The door toAll Saints' Church inWittenberg, whereMartin Luther is alleged to have posted hisNinety-five Theses in 1517 detailing his concerns with what he saw as theCatholic Church's abuse and corruption. TheNinety-five Theses gave rise to Christian Protestantism as one of the world's primary religions, making Wittenberg the "cradle of Protestantism".
Six princes of theHoly Roman Empire and rulers of fourteenImperial Free Cities, who issueda protest (or dissent) against the edict of theDiet of Speyer (1529), were the first individuals to be called Protestants.[18] The termprotestant, though initially purely political in nature, later acquired a broader sense, referring to a member of any Western church which subscribed to the main Protestant principles.[18] A Protestant is an adherent of any of those Christian bodies that separated from the Church of Rome during the Reformation, or of any group descended from them.[19]
During the Reformation, the termprotestant was hardly used outside of German politics. People who were involved in the religious movement used the wordevangelical (German:evangelisch). Gradually,protestant became a general term, meaning any adherent of the Reformation in the German-speaking area. It was ultimately somewhat taken up by Lutherans, even thoughMartin Luther himself insisted onChristian orevangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed faith in Christ.French andSwiss Protestants instead preferred the wordreformed, which became a popular, neutral, and alternative name for Calvinists.
The wordevangelical, which refers tothe gospel, was widely used for those involved in the religious movement in the German-speaking area beginning in 1517.[20]Evangelical is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran, Calvinist, and United (Lutheran and Reformed) Protestant traditions in Europe, and those with strong ties to them. Above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in theGerman-speaking area, such as theProtestant Church in Germany. Thus, theGerman wordevangelisch means Protestant, while the Germanevangelikal, refers to churches shaped byEvangelicalism. The English wordevangelical usually refers toevangelical Protestant churches, and therefore to a certain part of Protestantism rather than to Protestantism as a whole. The English word traces its roots back to thePuritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to theUnited States.
Martin Luther always disliked the termLutheran, preferring the termevangelical, which was derived fromeuangelion, a Greek word meaning "good news", i.e. "gospel".[21] The followers ofJohn Calvin,Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to theReformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two evangelical groups, others began to refer to the two groups asEvangelical Lutheran andEvangelical Reformed. Lutherans themselves began to use the termLutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as thePhilippists andCalvinists.
TheGerman wordreformatorisch, which roughly translates to English as "reformational" or "reforming", is used as an alternative forevangelisch in German, and is different from Englishreformed (German:reformiert), which refers to churches shaped by ideas ofJohn Calvin,Huldrych Zwingli, and other Reformed theologians. Derived from the word "Reformation", the term emerged around the same time asEvangelical (1517) andProtestant (1529).
Two central figures of theReformation,Martin Luther andJohn Calvin, depicted on a churchpulpit; both Luther and Calvin emphasized making preaching a centerpiece of worship.
TheBible translated intovernacular by Martin Luther. In Protestantism, the Bible is the supreme authority ofscripture.
Many experts have proposed criteria to determine whether a Christian denomination should be considered part of Protestantism. A common consensus approved by most of them is that if a Christian denomination is to be considered Protestant, it must acknowledge the following three fundamental principles of Protestantism.[22]
The belief, emphasized by Luther, in the Bible as the highest source of authority for the church. The early churches of the Reformation believed in a critical, yet serious, reading of scripture and holding the Bible as a source of authority higher than that ofchurch tradition. The many abuses that had occurred in the Western Church before the Protestant Reformation led the Reformers to reject much of its tradition. In the early 20th century, a less critical reading of the Bible developed in the United States—leading to a "fundamentalist" reading of Scripture. Christian fundamentalists read the Bible as the "inerrant,infallible" Word of God, as do the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches, but interpret it in aliteralist fashion without using thehistorical-critical method. Methodists and Anglicans differ from Lutherans and the Reformed on this doctrine as they teachprima scriptura, which holds that Scripture is the primary source for Christian doctrine, but that "tradition, experience, and reason" can nurture the Christian religion as long as they are in harmony with the Bible (Protestant canon).[1][23]
"Biblical Christianity" focused on a deep study of the Bible is characteristic of most Protestants as opposed to "Church Christianity", focused on performing rituals and good works, represented by Catholic and Orthodox traditions. However,Quakers,Pentecostalists andSpiritual Christians emphasize theHoly Spirit and personal closeness to God.[24]
There was also a time where scripture became the new religious imagery. Calvinist theology drew out iconoclastic events when John Calvin arrived in Geneva in 1536. Calvin inherited a city where the old medieval Christian world, with its rituals, images, and pilgrims were taken apart. After the events of the iconoclast in 1566, scripture began to take place of the religious images that were previously removed. These new text images turned scripture into a visual tool. The absence of traditional images created room for the joint idea of scripture with visual objects, generating a new imagery culture that focused on reading, understanding, and reflecting over observations.[25]
The belief that believers arejustified, or pardoned for sin, solely on condition of faith inChrist rather than a combination of faith andgood works. For Protestants, good works are a necessary consequence rather than cause of justification.[26] However, while justification is by faith alone, there is the position that faith is notnuda fides.[27] John Calvin explained that "it is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone: just as it is the heat alone of the sun which warms the earth, and yet in the sun it is not alone."[27] Lutheran and Reformed Christians differ from Methodists in their understanding of this doctrine.[28]
The universalpriesthood of believers implies the right and duty of the Christian laity not only to read the Bible in thevernacular, but also to take part in the government and all the public affairs of the Church. It is opposed to the hierarchical system which puts the essence and authority of the Church in an exclusive priesthood, and which makes ordained priests the necessary mediators between God and the people.[26] It is distinguished from the concept of the priesthood of all believers, which did not grant individuals the right to interpret the Bible apart from the Christian community at large because universal priesthood opened the door to such a possibility.[29] There are scholars who cite that this doctrine tends to subsume all distinctions in the church under a single spiritual entity.[30] Calvin referred to the universal priesthood as an expression of the relation between the believer and his God, including the freedom of a Christian to come to God through Christ without human mediation.[31] He also maintained that this principle recognizes Christ asprophet, priest, and king and that his priesthood is shared with his people.[31]
Movements that emerged around the time of the Protestant Reformation, but are not a part of Protestantism (e.g.Unitarianism), reject theTrinity. This often serves as a reason for exclusion of theUnitarian Universalism,Oneness Pentecostalism, and other movements from Protestantism by various observers. Unitarianism continues to have a presence mainly inTransylvania, England, and the United States.[29]
The Fivesolae are fiveLatin phrases (or slogans) that emerged during theProtestant Reformation and summarize the reformers' basic differences in theological beliefs in opposition to the teaching of theCatholic Church of the day.[1] The Latin wordsola means "alone", "only", or "single".
The use of the phrases as summaries of teaching emerged over time during the Reformation, based on the overarching Lutheran and Reformed principle ofsola scriptura (by scripture alone).[1] This idea contains the four main doctrines on the Bible: that its teaching is needed for salvation (necessity); that all the doctrine necessary for salvation comes from the Bible alone (sufficiency); that everything taught in the Bible is correct (inerrancy); and that, by the Holy Spirit overcoming sin, believers may read and understand truth from the Bible itself, though understanding is difficult, so the means used to guide individual believers to the true teaching is often mutual discussion within the church (clarity). The necessity and inerrancy were well-established ideas, garnering little criticism, though they later came under debate from outside during theEnlightenment. The most contentious idea at the time though was the notion that anyone could simply pick up the Bible and learn enough to gain salvation.
The second main principle,sola fide (by faith alone), states that faith in Christ is sufficient alone for eternal salvation and justification. Though argued from scripture, and hence logically consequent tosola scriptura, this is the guiding principle of the work of Luther and the later reformers. Becausesola scriptura placed the Bible as the only source of teaching,sola fide epitomizes the main thrust of the teaching the reformers wanted to get back to, namely the direct, close, personal connection between Christ and the believer, hence the reformers' contention that their work was Christocentric.
The other solas, as statements, emerged later, but the thinking they represent was also part of the early Reformation.
The Protestants characterize the dogma concerning the Pope as Christ's representative head of the Church on earth, the concept of works made meritorious by Christ, and the Catholic idea of a treasury of the merits of Christ and his saints, as a denial that Christ is theonly mediator betweenGod and man.
Protestants perceived Catholic salvation to be dependent upon the grace of God and the merits of one's own works. The reformers posited that salvation is a gift of God (i.e., God's act of free grace), dispensed by the Holy Spirit owing to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ alone.
All glory is due to God alone since salvation is accomplished solely through his will and action. The reformers believed that human beings—even saintscanonized by the Catholic Church, the popes, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy—are not worthy of the glory.
The Protestant movement began to diverge into several distinct branches in the mid-to-late 16th century. One of the central points of divergence was controversy over theEucharist. Early Protestants rejected the Catholicdogma oftransubstantiation, which teaches that the bread and wine used in the sacrificial rite of the Mass lose their natural substance by being transformed into the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ. They disagreed with one another concerning the presence of Christ and his body and blood in Holy Communion.
TheReformed churches emphasize therealspiritual presence, orsacramental presence, of Christ, saying that the sacrament is a sanctifying grace through which the elect believer does not actually partake of Christ, but merelywith the bread and wine rather than in the elements. Calvin also emphasizes the real presence of Christ by the Holy Spirit during Eucharist. This is often referred to asdynamic presence.
Anglicans and Methodists refuse to define the Presence, preferring to leave it a mystery.[34]
Anabaptists hold a popular simplification of theZwinglian view, without concern for theological intricacies as hinted at above, may see the Lord's Supper merely as a symbol of the shared faith of the participants, a commemoration of the facts of the crucifixion, and a reminder of their standing together as the body of Christ (a view referred to asmemorialism).[35]
Many of the individual ideas that were taken up by various reformers had historical pre-cursors; however, calling themproto-reformers is controversial, as often their theology also had components that are not associated with later Protestants, or that were asserted by some Protestants but denied by others, or that were only superficially similar.
One of the earliest persons to be praised as a Protestant forerunner isJovinian, who lived in the fourth century AD. He attackedmonasticism,ascetism and believed that a saved believer can never be overcome by Satan.[38]
In the 9th century, the theologianGottschalk of Orbais was condemned for heresy by the Catholic Church. Gottschalk believed that the salvation of Jesus was limited and that his redemption was only for the elect.[39] The theology of Gottschalk anticipated the Protestant reformation.[40][41][self-published source?]Ratramnus also defended the theology of Gottschalk and denied the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist; his writings also influenced the later Protestant reformation.[42]Claudius of Turin in the 9th century also held Protestant ideas, such asfaith alone and rejection of the supremacy of Peter.[43]
In the late 1130s,Arnold of Brescia, an Italiancanon regular became one of the first theologians to attempt to reform the Catholic Church. After his death, his teachings onapostolic poverty gained currency amongArnoldists, and later more widely amongWaldensians and theSpiritual Franciscans, though no written word of his has survived the official condemnation. In the early 1170s,Peter Waldo founded the Waldensians. He advocated an interpretation of the Gospel that led to conflicts with the Catholic Church. By 1215, the Waldensians were declared heretical and subject to persecution. Despite that, the movement continues to exist to this day in Italy, asa part of the wider Reformed tradition.
