Europe was polarized by the Reformation, with most of northern Europe becoming Protestant while most of the Mediterranean regions remained loyal to the Roman Catholic Church. In the mid-sixteenth century, the Catholic Church struck back with a [[Counter-Reformation]] that is considered to be responsible for keeping such areas as Italy, France and Poland in the Catholic fold.
Religious wars broke out, the worst being the [[Thirty Years War]] (1618-1648) that devastated much of Germany and neighboring areas. By 1648 a compromise was reached such that, in the Holy Roman Empire, the religion of the Prince determined the official religion of the people. Nevertheless , religious strife continued in Germany as late as the 1870s in the [[Kulturkampf]], and in [[Ireland]] into the late 20th century.
==Missions==
== Protestantism in the United States ==
Protestants represent the largest Christian division in the United States. There are two main groupings, the more conservative [[Evangelical Christians]] and the more liberal [[Mainline]] denominations. Many of the Evangelicals incline to [[Fundamentalism]], but the the terms are often used casually and inconsistently.
There are over 200 major denominations in the United States. Among the larger groupings are:
* MacCulloch, Diarmaid. ''The Reformation'' (2005), influential recent survey [http://www.amazon.com/Reformation-Diarmaid-MacCulloch/dp/014303538X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* McGonigle, Thomas D., and James F. Quigley. ''A History of the Christian Tradition, Vol. II: From the Reformation to the Present'' (1996) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Tradition-Vol-Reformation/dp/0809136481/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-15 excerpt and text search]
*''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'' (1911), ), major sources of older scholarly articles; mainline Protestant perspective
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc01.toc.html Vol. 1: Aachen - Basilians]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc02.toc.html Vol. 2: Basilica - Chambers]
* Noll, Mark A. ''The Old Religion in a New World: The History of North American Christianity'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Old-Religion-New-World-Christianity/dp/0802849482/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823548&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search], by a leading evangelical scholar
* Noll, Mark A. '' A history of Christianity in the United States and Canada'' (1992), by leading Evangelical historian [http://books.google.com/books?id=VGF3wbzzy9QC&dq=intitle:christianity+inauthor:noll&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search], by a leading evangelical scholar
* Queen, Edward L. et al., eds. Encyclopedia of American Religious History'' (3rd ed. 2 vol. 2009) 1200pp
* Reid, Daniel G. et al. eds., ''Dictionary of Christianity in America'' (199)
* Roof, Wade Clark, and William McKinney. '' American Mainline Religion: Its Changing Shape and Future'' (1990) [http://www.amazon.com/American-Mainline-Religion-Changing-Future/dp/0813512166/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243520093&sr=1-6 excerpt and text search]