Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major divisions in Christendom that traces their heritage back to the Western Church. Other divisions include Catholicism and the Orthodox Church.

Christianity

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Protestantism began in the European Reformation of the 16th century, especially with such reformers as Martin Luther and John Calvin, ass well as King Henry VIII in England.

Protestantism rejects the Catholic belief that God created the Catholic Church to represent Him, and reject the notion that priests or saints have special access to the divine. They greatly reduced the role of Mary. Most Protestants stress the Bible as the Word of God, though Quakers and Pentecostals stress a direct divine connection to believers. Originally Protestants rejected historic traditions as a guide to Truth.

Politics

Europe was polarized by the Reformation, with the Catholics striking back with a Counter-Reformation that held key states such as Italy, France and Poland for Catholicism. 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 the religion of the Prince determined the 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

Each Protestant denomination launched missionary activity to spread the gospel, and they competed with each other and with Catholic missions.

The greatest successes came in the United States, where a series of Great Awakenings converted most of the people to Protestantism by 1860, and in Africa, where Protestantism grew rapidly in the 20th century, as it did in South Korea.

Impact

Protestants made the Bible available to all by publication of the Bible in the common language and universal education. The mandatory celibacy of the clergy (including monasticism) was also rejected.

Notable events

• Martin Luther's nailing of The 95 Theses to the church doors in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517; Luther was the spiritual leader of Lutheranism, which came to dominate much of Germany and all of Scandinavia

• In England, by decree of King Henry VIII in 1533.
• John Knox, inspired by John Calvin and aided by many martyrs, took Scotland into the Presbyterian fold in 1560.

Protestantism in the United States

Protestants are 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 lines are blurry.

In the United States, there are over 200 denominations. The largest include:

• Baptist
  • Southern Baptist Convention (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
    • Anabaptist
• Methodist
  • United Methodist Church
• Lutheran
  • Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
  • ELCA
• Presbyterian
• Reformed
• Episcopal Church in the United States of America, also called the Protestant Episcopal Church of the U.S.
• Disciples of Christ
• Church of Christ (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
• Pentecostalism (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
• Assemblies of God (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
• Holiness Movement (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
• Adventist (Evangelical/fundamentalist)

Smaller groups include:

• Mennonite
• Amish
• Brethren
• Quakers
• Unitarians

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) considers itself Christian but not Protestant.

Further reading

• Balmer, Randall. Protestantism in America (2005) excerpt and text search
• Bell, James S., and Tracy Macon Sumner. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Reformation and Protestantism (2002) excerpt and text search
• Gonzalez, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought: Volume 3: From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century (1987) excerpt and text search
• Hillerbrand, Hans J. ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. (OUP 1996); the book is online at many academic libraries; excerpt and text search
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity (2 vol 1975) excerpt and text search vol 1, to 1500
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1958) vol 1 online edition
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A history of the expansion of Christianity (7 vol 1939-1970), monumental history of missionary work worldwide online edition
• MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation (2005), influential recent survey 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) excerpt and text search
• Noll, Mark A. The Old Religion in a New World: The History of North American Christianity (2001) excerpt and text search

• New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1911), ), major sources of older scholarly articles; mainline Protestant perspective
  • Vol. 1: Aachen - Basilians
  • Vol. 2: Basilica - Chambers
  • Vol. 3: Chamier - Draendorf
  • Vol. 4: Draeseke - Goa
  • Vol. 5: Goar - Innocent
  • Vol. 6: Innocents - Liudger
  • Vol. 7: Liutprand - Moralities
  • Vol. 8: Morality - Petersen
  • Vol. 9: Petri - Reuchlin
  • Vol. 10: Reutsch - Son
  • Vol. 11: Son of Man - Tremellius
  • Vol. 12: Trench - Zwingli
  • Vol. 13: Index

United States

• Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A religious history of the American people‎ (1979) 1192 pages; classic history from broad perspective excerpt and text search
• Balmer, Randall. Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (2nd ed. 2004), 655pp
• Lippy, Charles H. and Peter W. Williams, eds. Encyclopedia of the American religious experience: studies of traditions and movements (3 vol 1988) 1872 pages; standard reference work; long essays by scholars
• Noll, Mark A. A history of Christianity in the United States and Canada‎ (1992), by leading Evangelical historian excerpt and text search
• 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)
• Wooley, Davis C. ed. Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists‎ (5 vol 1958-19820; 2565 pages

Primary sources

• Placher, William C. Readings in the History of Christian Theology, Volume 2: From the Reformation to the Present (1988) excerpt and text search