In the 1370s, Oxford theologian and priestJohn Wycliffe—later dubbed the "Morning Star of Reformation"—started his activity as an English reformer. He rejected papal authority over secular power (in that any person in mortal sin lost their authority and should be resisted: a priest with possessions, such as a pope, was in such grave sin), may havetranslated the Bible intovernacular English, and preached anticlerical and biblically centred reforms. His rejection of a real divine presence in the elements of the Eucharist foreshadowed Huldrych Zwingli's similar ideas in the 16th century. Wycliffe's admirers came to be known as "Lollards".[44]
Beginning in the first decade of the 15th century,Jan Hus—a Catholic priest, Czech reformist and professor—influenced by John Wycliffe's writings, founded theHussite movement. He strongly advocated his reformistBohemian religious denomination. He wasexcommunicated andburned at the stake inConstance,Bishopric of Constance, in 1415 by secular authorities for unrepentant and persistent heresy. After his execution, a revolt erupted. Hussites defeated five continuous crusades proclaimed against them by thePope.
Later theological disputes caused a split within the Hussite movement.Utraquists maintained that both the bread and the wine should be administered to the people during the Eucharist. Another major faction were theTaborites, who opposed the Utraquists in theBattle of Lipany during theHussite Wars. There were two separate parties among the Hussites: moderate and radical movements. Other smaller regional Hussite branches inBohemia includedAdamites,Orebites,Orphans, and Praguers.
The Hussite Wars concluded with the victory ofHoly Roman EmperorSigismund, his Catholic allies and moderate Hussites and the defeat of the radical Hussites. Tensions arose as theThirty Years' War reached Bohemia in 1620. Both moderate and radical Hussitism was increasingly persecuted by Catholics and Holy Roman Emperor's armies.
In the 14th century, a German mysticist group called theGottesfreunde criticized the Catholic church and its corruption. Many of their leaders were executed for attacking the Catholic church and they believed that God's judgement would soon come upon the church. The Gottesfreunde were a democratic lay movement and forerunner of the Reformation and put heavy stress of holiness and piety,[45]
Starting in 1475, an Italian Dominican friarGirolamo Savonarola was calling for a Christian renewal. Later on, Martin Luther himself read some of the friar's writings and praised him as a martyr and forerunner whose ideas on faith and grace anticipated Luther's own doctrine of justification by faith alone.[46]
Henry VIII of England, known for his role in theseparation of theChurch of England from theCatholic ChurchHenry VIII was born in 1491, roughly six years after his father, Henry VII, became king. He was the third child and the second son produced by Elizabeth of York, Henry VII’s queen, since the start of their marriage in January, 1486. Henry VIII’s rule was to see the growth of the cult of personal kingship and the establishment of new organizations and strategies of government. Henry VIII was to create conspicuous repudiation of his father’s ways, and produced the judicial murder of his two most despised financial agents in an early propose for approval. On the other hand, he must have also been extremely knowledgable of his father’s successes, as a vital and triumphant claimer of the throne, who after fourteen years in exile generated a victorious invasion of England, and came to power and success as a well rounded and respected monarch, known for his powerful and thriving government. Henry VIII’s rule was to be loaded with examples of royal unsettlement, which a lot of times scaled to the level of paranoia, given that his nobles were loyal and demonstrated firm commitment to the royal service that was anticipated of them by contemporaries. Wooding, Lucy E. C. Henry VIII. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2015. Web.
On 31 October 1517,Martin Luther allegedly nailed hisNinety-five Theses, also known as the Disputation on the Power of Indulgences, on the door of theAll Saints' Church inWittenberg, Germany, detailing doctrinal and practical abuses of the Catholic Church, especially the selling ofindulgences. The theses debated and criticized many aspects of the Church and the papacy, including the practice ofpurgatory,particular judgment, and the authority of the pope. Luther would later write works against the Catholic devotion toVirgin Mary, the intercession of and devotion to the saints, mandatory clerical celibacy, monasticism, the authority of the pope, the ecclesiastical law, censure andexcommunication, the role of secular rulers in religious matters, the relationship between Christianity and the law, good works, and the sacraments.[49]
William the Silent (1533-1584, also known as William of Orange) was the leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War in the Netherlands; first politically from 1559-1568, then militarily from 1568-1584. He is considered one of the most significant figures in Dutch history, known as the Father of the Fatherland, including in European history of the 16th century.
William was a stadtholder (administrator/steward) for King Philip II of Spain (1556-1598) who ruled the Low Countries (Netherlands) after his father, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1519-1556) resigned. Charles V instituted the Inquisition into the Low Countries to subdue the heresies of the Protestant Reformation (according to him), as Philip II carried on his policies but with much greater motivation and gravity. He first granted Cardinal Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle (1517-1586) as head to the Inquisition and then gave the duty to Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba (1507-1582) in 1567, whose oppressions resulted in the thousands of deaths and William's flight to his hometown of Dillenburg.
William developed an uprising, and returned in 1568, leading the Dutch Protestant forces against those of Catholic Spain until his assassination in 1584. The role of leader then went to his son, Maurice of Orange (1567-1625), followed by another son, Frederick Henry (1584-1647), who continued his father's vision until his death one year before the end of the Eighty Years' War and complete Dutch independence. Mark, Joshua J. “Men of the Protestant Reformation.” World History Encyclopedia,https://www.worldhistory.org#organization, 21 Feb. 2024, www.worldhistory.org/collection/206/men-of-the-protestant-reformation/.
Martin Bucer (1491-1551) was a German reformer and theologian who was a Dominican friar and priest until his conversion to the Lutheranism in 1518. Bucer is most famous for his focus on unity among all Christians, and therefore, he never settled his own sect but influenced many instead.Similar to other reformers, Bucer was attracted to the works of the humanist theologian and scholar Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) before discovering Martin Luther speak in 1518. Erasmus' humanism persauded Bucer that Luther's beliefs were legit, even though Luther and Erasmus disagreed on many key issues. After departing from the Dominican order in 1521, Bucer preached the Lutheran faith and welcomed the new movement, marrying the former nun Elisabeth Silbereisen in 1522. Mark, Joshua J. “Men of the Protestant Reformation.” World History Encyclopedia,https://www.worldhistory.org#organization, 21 Feb. 2024, www.worldhistory.org/collection/206/men-of-the-protestant-reformation/.
TheReformation was a triumph of literacy and the newprinting press invented byJohannes Gutenberg.[50][k] Luther's translation of the Bible into German was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy, and stimulated as well the printing and distribution of religious books and pamphlets. From 1517 onward, religious pamphlets flooded much of Europe.[52][l] During the Reformation, the Bible was translated into the native tongues of various European peoples, granting the common man access to sacred scripture, rather than relying solely on the Church's Latin version and interpretation. These translations, once forbidden, stirred a profound shift in religious thought, literacy, education, and the spread of Protestant ideas across parts of Holy Roman Empire and independent kingdoms.[54] Reformers such as Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, making it accessible to ordinary German speakers.[55] In England, William Tyndale produced an English translation, although his efforts were met with resistance, leading to his execution.[56] Similar translations into other native tongues took place across Europe.[57]
Following the excommunication of Luther and condemnation of the Reformation by the Pope, the work and writings ofJohn Calvin were influential in establishing a loose consensus among various groups in Switzerland, Scotland, Hungary, Germany and elsewhere. After the expulsion of its Bishop in 1526, and the unsuccessful attempts of theBern reformerWilliam Farel, Calvin was asked to discipline the city ofGeneva. HisOrdinances of 1541 involved a collaboration of Church affairs with the city council and consistory to bring morality to all areas of life. After the establishment of the Geneva academy in 1559, Geneva became the unofficial capital of the Protestant movement, providing refuge for Protestant exiles from all over Europe and educating them as Calvinist missionaries. The faith continued to spread after Calvin's death in 1563.
Protestantism also spread from the German lands into France, where the Protestants were nicknamedHuguenots. Despite heavy persecution, the Reformed tradition made steady progress across large sections of the nation, appealing to people alienated by the obduracy and the complacency of the Catholic establishment. French Protestantism came to acquire a distinctly political character, made all the more obvious by the conversions of nobles during the 1550s. This established the preconditions for a series of conflicts, known as theFrench Wars of Religion. The civil wars gained impetus with the sudden death ofHenry II of France in 1559. Atrocity and outrage became the defining characteristics of the time, illustrated at their most intense in theSt. Bartholomew's Day massacre of August 1572, when the Catholic party annihilated between 30,000 and 100,000 Huguenots across France. The wars only concluded whenHenry IV of France issued theEdict of Nantes, promising official toleration of the Protestant minority, but under highly restricted conditions. Catholicism remained the officialstate religion, and the fortunes of French Protestants gradually declined over the next century, culminating inLouis XIV'sEdict of Fontainebleau which revoked the Edict of Nantes and made Catholicism the sole legal religion. In response to the Edict of Fontainebleau,Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg declared theEdict of Potsdam, giving free passage to Huguenot refugees. In the late 17th century, many Huguenots fled. A significant community in France remained in theCévennes region.
Parallel to events in Germany, a movement began in Switzerland under the leadership of Huldrych Zwingli. Although the two movements agreed on many issues of theology, some unresolved differences kept them separate. A long-standing resentment between the German states and theSwiss Confederation led to heated debate over how much Zwingli owed his ideas to Lutheranism. The German PrincePhilip of Hesse saw potential in creating an alliance between Zwingli and Luther. A meeting was held in his castle in 1529, now known as theColloquy of Marburg, which has become infamous for its failure. The two men could not come to any agreement due to their disputation over one key doctrine.
In 1534,King Henry VIII put an end to all papal jurisdiction inEngland, after the Pope failed toannul his marriage toCatherine of Aragon (due to political considerations involving the Holy Roman Emperor);[58]this opened the door to reformational ideas. Later on, King Henry rejected the Pope's authority, instead of creating and accepting authority over the Church of England, a type of hybrid church that clashed together some Catholic doctrine and some Protestant ethics.[59]Within the next 20 years, there was religious disturbance in England as Queen Mary (1553–1558) restored Catholicism in England while persecuting and exiling Protestants, only to have Queen Elizabeth I and her Parliament try to lead the country back toward Protestantism during her reign (1558–1603).[60] Reformers in the Church of England alternated between sympathies for ancient Catholic tradition and more Reformed principles, gradually developing into a tradition considered a middle way (via media) between the Catholic and Protestant traditions. The English Reformation followed a particular course. The different character of theEnglish Reformation came primarily from the fact that it was driven initially by the political necessities of Henry VIII. King Henry decided to remove the Church of England from the authority of Rome. In 1534, the Act of Supremacy recognized Henry as "the only Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England". Between 1535 and 1540, underThomas Cromwell, the policy known as theDissolution of the Monasteries was put into effect. Following a brief Catholic restoration during the reign of Mary I, a loose consensus developed during the reign ofElizabeth I. TheElizabethan Religious Settlement largely formed Anglicanism into a distinctive church tradition. The compromise was uneasy and was capable of veering between extreme Calvinism on the one hand and Catholicism on the other. It was relatively successful until the Puritan Revolution orEnglish Civil War in the 17th century.
