the Diet of Spires in Germany, April 19, 1529.
That Protest was made against the arbitrary, unjust, and persecuting, procedure of the papacy in that Diet. This procedure in the Diet of Spires of 1529, swept away the religious liberty agreed upon and established in the Diet of Spires of 1526.
This religious liberty guaranteed by the Diet of Spires of 1526, was the result of a deadlock in that Diet over the enforcement, by all the power of the then papacy, of the Edict of Worms that had been issued in 1521 commanding the destruction of Martin Luther, his adherents, his writings and all who printed or circulated his writings, or who on their own part should print or circulate the like.
Thus is will be seen that the Protest in which originated the word "Protestant" was against the effort of the papacy to destroy the Reformation," A.T. Jones