The success of the Counterreformation ("Catholic Reformation") on the Continent and the growth of aPuritan party dedicated to further Protestant reform polarized theElizabethan Age. The early Puritan movement was a movement for reform in the Church of England whose proponents desired for the Church of England to resemble more closely the Protestant churches of Europe, especially that of Geneva. The later Puritan movement, often referred to asdissenters andnonconformists, eventually led to the formation of various Reformed denominations.
TheScottish Reformation of 1560 decisively shaped theChurch of Scotland.[61] The Reformation in Scotland culminated ecclesiastically in the establishment of a church along Reformed lines, and politically in the triumph of English influence over that of France. John Knox is regarded as the leader of the Scottish Reformation. TheScottish Reformation Parliament of 1560 repudiated the pope's authority by thePapal Jurisdiction Act 1560, forbade the celebration of the Mass and approved a Protestant Confession of Faith. It was made possible by a revolution against French hegemony under the regime of the regentMary of Guise, who had governed Scotland in the name of her absentdaughter.
All parties would recognize thePeace of Augsburg of 1555, by which each prince would have the right to determine the religion of his own state, the options being Catholicism, Lutheranism, and now Calvinism. (the principle ofcuius regio, eius religio)
Christians living in principalities where their denomination wasnot the established church were guaranteed the right to practice their faith in public during allotted hours and in private at their will.
The treaty also effectively ended the papacy's pan-European political power.Pope Innocent X declared the treaty "null, void, invalid, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all times" in his bullZelo Domus Dei. European sovereigns, Catholic and Protestant alike, ignored his verdict.[63]
Peak of theReformation and beginning of the Counterreformation ("Catholic Reformation") (1545–1620)
End of the Reformation and Counterreformation ("Catholic Reformation") (1648)
Religious situation in Europe, late 16th and early to mid-17th century
The Great Awakenings were periods of rapid and dramatic religious revival in Anglo-American religious history.
TheFirst Great Awakening was an evangelical and revitalization movement that swept through Protestant Europe andBritish America, especially theAmerican colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a permanent impact onAmerican Protestantism. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ. Pulling away from ritual, ceremony, sacramentalism and hierarchy, it made Christianity intensely personal to the average person by fostering a deep sense of spiritual conviction and redemption, and by encouraging introspection and a commitment to a new standard of personal morality.[64]
TheSecond Great Awakening began around 1790. It gained momentum by 1800. After 1820, membership rose rapidly amongBaptist andMethodist congregations, whose preachers led the movement. It was past its peak by the late 1840s. It has been described as a reaction against skepticism,deism, andrationalism, although why those forces became pressing enough at the time to spark revivals is not fully understood.[65] It enrolled millions of new members in existingevangelical denominations and led to the formation of new denominations.
TheThird Great Awakening refers to a hypothetical historical period that was marked by religious activism inAmerican history and spans the late 1850s to the early 20th century.[66] It affectedpietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong element of social activism.[67] It gathered strength from thepostmillennial belief that theSecond Coming of Christ would occur after mankind had reformed the entire earth. It was affiliated with theSocial Gospel Movement, which applied Christianity to social issues and gained its force from the Awakening, as did the worldwide missionary movement. New groupings emerged, such as theHoliness,Nazarene, andChristian Science movements.[68]
TheFourth Great Awakening was a Christian religious awakening that some scholars—most notably,Robert Fogel—say took place in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, while others look at the era followingWorld War II. The terminology is controversial. Thus, the idea of a Fourth Great Awakening itself has not been generally accepted.[69]
In 1814,Le Réveil swept through Calvinist regions in Switzerland and France.
In 1904, aProtestant revival in Wales had a tremendous impact on the local population. A part of British modernization, it drew many people to churches, especially Methodist and Baptist ones.[70]
A noteworthy development in 20th-century Protestant Christianity was the rise of the modernPentecostal movement. Sprung from Methodist andWesleyan roots, it arose out of meetings at an urban mission onAzusa Street in Los Angeles. From there it spread around the world, carried by those who experienced what they believed to be miraculous moves of God there. These Pentecost-like manifestations have steadily been in evidence throughout history, such as seen in the two Great Awakenings. Pentecostalism, which in turn birthed theCharismatic movement within already established denominations, continues to be an important force inWestern Christianity.
In the United States and elsewhere in the world, there has been a marked rise in theevangelical wing of Protestant denominations, especially those that are more exclusively evangelical, and a corresponding decline in themainstream liberal churches. In the post–World War I era,Liberal Christianity was on the rise, and a considerable number of seminaries held and taught from a liberal perspective as well. In the post–World War II era, the trend began to swing back towards the conservative camp in America's seminaries and church structures.
In Europe, there has been a general move away from religious observance and belief in Christian teachings and a move towardssecularism. TheEnlightenment is largely responsible for the spread of secularism. Some scholars debate the link between Protestantism and the rise of secularism, and take as argument the wide-ranging freedom in Protestant-majority countries.[71] However, the sole example of France demonstrates that even in Catholic-majority countries, the overwhelming impact of the Enlightenment has brought even stronger secularism and freedom of thought five centuries later. It is more reliable to consider that the Reformation influenced the critical thinkers of the subsequent centuries. Initial philosophers of the Enlightenment were defending a Christian conception of the world, but it was developed together with a fierce and decisive criticism of the Church, its politics, its ethics, its worldview, its scientific and cultural assumptions, leading to the devaluation of all forms of institutionalized Christianity, which extended over the centuries.[72]
Unlike mainstreamLutheran,Calvinist and Zwinglian movements, theRadical Reformation, which had no state sponsorship, generally abandoned the idea of the "Church visible" as distinct from the "Church invisible". It was a rational extension of the state-approved Protestant dissent, which took the value of independence from constituted authority a step further, arguing the same for the civic realm. The Radical Reformation was non-mainstream, though in parts of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, a majority would sympathize with the Radical Reformation despite the intense persecution it faced from both Catholics and Magisterial Protestants.[73]
The earlyAnabaptists believed that their reformation must purify not only theology but also the actual lives of Christians, especially their political and social relationships.[74] Therefore, the church should not be supported by the state, neither by tithes and taxes, nor by the use of the sword;Christianity was a matter of individual conviction, which could not be forced on anyone, but rather required a personal decision for it.[74] Protestant ecclesial leaders such asHubmaier andHofmann preached the invalidity of infant baptism, advocating baptism as following conversion ("believer's baptism") instead. This was not a doctrine new to the reformers, but was taught by earlier groups, such as theAlbigenses in 1147. Though most of the Radical Reformers were Anabaptist, some did not identify themselves with the mainstream Anabaptist tradition.Thomas Müntzer was involved in theGerman Peasants' War.Andreas Karlstadt disagreed theologically with Huldrych Zwingli and Martin Luther, teaching nonviolence and refusing to baptize infants while not rebaptizing adult believers.[75]Kaspar Schwenkfeld andSebastian Franck were influenced byGerman mysticism andspiritualism.
In the view of many associated with the Radical Reformation, theMagisterial Reformation had not gone far enough. Radical Reformer,Andreas von Bodenstein Karlstadt, for example, referred to the Lutheran theologians atWittenberg as the "new papists".[76] Since the term "magister" also means "teacher", the Magisterial Reformation is also characterized by an emphasis on the authority of a teacher. This is made evident in the prominence of Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli as leaders of the reform movements in their respective areas of ministry. Because of their authority, they were often criticized by Radical Reformers as being too much like the Roman Popes. A more political side of the Radical Reformation can be seen in the thought and practice ofHans Hut, although typically Anabaptism has been associated with pacifism.
Protestants refer to specific groupings of congregations or churches that share in common foundational doctrines and the name of their groups asdenominations.[77] The term denomination (national body) is to be distinguished from branch (denominational family; tradition), communion (international body) and congregation (church). An example (this is no universal way to classify Protestant churches, as these may sometimes vary broadly in their structures) to show the difference:
Protestants reject theCatholic Church's doctrine that it is theone true church, with some teaching belief in theinvisible church, which consists of all who profess faith in Jesus Christ.[78] TheLutheran Church traditionally sees itself as the "main trunk of the historical Christian Tree" founded by Christ and the Apostles, holding that during the Reformation, theChurch of Rome fell away.[10][11] Individual denominations also have formed over very subtle theological differences. Other denominations are simply regional or ethnic expressions of the same beliefs. Because the five solas are the main tenets of the Protestant faith,non-denominational groups and organizations are also considered Protestant.
Variousecumenical movements have attempted cooperation or reorganization of the various divided Protestant denominations, according to various models of union, but divisions continue to outpace unions, as there is no overarching authority to which any of the churches owe allegiance, which can authoritatively define the faith. Most denominations share common beliefs in the major aspects of the Christian faith while differing in many secondary doctrines, although what is major and what is secondary is a matter of idiosyncratic belief.
In 1869, Finland was the first Nordic country todisestablish itsEvangelical Lutheran church by introducing the Church Act.[m] In 2000, Sweden was the second Nordic country to do so.[89]
United and uniting churches are churches formed from the merger or other form of union of two or more different Protestant denominations.
Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state, usually in order to have a stricter control over the religious sphere of its people, but also for other organizational reasons. As modernChristian ecumenism progresses, unions between various Protestant traditions are becoming more and more common, resulting in a growing number of united and uniting churches. Some of the recent major examples are theChurch of North India (1970),United Protestant Church of France (2013), and theProtestant Church in the Netherlands (2004). As mainline Protestantism shrinks inEurope andNorth America due to the rise ofsecularism or in areas where Christianity is a minority religion as with theIndian subcontinent,Reformed,Anglican, andLutheran denominations merge, often creating large nationwide denominations.
Around the world, each united or uniting church comprises a different mix of predecessor Protestant denominations. Trends are visible, however, as most united and uniting churches have one or more predecessors with heritage in theReformed tradition and many are members of theWorld Alliance of Reformed Churches.
Protestants can be differentiated according to how they have been influenced by important movements since the Reformation, today regarded as branches. Some of these movements have a common lineage, sometimes directly spawning individual denominations. Due to the earlier stated multitude ofdenominations, this section discusses only the largest denominational families, or branches, widely considered to be a part of Protestantism. These are, in alphabetical order:Adventist,Anglican,Baptist,Calvinist (Reformed),Hussite,Lutheran,Methodist,Pentecostal,Plymouth Brethren andQuaker. A small but historically significantAnabaptist branch is also discussed.
The chart below shows the mutual relations and historical origins of the main Protestant denominational families, or their parts. Due to factors such asCounterreformation ("Catholic Reformation") and the legal principle ofCuius regio, eius religio, many people lived asNicodemites, where their professed religious affiliations were more or less at odds with the movement they sympathized with. As a result, the boundaries between the denominations do not separate as cleanly as this chart indicates. When a population was suppressed or persecuted into feigning an adherence to the dominant faith, over the generations they continued to influence the church they outwardly adhered to.
Because Calvinism was not specifically recognized in the Holy Roman Empire until the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, many Calvinists lived asCrypto-Calvinists. Due to Counterreformation ("Catholic Reformation") related suppressions in Catholic lands during the 16th through 19th centuries, many Protestants lived asCrypto-Protestants. Meanwhile, in Protestant areas, Catholics sometimes lived ascrypto-papists, although in continental Europe emigration was more feasible so this was less common.
Historical chart of the main branches of Protestantism
Although the Adventist churches hold much in common, theirtheologies differ on whether theintermediate state isunconscious sleep or consciousness, whether the ultimate punishment of the wicked isannihilation or eternal torment, the nature of immortality, whether or not the wicked are resurrected after the millennium, and whether the sanctuary ofDaniel 8 refers to the one inheaven or one on earth.[92] The movement has encouraged the examination of the wholeBible, leading Seventh-day Adventists and some smaller Adventist groups to observe theSabbath. TheGeneral Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has compiled that church's core beliefs inthe 28 Fundamental Beliefs (1980 and 2005), which use Biblical references as justification.
In 2010, Adventism claimed some 22 million believers scattered in various independent churches.[13] The largest church within the movement—theSeventh-day Adventist Church—has more than 18 million members.
The nameAnabaptist, meaning "one who baptizes again", was given to them by their persecutors in reference to the practice of re-baptizing converts who already had been baptized as infants.[95] Anabaptists required that baptismal candidates be able to make their own confessions of faith and so rejectedbaptism of infants. The early members of this movement did not accept the nameAnabaptist, claiming that since infant baptism was unscriptural and null and void, the baptizing of believers was not a re-baptism but in fact their first real baptism. As a result of their views on the nature of baptism and other issues, Anabaptists were heavily persecuted during the 16th century and into the 17th by bothMagisterial Protestants and Catholics. While most Anabaptists adhered to aliteral interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, which precluded taking oaths, participating in military actions, and participating in civil government, some who practiced re-baptism felt otherwise.[n] They were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservativeAmish,Mennonites, andHutterites and some historians tend to consider them as outside of true Anabaptism. Anabaptist reformers of the Radical Reformation are divided into Radical and the so-called Second Front. Some important Radical Reformation theologians wereJohn of Leiden,Thomas Müntzer,Kaspar Schwenkfeld,Sebastian Franck,Menno Simons. Second Front Reformers includedHans Denck,Conrad Grebel,Balthasar Hubmaier andFelix Manz. Many Anabaptists today still use theAusbund, which is the oldest hymnal still in continuous use.
Thomas Cranmer, one of the most influential figures in shaping Anglican theology and self-identity
Anglicanism consists of theChurch of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures.[96] The wordAnglican originates inecclesia anglicana, amedieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means theEnglish Church. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority, since each national or regional church has fullautonomy. As the name suggests, the communion is an association of churches infull communion with thearchbishop of Canterbury. The great majority of Anglicans are members of churches which are part of the internationalAnglican Communion,[97] which has 85 million adherents.[98]
TheChurch of England declared its independence from the Catholic Church at the time of theElizabethan Religious Settlement.[99] Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary Reformed tradition. These reforms were understood by one of those most responsible for them, the then archbishop of Canterbury,Thomas Cranmer, as navigating a middle way between two of the emerging Protestant traditions, namely Lutheranism and Calvinism.[100] By the end of the century, the retention in Anglicanism of many traditional liturgical forms and of the episcopate was already seen as unacceptable by those promoting the most developed Protestant principles.
Unique to Anglicanism is theBook of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries. While it has since undergone many revisions and Anglican churches in different countries have developed other service books, the Book of Common Prayer is still acknowledged as one of the ties that bind the Anglican Communion together.
Baptists subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers (believer's baptism, as opposed toinfant baptism), and that it must be done by completeimmersion (as opposed toaffusion orsprinkling). Also claiming that infant baptisms are false due to the infant's lack of understanding of virtues and sins, making them not able (according to Baptists) to confess their faith. Which also regarded their lack of being able to speak at such a young age, compared to adults.[101] Othertenets of Baptist churches includesoul competency (liberty),salvation throughfaith alone,Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the localcongregation. Baptists recognize two ministerial offices,pastors anddeacons. Baptist churches are widely considered to be Protestant churches, though some Baptists disavow this identity.[102]
Diverse from their beginning, those identifying as Baptists today differ widely from one another in what they believe, how they worship, their attitudes toward other Christians, and their understanding of what is important in Christian discipleship.[103] The separation of Church and state is also a huge belief of Anabaptists. They have strongly supported this because they believe its a Biblical concept to follow, and they were persecuted by Protestant and Catholic authorities. Arguing that Christ did not give magistrates the power to form churches or constrain citizens in matters of religion.[104] There is some disagreement regarding the precise origins of the Anabaptists, but majority of scholars claim that the Anabaptist religion began around 1525 in Zurich, Switzerland.[105]
Historians trace the earliest church labeledBaptist back to 1609 inAmsterdam, withEnglish SeparatistJohn Smyth as its pastor.[106] Baptist practice spread to England, where the General Baptists considered Christ's atonement to extend to all people, while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only tothe elect. In 1638,Roger Williams established thefirst Baptist congregation in the North American colonies. In the mid-18th century, theFirst Great Awakening increased Baptist growth in both New England and the South.[107] TheSecond Great Awakening in the South in the early 19th century increased church membership, as did the preachers' lessening of support forabolition andmanumission ofslavery, which had been part of the 18th-century teachings. Baptist missionaries have spread their church to every continent.[108]
TheBaptist World Alliance reports more than 41 million members in more than 150,000 congregations.[109] In 2002, there were over 100 million Baptists and Baptistic group members worldwide and over 33 million in North America.[108] The largest Baptist association is theSouthern Baptist Convention, with the membership of associated churches totaling more than 14 million.[110]
Calvinism, also called the Reformed tradition, was advanced by several theologians such asMartin Bucer,Heinrich Bullinger,Peter Martyr Vermigli, and Huldrych Zwingli, but this branch of Christianity bears the name of the French reformer John Calvin because of his prominent influence on it and because of his role in the confessional and ecclesiastical debates throughout the 16th century.
This term also currently refers to the doctrines and practices of theReformed churches of which Calvin was an early leader. Less commonly, it can refer to the individual teaching of Calvin himself. The particulars of Calvinist theology may be stated in a number of ways. Perhaps the best known summary is contained in thefive points of Calvinism, though these points identify the Calvinist view onsoteriology rather than summarizing the system as a whole. Broadly speaking, Calvinism stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things—in salvation but also in all of life. This concept is seen clearly in the doctrines ofpredestination andtotal depravity.
Hussitism follows the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus, who became the best-known representative of theBohemian Reformation and one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation. An early hymnal was the hand-writtenJistebnice hymn book. This predominantly religious movement was propelled by social issues and strengthenedCzech national awareness. Among present-day Christians, Hussite traditions are represented in theMoravian Church,Unity of the Brethren and theCzechoslovak Hussite Church.[113]
Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism. With approximately 80 million adherents,[117] it constitutes the third most common Protestant confession after historicallyPentecostal denominations andAnglicanism.[13] TheLutheran World Federation, the largest global communion of Lutheran churches represents over 72 million people.[118] Both of these figures miscount Lutherans worldwide as many members of more generically Protestant LWF member church bodies do not self-identify as Lutheran or attend congregations that self-identify as Lutheran.[119] Additionally, there are other international organizations such as theGlobal Confessional and Missional Lutheran Forum,International Lutheran Council and theConfessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well asLutheran denominations that are not necessarily a member of an international organization.
Methodism identifies principally withthe theology ofJohn Wesley. This evangelical movement originated as arevival within the 18th-centuryChurch of England and became a separate Church following Wesley's death. Because of vigorous missionary activity, the movement spread throughout theBritish Empire, the United States, and beyond, today claiming approximately 80 million adherents worldwide.[120] Originally it appealed especially to laborers and slaves.
Soteriologically, most Methodists areArminian, emphasizing that Christ accomplished salvation for every human being, and that humans must exercise an act of the will to receive it (as opposed to the traditional Calvinist doctrine ofmonergism). Methodism is traditionallylow church in liturgy, although this varies greatly between individual congregations; the Wesleys themselves greatly valued the Anglican liturgy and tradition. Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition; John Wesley's brother,Charles, was instrumental in writing much of thehymnody of the Methodist Church,[121] and many other eminent hymn writers come from the Methodist tradition.The Holiness movement refers to a set of practices surrounding the doctrine of Christian perfection that emerged within 19th-century Methodism, along with a number of evangelical denominations andparachurch organizations (such ascamp meetings).[122] There are an estimated 12 million adherents in denominations aligned with the Wesleyan-holiness movement.[123] TheFree Methodist Church, theSalvation Army and theWesleyan Methodist Church are notable examples, while other adherents of the Holiness Movement remained within mainline Methodism, e.g. theUnited Methodist Church.[122]
This branch of Protestantism is distinguished by belief in the baptism with the Holy Spirit as an experience separate fromconversion that enables a Christian to live a life empowered by and filled with the Holy Spirit. This empowerment includes the use ofspiritual gifts such asspeaking in tongues anddivine healing—two other defining characteristics of Pentecostalism. Because of their commitment to biblical authority, spiritual gifts, and the miraculous, Pentecostals tend to see their movement as reflecting the same kind of spiritual power and teachings that were found in theApostolic Age of theearly church. For this reason, some Pentecostals also use the termApostolic orFull Gospel to describe their movement.
Pentecostalism eventually spawned hundreds of new denominations, including large groups such as the Assemblies of God and the Church of God in Christ, both in the United States and elsewhere. There are over 279 million Pentecostals worldwide, and the movement is growing in many parts of the world, especially theglobal South. Since the 1960s, Pentecostalism has increasingly gained acceptance from other Christian traditions, and Pentecostal beliefs concerning Spirit baptism and spiritual gifts have been embraced by non-Pentecostal Christians in Protestant andCatholic churches through theCharismatic Movement. Together,Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity numbers over 500 million adherents.[124]
ThePlymouth Brethren are aconservative, low church, evangelical denomination, whose history can be traced toDublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s, originating fromAnglicanism.[125][126] Among other beliefs, the group emphasizessola scriptura. Brethren generally see themselves not as a denomination, but as a network, or even as a collection of overlapping networks, of like-minded independent churches. Although the group refused for many years to take any denominational name to itself—a stance that some of them still maintain—the titleThe Brethren, is one that many of their number are comfortable with in that the Bible designates all believers asbrethren.
The Presbyterian Church was born out of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. John Calvin was the main contributor for creating a different but special type of church administration that stuck to the New Testament notion of “presbyter” or elder to appoint leadership. The Presbyterian Church's presbyter-leadership made it possible to have either a “teaching presbyter” (teaching elder) who was an ordained minister or a “ruling presbyter” (ruling elder) who was a layman. One of the features of the Presbyterian, compared to other denominations in Christianity, was the belief of only two Sacraments: communion and baptism.
In 1835, the congregation of the Greyfriars Church in Glasgow, Scotland made the decision to dispach a missionary to the colony of Trinidad to minister to the Scottish planters, their families, and the Africans who were present in that area. On January 31, 1836, Reverend Alexander Kennedy step foot in Trinidad to start the Presbyterian vision in Port of Spain. The work of the Scottish Presbyterians became widespread throughout San Fernando, Arouca, and Sangre Grande. By 1843, the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America had also generated a mission in Trinidad. These American Presbyterians took the evangelization challenge at Iere Village with a congregation including mostly Africans who worked in the surrounding sugar grounds.[127]
Quakers, or Friends, are members of a family of religious movements collectively known as the Religious Society of Friends. The central unifying doctrine of these movements is thepriesthood of all believers.[128][129] Many Friends view themselves as members of a Christian denomination. They include those withevangelical,holiness,liberal, and traditionalconservative Quaker understandings ofChristianity. Unlike many other groups that emerged within Christianity, the Religious Society of Friends has actively tried to avoidcreeds and hierarchical structures.[130]
There are many other Protestant denominations that do not fit neatly into the mentioned branches, and are far smaller in membership. Some groups of individuals who hold basic Protestant tenets identify themselves simply as "Christians" or "born-again Christians". They typically distance themselves from theconfessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities[131] by calling themselves "non-denominational" or "evangelical". Often founded by individual pastors, they have little affiliation with historic denominations.[132]
Spiritual Christianity is the group of Russian movements (Doukhobors and others), so-called folk Protestants. Their origins are varied: some were influenced by western Protestants, others from disgust of the behavior of officialOrthodox priests.[135][136]
Messianic Judaism is a movement of the Jews and non-Jews, which arose in the 1960s within Evangelical Protestantism and absorbed elements of themessianic traditions in Judaism.[137]
There are also Christian movements which cross denominational lines and even branches, and cannot be classified on the same level previously mentioned forms.Evangelicalism is a prominent example. Some of those movements are active exclusively within Protestantism, some are Christian-wide. Transdenominational movements are sometimes capable of affecting parts of the Catholic Church, such as does it theCharismatic Movement, which aims to incorporate beliefs and practices similar toPentecostals into the various branches of Christianity.Neo-charismatic churches are sometimes regarded as a subgroup of the Charismatic Movement. Both are put under a common label ofCharismatic Christianity (so-calledRenewalists), along with Pentecostals.Nondenominational churches and varioushouse churches often adopt, or are akin to one of these movements.
Megachurches are usually influenced by interdenominational movements. Globally, these large congregations are a significant development in Protestant Christianity. In the United States, the phenomenon has more than quadrupled in the past two decades.[138] It has since spread worldwide.
The chart below shows the mutual relations and historical origins of the main interdenominational movements and other developments within Protestantism.
Links between interdenominational movements and other developments within Protestantism
Evangelicalism, or evangelical Protestantism,[o] is a worldwide, transdenominational movement which maintains that the essence ofthe gospel consists in the doctrine of salvation bygrace throughfaith inJesus Christ'satonement.[139][140]
Evangelicals areChristians who believe in the centrality of the conversion or"born again" experience in receiving salvation, believe in the authority of the Bible as God's revelation to humanity and have a strong commitment to evangelism or sharing the Christian message.
There are an estimated 285,480,000 Evangelicals, corresponding to 13% of theChristian population and 4% of thetotal world population. The Americas, Africa and Asia are home to the majority of Evangelicals. The United States has the largest concentration of Evangelicals.[141] Evangelicalism is gaining popularity, especially in Latin America and thedeveloping world.
Hillsong Church, an evangelical charismatic church, inKonstanz, Germany
The Charismatic movement is the international trend of historically mainstream congregations adopting beliefs and practices similar toPentecostals. Fundamental to the movement is the use ofspiritual gifts. Among Protestants, the movement began around 1960.
In the United States, EpiscopalianDennis Bennett is sometimes cited as one of the charismatic movement's seminal influence.[142] In theUnited Kingdom,Colin Urquhart,Michael Harper,David Watson and others were in the vanguard of similar developments. TheMassey conference in New Zealand, 1964 was attended by several Anglicans, including the Rev. Ray Muller, who went on to invite Bennett to New Zealand in 1966, and played a leading role in developing and promoting theLife in the Spirit seminars. Other Charismatic movement leaders in New Zealand includeBill Subritzky.
Larry Christenson, a Lutheran theologian based inSan Pedro, California, did much in the 1960s and 1970s to interpret the charismatic movement for Lutherans. A very large annual conference regarding that matter was held inMinneapolis. Charismatic Lutheran congregations in Minnesota became especially large and influential; especially "Hosanna!" in Lakeville, and North Heights in St. Paul. The next generation of Lutheran charismatics cluster around the Alliance of Renewal Churches. There is considerable charismatic activity among young Lutheran leaders in California centered around an annual gathering at Robinwood Church in Huntington Beach.Richard A. Jensen'sTouched by the Spirit published in 1974, played a major role of the Lutheran understanding to the charismatic movement.
Neo-charismatic churches are a category of churches in the ChristianRenewal movement. Neo-charismatics include theThird Wave, but are broader. Now more numerous than Pentecostals (first wave) and charismatics (second wave) combined, owing to the remarkable growth ofpostdenominational and independent charismatic groups.[148]
Neo-charismatics believe in and stress the post-Biblical availability ofgifts of the Holy Spirit, includingglossolalia, healing, and prophecy. They practice laying on of hands and seek the "infilling" of theHoly Spirit. However, a specific experience ofbaptism with the Holy Spirit may not be requisite for experiencing such gifts. No single form, governmental structure, or style of church service characterizes all neo-charismatic services and churches.
Some nineteen thousand denominations, with approximately 295 million individual adherents, are identified as neo-charismatic.[149]
The original beliefs of Jacobus Arminius himself are commonly defined as Arminianism, but more broadly, the term may embrace the teachings ofHugo Grotius,John Wesley, and others as well.Classical Arminianism andWesleyan Arminianism are the two main schools of thought. Wesleyan Arminianism is often identical with Methodism. The two systems of Calvinism and Arminianism share both history and many doctrines, and thehistory of Christian theology. However, because of their differences over the doctrines of divinepredestination and election, many people view these schools of thought as opposed to each other. In short, the difference can be seen ultimately by whether God allows His desire to save all to be resisted by an individual's will (in the Arminian doctrine) or if God's grace is irresistible and limited to only some (in Calvinism). Some Calvinists assert that the Arminian perspective presents a synergistic system of Salvation and therefore is not only by grace, while Arminians firmly reject this conclusion. Many consider the theological differences to be crucial differences in doctrine, while others find them to be relatively minor.[153]
Pietism was an influential movement withinLutheranism that combined the 17th-century Lutheran principles with theReformed emphasis on individual piety and living a vigorousChristian life.[154]
It began in the late 17th century, reached its zenith in the mid-18th century, and declined through the 19th century, and had almost vanished in America by the end of the 20th century. While declining as an identifiable Lutheran group, some of its theological tenets influenced Protestantism generally, inspiring theAnglican priestJohn Wesley to begin theMethodist movement andAlexander Mack to begin theBrethren movement under an influence ofAnabaptists.[155]
Though Pietism shares an emphasis on personal behavior with thePuritan movement, and the two are often confused, there are important differences, particularly in the concept of the role of religion in government.[156]
Puritans were blocked from changing the established church from within, and were severely restricted in England by laws controlling the practice of religion. Their beliefs, however, were transported by the emigration of congregations to the Netherlands (and later to New England), and by evangelical clergy to Ireland (and later into Wales), and were spread into lay society and parts of the educational system, particularly certain colleges of theUniversity of Cambridge. The first Protestant sermon delivered in England was in Cambridge, with the pulpit that this sermon was delivered from surviving to today.[157][158] They took on distinctive beliefs about clerical dress and in opposition to theepiscopal system, particularly after the 1619 conclusions of theSynod of Dort they were resisted by the English bishops. They largely adoptedSabbatarianism in the 17th century, and were influenced bymillennialism.
They formed, and identified with various religious groups advocating greater purity ofworship anddoctrine, as well as personal and grouppiety. Puritans adopted aReformed theology, but they also took note of radical criticisms of Zwingli in Zurich and Calvin in Geneva. In church polity, some advocated for separation from all other Christians, in favor of autonomousgathered churches. These separatist andindependent strands of Puritanism became prominent in the 1640s. Although theEnglish Civil War (which expanded into theWars of the Three Kingdoms) began over a contest for political power between theKing of England and theHouse of Commons, it divided the country along religious lines asepiscopalians within the Church of England sided with the Crown and Presbyterians and Independents supportedParliament (after the defeat of the Royalists, theHouse of Lords as well as the Monarch were removed from the political structure of the state to create theCommonwealth). The supporters of aPresbyterian polity in theWestminster Assembly were unable to forge a new English national church, and the ParliamentaryNew Model Army, which was made up primarily of Independents, underOliver Cromwell first purged Parliament, then abolished it and establishedThe Protectorate.
Episcopalian was re-established following theRestoration. A century later, non-conforming Protestants, along with the Protestant refugees from continental Europe, were to be among the primary instigators of thewar of secession that led to the founding of the United States of America.
Karl Barth, often regarded as the greatest Protestant theologian of the 20th century[162][163]
A non-fundamentalist rejection of liberal Christianity along the lines of theChristian existentialism ofSøren Kierkegaard, who attacked theHegelian state churches of his day for "dead orthodoxy", neo-orthodoxy is associated primarily withKarl Barth,Jürgen Moltmann, andDietrich Bonhoeffer. Neo-orthodoxy sought to counter-act the tendency of liberal theology to make theological accommodations to modern scientific perspectives. Sometimes called "crisis theology", in the existentialist sense of the word crisis, also sometimes calledneo-evangelicalism, which uses the sense of "evangelical" pertaining to continental European Protestants rather than American evangelicalism. "Evangelical" was the originally preferred label used by Lutherans and Calvinists, but it was replaced by the names some Catholics used tolabel a heresy with the name of its founder.
Paleo-orthodoxy is a movement similar in some respects to neo-evangelicalism but emphasizing the ancient Christian consensus of the undivided church of the first millennium AD, including in particular the early creeds and church councils as a means of properly understanding the scriptures. This movement is cross-denominational. A prominent theologian in this group isThomas Oden, a Methodist.
In reaction to liberal Bible critique,fundamentalism arose in the 20th century, primarily in the United States, among those denominations most affected by Evangelicalism. Fundamentalist theology tends to stressBiblical inerrancy andBiblical literalism.[164]
Toward the end of the 20th century, some have tended to confuse evangelicalism and fundamentalism; however, the labels represent very distinct differences of approach that both groups are diligent to maintain, although because of fundamentalism's dramatically smaller size it often gets classified simply as an ultra-conservative branch of evangelicalism.
Modernism and liberalism do not constitute rigorous and well-defined schools of theology, but are rather an inclination by some writers and teachers to integrate Christian thought into the spirit of theAge of Enlightenment. New understandings of history and the natural sciences of the day led directly to new approaches to theology. Its opposition to the fundamentalist teaching resulted in religious debates, such as theFundamentalist–Modernist Controversy within thePresbyterian Church in the United States of America in the 1920s.
Although theReformation was a religious movement, it also had a strong impact on all other aspects of life, including marriage and family, education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy, and the arts.[9] Protestant churches reject the idea of a celibate priesthood and thus allow their clergy to marry.[22] Many of their families contributed to the development of intellectual elites in their countries.[165] Since about 1950, women have entered the ministry in most Protestant churches, and some have assumed leading positions (e.g.bishops).
As the Reformers wanted all members of the church to be able to read the Bible, education on all levels was strongly encouraged. By the middle of the eighteenth century, the literacy rate in England was about 60 percent, in Scotland 65 percent, and in Sweden 80 percent.[175] Colleges and universities were founded. For example, thePuritans who establishedMassachusetts Bay Colony in 1628 foundedHarvard College only eight years later. About a dozen other colleges followed in the 18th century, includingYale (1701).Pennsylvania also became a center of learning.[176][177]
In theVisitation Articles, also known as the first Protestant Confession of Faith, it declared that "we do not send this forth as a rigid command, lest we set up new papal decrees, but as a history, as a witness of our faith and he expresses the hope that all who hold to the Gospel will thankfully accept it until God shall bring something better." These articles helped serve as a way to document the Lutheran faith and its doctrines. In 1538 and 1545, Luther published new versions of these articles. Luther also added work to The Three Symbols (1538) stating: "I have observed in all histories of the Universal Christian Church that all those who hold to the cardinal doctrines of Jesus Christ have remained sure and steadfast in the Christian faith, and even if they have erred and come short in other respects, they are still preserved." Stating that by following Jesus Christ (specifically with the Lutheran practices in this case) one will be saved.[179]
The Protestant concept of God and man allows believers to use all their God-given faculties, including the power of reason. That means that they are allowed to explore God's creation and, according to Genesis 2:15, make use of it in a responsible and sustainable way. Thus a cultural climate was created that greatly enhanced the development of thehumanities and thesciences.[180] Another consequence of the Protestant understanding of man is that the believers, in gratitude for their election and redemption in Christ, are to follow God's commandments. Industry, frugality, calling, discipline, and a strong sense of responsibility are at the heart of their moral code.[181][182] In particular, Calvin rejected luxury. Therefore, craftsmen, industrialists, and other businessmen were able to reinvest the greater part of their profits in the most efficient machinery and the most modern production methods that were based on progress in the sciences and technology. As a result, productivity grew, which led to increased profits and enabled employers to pay higher wages. In this way, the economy, the sciences, and technology reinforced each other. The chance to participate in the economic success of technological inventions was a strong incentive to both inventors and investors.[183][184][185][186] TheProtestant work ethic was an important force behind the unplanned and uncoordinatedmass action that influenced the development ofcapitalism and theIndustrial Revolution. This idea is also known as the "Protestant ethic thesis".[187]
However, eminent historianFernand Braudel (d. 1985), a leader of the importantAnnales School wrote, "all historians have opposed this tenuous theory [the Protestant Ethic], although they have not managed to be rid of it once and for all. Yet it is clearly false. The northern countries took over the place that earlier had been so long and brilliantly been occupied by the old capitalist centers of the Mediterranean. They invented nothing, either in technology or business management."[188] Social scientistRodney Stark moreover comments that "during their critical period of economic development, these northern centers of capitalism were Catholic, not Protestant—the Reformation still lay well into the future",[189] while British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper (d. 2003) said, "The idea that large-scale industrial capitalism was ideologically impossible before the Reformation is exploded by the simple fact that it existed."[190]
In afactor analysis of the latest wave ofWorld Values Survey data,Arno Tausch (Corvinus University of Budapest) found that Protestantism emerges to be very close to combining religion and the traditions ofliberalism. The Global Value Development Index, calculated by Tausch, relies on the World Values Survey dimensions such as trust in the state of law, no support for shadow economy, postmaterial activism, support for democracy, a non-acceptance of violence, xenophobia and racism, trust in transnational capital and Universities, confidence in the market economy, supporting gender justice, and engaging in environmental activism, etc.[191]
Protestantism has had an important influence on science. According to theMerton Thesis, there was a positivecorrelation between the rise of EnglishPuritanism and GermanPietism on the one hand and earlyexperimental science on the other.[197] The Merton Thesis has two separate parts: Firstly, it presents a theory that science changes due to an accumulation of observations and improvement in experimental technique andmethodology; secondly, it puts forward the argument that the popularity of science in 17th-century England and the religiousdemography of theRoyal Society (English scientists of that time were predominantly Puritans or other Protestants) can be explained by acorrelation between Protestantism and the scientific values.[198] Merton focused on English Puritanism and German Pietism as having been responsible for the development of thescientific revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries. He explained that the connection betweenreligious affiliation and interest in science was the result of a significant synergy between theascetic Protestant values and those of modern science.[199] Protestant values encouraged scientific research by allowing science to identify God's influence on the world—his creation—and thus providing a religious justification for scientific research.[197]
According toScientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United States byHarriet Zuckerman, a review of AmericanNobel Prizes awarded between 1901 and 1972, 72% of AmericanNobel Prize laureates identified a Protestant background.[200] Overall, 84% of all the Nobel Prizes awarded to Americans inChemistry,[200] 60% inMedicine,[200] and 59% inPhysics[200] between 1901 and 1972 were won by Protestants.
According to100 Years of Nobel Prize (2005), a review of Nobel Prizes awarded between 1901 and 2000, 65% ofNobel Prize Laureates,have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference (423 prizes).[201] While 32% have identified with Protestantism in its various forms (208 prizes),[201] although Protestants are 12% to 13% of the world's population.
During theMiddle Ages, the Church and the worldly authorities were closely related. Martin Luther separated the religious and the worldly realms in principle (doctrine of the two kingdoms).[202] The believers were obliged to use reason to govern the worldly sphere in an orderly and peaceful way. Luther's doctrine of thepriesthood of all believers upgraded the role of laymen in the church considerably. The members of a congregation had the right to elect a minister and, if necessary, to vote for his dismissal (TreatiseOn the right and authority of a Christian assembly or congregation to judge all doctrines and to call, install and dismiss teachers, as testified in Scripture; 1523).[203] Calvin strengthened this basically democratic approach by including elected laymen (church elders,presbyters) in his representative church government.[204] TheHuguenots added regionalsynods and a national synod, whose members were elected by the congregations, to Calvin's system of church self-government. This system was taken over by the other reformed churches[205] and was adopted by some Lutherans beginning with those inJülich-Cleves-Berg during the 17th century.
Politically, Calvin favored a mixture of aristocracy and democracy. He appreciated the advantages ofdemocracy: "It is an invaluable gift, if God allows a people to freely elect its own authorities and overlords."[206] Calvin also thought that earthly rulers lose their divine right and must be put down when they rise up against God. To further protect the rights of ordinary people, Calvin suggested separating political powers in a system of checks and balances (separation of powers). Thus he and his followers resisted politicalabsolutism and paved the way for the rise of modern democracy.[207] Besides England, the Netherlands were, under Calvinist leadership, the freest country in Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It granted asylum to philosophers likeBaruch Spinoza andPierre Bayle.Hugo Grotius was able to teach his natural-law theory and a relatively liberal interpretation of the Bible.[208]
Protestants also took the initiative in advocating forreligious freedom. Freedom of conscience had a high priority on the theological, philosophical, and political agendas since Luther refused to recant his beliefs before the Diet of theHoly Roman Empire at Worms (1521). In his view, faith was a free work of the Holy Spirit and could, therefore, not be forced on a person.[217] The persecuted Anabaptists and Huguenots demanded freedom of conscience, and they practicedseparation of church and state.[218] In the early seventeenth century, Baptists likeJohn Smyth andThomas Helwys published tracts in defense of religious freedom.[219] Their thinking influencedJohn Milton andJohn Locke's stance on tolerance.[220][221] Under the leadership of BaptistRoger Williams, CongregationalistThomas Hooker, and QuakerWilliam Penn, respectively,Rhode Island,Connecticut, andPennsylvania combined democratic constitutions with freedom of religion. These colonies became safe havens for persecuted religious minorities, includingJews.[222][223][224]
Democracy, social-contract theory, separation of powers, religious freedom, separation of church and state—these achievements of the Reformation and early Protestantism were elaborated on and popularized byAge of Enlightenment thinkers. Some of the philosophers of the English, Scottish, German, and Swiss Enlightenment—Thomas Hobbes,John Locke,John Toland,David Hume,Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz,Christian Wolff,Immanuel Kant, andJean-Jacques Rousseau—had Protestant backgrounds.[231] For example, John Locke, whose political thought was based on "a set of Protestant Christian assumptions",[232] derived the equality of all humans, including the equality of the genders ("Adam and Eve"), from Genesis 1, 26–28. As all persons were created equally free, all governments needed "theconsent of the governed".[233]
Protestants have founded hospitals, homes for disabled or elderly people, educational institutions, organizations that give aid to developing countries, and other social welfare agencies.[239][240][241] In the nineteenth century, throughout the Anglo-American world, numerous dedicated members of all Protestant denominations were active in social reform movements such as the abolition of slavery, prison reforms, andwoman suffrage.[242][243][244] As an answer to the "social question" of the nineteenth century, Germany under ChancellorOtto von Bismarck introduced insurance programs that led the way to thewelfare state (health insurance,accident insurance,disability insurance,old-age pensions). To Bismarck this was "practical Christianity".[245][246] These programs, too, were copied by many other nations, particularly in the Western world.
Matanzas Inlet, Florida, where Protestant shipwrecksurvivors were executed byMenéndez "because they had built it there without Your Majesty's permission, and were disseminating the Lutheran religion"
The view of theCatholic Church is that Protestant denominations cannot be considered churches but rather that they areecclesial communities orspecific faith-believing communities because their ordinances and doctrines are not historically the same as the Catholic sacraments and dogmas, and the Protestant communities have no sacramental ministerial priesthood[p] and therefore lack trueapostolic succession.[247][248] According to BishopHilarion (Alfeyev) theEastern Orthodox Church shares the same view on the subject.[249]
Contrary to how the Protestant Reformers were often characterized, the concept of acatholic or universal Church was not brushed aside during the Protestant Reformation. On the contrary, the visible unity of thecatholic oruniversal church was seen by the Protestant reformers as an important and essential doctrine of the Reformation. The Magisterial reformers, such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli, believed that they were reforming the Catholic Church, which they viewed as having become corrupted.[q] Each of them took very seriously the charges of schism and innovation, denying these charges and maintaining that it was the Catholic Church that had left them. The Protestant Reformers formed a new and radically different theological opinion on ecclesiology, that the visible Church is "catholic" (lower-case "c") rather than "Catholic" (upper-case "C"). Accordingly, there is not an indefinite number of parochial, congregational or national churches, constituting, as it were, so many ecclesiastical individualities, but one great spiritual republic of which these various organizations form a part,[r] although they each have very different opinions. This was markedly far-removed from the traditional and historic Catholic understanding that the Catholic Church was the one true Church of Christ.[s]
Yet, in the Protestant understanding, thevisible church is not a genus, so to speak, with so many species under it.[t] In order to justify their departure[u] from the Catholic Church, Protestants often posited a new argument,[v] saying that there was no real visible Church with divine authority, only aspiritual, invisible, and hidden church—this notion began in the early days of the Protestant Reformation.
Wherever the Magisterial Reformation, which received support from the ruling authorities, took place, the result was a reformed national Protestant church envisioned to be a part of the wholeinvisible church, but disagreeing, in certain important points of doctrine and doctrine-linked practice, with what had until then been considered the normative reference point on such matters,[w] namely the Papacy and central authority of the Catholic Church. The Reformed churches thus believed in some form of Catholicity, founded on their doctrines of the five solas and a visibleecclesiastical organization based on the 14th- and 15th-centuryConciliar movement, rejecting thepapacy andpapal infallibility in favor ofecumenical councils, but rejecting the latest ecumenical council, theCouncil of Trent.[x] Religious unity therefore became not one of doctrine and identity but one of invisible character, wherein the unity was one of faith in Jesus Christ, not common identity, doctrine, belief, and collaborative action.
There are Protestants,[y] especially of theReformed tradition, that either reject or downplay the designationProtestant because of the negative idea that the word invokes in addition to its primary meaning, preferring the designationReformed,Evangelical or evenReformed Catholic expressive of what they call aReformed Catholicity and defending their arguments from the traditional Protestant confessions.[250]
The Edinburgh Missionary Conference is considered the symbolic starting point of the contemporary ecumenical movement.[251]
The ecumenical movement has had an influence onmainline churches, beginning at least in 1910 with theEdinburgh Missionary Conference. Its origins lay in the recognition of the need for cooperation on the mission field in Africa, Asia and Oceania. Since 1948, theWorld Council of Churches has been influential, but ineffective in creating a united church. There are also ecumenical bodies at regional, national and local levels across the globe; but schisms still far outnumber unifications. One, but not the only expression of the ecumenical movement, has been the move to form united churches, such as theChurch of South India, theChurch of North India, the US-basedUnited Church of Christ, theUnited Church of Canada, theUniting Church in Australia and theUnited Church of Christ in the Philippines which have rapidly declining memberships. There has been a strong engagement ofOrthodox churches in the ecumenical movement, though the reaction of individual Orthodox theologians has ranged from tentative approval of the aim of Christian unity to outright condemnation of the perceived effect of watering down Orthodox doctrine.[252]
A Protestantbaptism is held to be valid by the Catholic Church if given with the trinitarian formula and with the intent to baptize. However, as the ordination of Protestant ministers is not recognized due to the lack ofapostolic succession and the disunity from Catholic Church, all other sacraments (except marriage) performed by Protestant denominations and ministers are not recognized as valid. Therefore, Protestants desiring full communion with the Catholic Church are not re-baptized (although they are confirmed) and Protestant ministers who become Catholics may be ordained to thepriesthood after a period of study.
In 1999, the representatives ofLutheran World Federation and Catholic Church signed theJoint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, apparently resolving the conflict over the nature ofjustification which was at the root of the Protestant Reformation, althoughConfessional Lutherans reject this statement.[253] This is understandable, since there is no compelling authority within them. On 18 July 2006, delegates to the World Methodist Conference voted unanimously to adopt the Joint Declaration.[254][255]
There are more than 1.18 billion Protestants worldwide,[13][16][8][256][257][258][259][z] among approximately 2.6 billion Christians.[16][260][261][aa] In 2010, a total of more than 800 million included 300 million in Sub-Saharan Africa, 260 million in the Americas, 140 million in the Asia-Pacific region, 100 million in Europe and 2 million in Middle East-North Africa.[13] Protestants account for nearly forty percent of Christians worldwide, and are more than one tenth of the total human population.[13] Various estimates put the percentage of Protestants in relation to the total number of world's Christians at 33%,[256] 36%,[262] 36.7%,[13] and 40%,[8] while in relation to the world's population at 11.6%[13] and 13%.[259]
In European countries which were most profoundly influenced by the Reformation, Protestantism still remains the most practiced religion.[256] These include theNordic countries and theUnited Kingdom.[256][263] In other historical Protestant strongholds such as Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia, and Estonia, it remains one of the most popular religions.[264] Although what is now the Czech Republic was the site ofone of the most significant pre-reformation movements,[265] there is only a small Protestant population today;[266][267] mainly due to historical reasons like persecution of Protestants by theCatholicHabsburgs,[268] restrictions during theCommunist rule, and also the ongoingsecularization.[265] Over the last several decades, religious practice has been declining as secularization has increased.[256][269] According to a 2019 study about Religiosity in the European Union in 2019 byEurobarometer, Protestants made up 9% of theEU population.[270] According toPew Research Center, Protestants constituted nearly one fifth (or 18%) of thecontinent's Christian population in 2010.[13] Clarke and Beyer estimate that Protestants constituted 15% of all Europeans in 2009, while Noll claims that fewer than 12% of them lived in Europe in 2010.[256][258]
Changes in worldwide Protestantism over the last century have been significant.[8][258][271] Since 1900, Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America.[22][259][271] That caused Protestantism to be called a primarily non-Western religion.[258][271] Much of the growth has occurred afterWorld War II, whendecolonization of Africa and abolition ofvarious restrictions against Protestants inLatin American countries occurred.[259] According to one source, Protestants constituted respectively 2.5%, 2%, 0.5% of Latin Americans, Africans and Asians.[259] In 2000, percentage of Protestants on mentioned continents was 17%, more than 27% and 6%, respectively.[259] According to Mark A. Noll, 79% ofAnglicans lived in the United Kingdom in 1910, while most of the remainder was found in the United States and across theBritish Commonwealth.[258] By 2010, 59% of Anglicans were found in Africa.[258] In 2010, more Protestants lived in India than in the UK or Germany, while Protestants in Brazil were as numerous as those in the UK and Germany combined.[258] Almost as many lived in each ofNigeria and China as in all of Europe.[258] China is home to world's largest Protestant minority.[13][ab]
In 2010, the largest Protestant denominational families were historically Pentecostal denominations (11%), Anglican (11%), Lutheran (10%), Baptist (9%),United and uniting churches (unions of different denominations) (7%), Presbyterian or Reformed (7%), Methodist (3%), Adventist (3%), Congregationalist (1%),Brethren (1%),The Salvation Army (<1%) andMoravian (<1%). Other denominations accounted for 38% of Protestants.[13]
The United States is home to approximately 20% of the world's Protestants.[13] According to a 2012 study, the Protestant share of U.S. population was 48%, marking the first time in which it was not the religion of the majority of the country.[282][283] The decline is attributed mainly to the dropping membership of theMainline Protestant churches,[282][284] whileEvangelical Protestant andBlack churches are stable or continue to grow.[282]
By 2050, Protestants are projected to form to slightly more than half of the world's total Christian population.[285][ac] According to other experts such as Hans J. Hillerbrand, Protestants will be as numerous as Catholics.[286]
^Some movements such as theHussites or theLollards are also considered Protestant today, although their origins date back to centuries before the launch of the Reformation. Others, such as theWaldensians, were later incorporated into another branch of Protestantism; in this case, the Reformed branch.
^Especially in German contexts,Saxony is often described as the "motherland of the Reformation" (German:Mutterland der Reformation).
^At the time Germany and the surrounding region was fragmented intonumerous states of theHoly Roman Empire. Areas which turned Protestant were primarily located in northern, central and eastern areas of the Empire.
^For further information, seeEnglish Reformation. In this article, Anglicanism is considered a branch of Protestantism as a part of movements derived directly from the 16th century Reformation. While today theChurch of England often considers itself to be avia media between Protestantism and the Catholic Church, until the rise of theOxford Movement in the 1830s the church generally considered itself to be Protestant. (Neill, Stephen.Anglicanism Pelican 1960, pp. 170, 259–260)
^According to Pew 2011 report on Christianity about 60% (defined strictly, as some denominations given individual percentages in the report could be considered a part of one of the seven main distinguishable Protestant branches, e.g.The Salvation Army could be considered a part of Methodism). The majority figures given in such reports or in other sources may vary considerably.
^A flexible term; defined as all forms of Protestantism with the notable exception of the historical denominations deriving from the Protestant Reformation.
^Author Hans Hillerbrand estimated a total Protestant population of 833,457,000 in 2004,[17] while a report by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary 1,189,781,000 in early 2025.[16]
^In the end, while the Reformation emphasis on Protestants reading the Scriptures was one factor in the development of literacy, the impact of printing itself, the wider availability of printed works at a cheaper price, and the increasing focus on education and learning as key factors in obtaining a lucrative post, were also significant contributory factors.[51]
^In the first decade of the Reformation, Luther's message became a movement, and the output of religious pamphlets in Germany was at its height.[53]
^Finland's State Church was theChurch of Sweden until 1809. As an autonomous Grand Duchy under Russia 1809–1917, Finland retained the Lutheran State Church system, and a state church separate from Sweden, later named theEvangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, was established. It was detached from the state as a separate judicial entity when the new church law came to force in 1869. After Finland had gained independence in 1917, religious freedom was declared in the constitution of 1919 and a separate law on religious freedom in 1922. Through this arrangement, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland lost its position as a state church but gained a constitutional status as a national church alongside theFinnish Orthodox Church, whose position, however, is not codified in the constitution.
^Primarily in the United States, where Protestants are usually placed in one of two categories—Mainline or Evangelical.
^this varies among Protestants today. In Sweden, the bishops switched to Lutheranism during the Reformation and there was no break in ordinations. SeeApostolic succession in Sweden for more on this. Today, as a result of shared ordinations, the entirePorvoo Communion can trace an unbroken chain of Archbishop-level ordinations going back to before the Reformation through the Swedish line. However, today Rome does not accept these ordinations as valid not because there was a break in the chain, but rather because the occurred apart from papal permission.
^For more on this, seecrypto-paganism and theGreat Apostasy. In some areas, pagan Europeans were forced to adopt Christianity at least outwardly, such as after being defeated in battle by Christians. However, outlawing their paganism did not just make it go away. Rather, it persisted as crypto-paganism. For example,Philip Melanchthon, in his 1537Apology of the Augsburg Confession identified the mechanical character ofex opere operato sacraments as being a form of pagandeterministic philosophy.
^This is the position of the Protestants who believe the church is visible. For those who think the church is invisible, organizations are irrelevant, as only individual sinners can be saved.
^This is a reference to theMarks of the Church in Reformed theology. It is thus you may think of the State, but the visible church is atotum integrale, it is an empire, with an ethereal emperor, rather than a visible one. The churches of the various nationalities constitute the provinces of this empire; and though they are so far independent of each other, yet they are so one, that membership in one is membership in all, and separation from one is separation from all.... This conception of the church, of which, in at least some aspects, we have practically so much lost sight, had a firm hold of the Scottish theologians of the seventeenth century. James Walker inThe Theology of Theologians of Scotland. (Edinburgh: Rpt. Knox Press, 1982) Lecture iv. pp. 95–96.
^At least at first, Protestants did not depart per se. Rather, they were excommunicated such as in the 1520Exsurge Domine and the 1521Edict of Worms. Some Protestants avoided excommunication by living ascrypto-Protestants.
^Some Protestants claim the church is visible today, this is a matter of dispute.
^The assertion of papal supremacy varied through history. For example, in 381 theFirst Council of Constantinople recognized the sees of Rome and Constantinople as being equal in authority. Papal supremacy continued to evolve after the Reformation with theFirst Vatican Council.
^Lutherans did not completely reject Trent. In fact, some attended it, although they were not given a vote. Instead,Martin Chemnitz on the basis that all councils are subject to examination, wrote theExamination of the Council of Trent in which some parts of Trent were accepted and others dissented from.
^In history, Catholic sympathizing Protestants were termedcrypto-papists and lived as such because Catholicism was illegal in some areas under the legal principle ofcuius regio, eius religio. However, outlawing Catholics did not always force them to emigrate. Instead, they remained continued to influence the dominant church in their area.
^Estimates vary considerably, from 400 up to more than a billion. One of the reasons is the lack of a common agreement among scholars which denominations constitute Protestantism. Nevertheless, 800 million is the most accepted figure among various authors and scholars. For example, author Hans Hillerbrand estimated a total 2004 Protestant population of 833,457,000,[17] while a report by Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary—1,189,781,000 (with inclusion of independents as defined in this article) in early 2025.[16]
^Current sources are in general agreement that Christians make up about 33% of the world's population—slightly over 2.4 billion adherents in mid-2015.
^Estimates for China vary in dozens of millions. Nevertheless, in comparison to the other countries, there is no disagreement that China has the most numerous Protestant minority.
^Magisterial Protestant, Independent, Anabaptist and Anglican parties are understood as Protestant as stated previously in the article, as well as in the book:Statistics for the P, I and A megablocs are often combined because they overlap so much-hence the order followed here.
^A flexible term; defined as all forms of Protestantism with the notable exception of the historical denominations deriving from the Protestant Reformation.
^abcd"Methodist Beliefs: In what ways are Lutherans different from United Methodists?". Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. 2014.Archived from the original on 22 May 2014. Retrieved22 May 2014.The United Methodists see Scripture as the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine, emphasizing the importance of tradition, experience, and reason for Christian doctrine. Lutherans teach that the Bible is the sole source for Christian doctrine. The truths of Scripture do not need to be authenticated by tradition, human experience, or reason. Scripture is self-authenticating and is true in and of itself.
^Löffler, K. (1910),Pope Leo XArchived 1 May 2012 at theWayback Machine,The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company, "The immediate cause was bound up with the odious greed for money displayed by the Roman Curia, and shows how far short all efforts at reform had hitherto fallen...Abuses occurred during the preaching of the Indulgence. The money contributions, a mere accessory, were frequently the chief object, and the "Indulgences for the Dead" became a vehicle of inadmissible teachings...(The pope) gave himself up unrestrainedly to his pleasures and failed to grasp fully the duties of his high office."
^Kuyper, Abraham (1899).Calvinism. Primedia E-launch LLC.ISBN978-1622090457.Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved27 June 2015 – via Google Books.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^abHeussi, Karl (1956).Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, 11., Tübingen (Germany), pp. 317–319, 325–326
^abJunius Benjamin Remensnyder (1893).The Lutheran Manual. Boschen & Wefer Company. p. 12.Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved27 April 2021.
^abFrey, H. (1918).Is One Church as Good as Another?. Vol. 37.The Lutheran Witness. pp. 82–83.There can only be onetrue visible Church. ...Only that one is the true visible Church which teaches and confesses the entire doctrine of the Word of God in all its purity, and in whose midst the Sacraments are duly administered according to Christ's institution. Of all Churches, this can only be said of our Lutheran Church.
^Hägglund, Bengt (2007).Teologins Historia [History of Theology] (in German). Translated by Gene J. Lund (Fourth Revised ed.). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.
^World Council of Churches: Evangelical churchesArchived 7 January 2015 at theWayback Machine: "Evangelical churches have grown exponentially in the second half of the 20th century and continue to show great vitality, especially in the global South. This resurgence may in part be explained by the phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism and the emergence of the charismatic movement, which are closely associated with evangelicalism. However, there can be no doubt that the evangelical tradition "per se" has become one of the major components of world Christianity. Evangelicals also constitute sizable minorities in the traditional Protestant and Anglican churches. In regions like Africa and Latin America, the boundaries between "evangelical" and "mainline" are rapidly changing and giving way to new ecclesial realities."
^abBerger, Peter L. (2005)."Religion and Global Civil Society". In Juergensmeyer, Mark (ed.).Religion in Global Civil Society. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0198040699.Archived from the original on 19 March 2013. Retrieved8 January 2016 – via Google Books.
^Espín, Orlando O. and Nickoloff, James B.An introductory dictionary of theology and religious studies. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, p. 796.
^Humphrey, Edith M. (2013).Scripture and Tradition. Baker Books. p. 16.ISBN978-1-4412-4048-4.historically Anglicans have adopted what could be called a prima Scriptura position.
^Woodhead, Linda.Christianity: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2014). pp. 57–70.
^Gordon, Bruce; Trueman, Carl R. (2021).The Oxford handbook of Calvin and calvinism. Oxford handbooks (First edition ed.). Oxford New-York (N.Y.): Oxford university press.ISBN978-0-19-872881-8.{{cite book}}:|edition= has extra text (help)
^abLane, Anthony (2006).Justification by Faith in Catholic-Protestant Dialogue. London: T & T Clark. p. 27.ISBN0567040046.
^Bucher, Richard P. (2014)."Methodism". Lexington: Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Archived fromthe original on 25 July 2014.Also, for Methodists full salvation involves not only justification by faith, but repentance and holy living as well. Whereas in Lutheran theology the central doctrine and focus of all our worship and life is justification by grace through faith, for Methodists the central focus has always been holy living and the striving for perfection. Wesley gave the analogy of a house. He said repentance is the porch. Faith is the door. But holy living is the house itself. Holy living is true religion. "Salvation is like a house. To get into the house you first have to get on the porch (repentance) and then you have to go through the door (faith). But the house itself—one's relationship with God—is holiness, holy living" (Joyner, paraphrasing Wesley, 3).
^abcdWillsky-Ciollo, Lydia (2015).American Unitarianism and the Protestant Dilemma: The Conundrum of Biblical Authority. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. pp. 9–10.ISBN978-0739188927.
^Chan, Simon (1998).Spiritual Theology: A Systematic Study of the Christian Life. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. p. 105.ISBN978-0830815425.
^abAvis, Paul (2002).The Church in the Theology of the Reformers. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 95.ISBN1592441009.
^Engelder, T.E.W.,Popular Symbolics. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1934. p. 95, Part XXIV. "The Lord's Supper", paragraph 131.
^Neal, Gregory S. (2014).Sacramental Theology and the Christian Life. WestBow Press. p. 111.ISBN978-1490860077.For Anglicans and Methodists the reality of the presence of Jesus as received through the sacramental elements is not in question. Real presence is simply accepted as being true, its mysterious nature being affirmed and even lauded in official statements likeThis Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion.
^Haffner, Paul (1999).The Sacramental Mystery. Gracewing Publishing. p. 11.ISBN978-0852444764.TheAugsburg Confession drawn up by Melanchton, one of Luther's disciples admitted only three sacraments, Baptist, the Lord's Supper and Penance. Melanchton left the way open for the other five sacred signs to be considered as "secondary sacraments". However, Zwingli, Calvin and most of the later Reformed tradition accepted only Baptism and the Lord's Supper as sacraments, but in a highly symbolic sense.
^Milner, Joseph.The History of the Church of Christ Volume 3.A comment on the epistle to the Galatians, is his only work which was committed to the press. In it he every where asserts the equality of all the apostles with St. Peter. And, indeed, he always owns Jesus Christ to be the only proper head of the church. He is severe against the doctrine of human merits, and of the exaltation of traditions to a height of credibility equal to that of the divine word. He maintains that we are to be saved by faith alone; holds the fallibility of the church, exposes the futility of praying for the dead, and the sinfulness of the idolatrous practices then supported by the Roman see. Such are the sentiments found in his commentary on the epistle to the Galatians.
^"The forms of communication employed by the Protestant Reformers and especially Luther and Calvin"(PDF).Pharos Journal of Theology.98. 2016.Archived(PDF) from the original on 5 January 2022. Retrieved14 December 2021.John of Wessel was one member in the group who attacked indulgences (Reddy 2004:115). The doctrine of justification by faith alone was the teaching of John of Wessel (Kuiper 1982:151). He rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation where it is believed when the priest pronounces the sacraments then the wine and bread is turned into the real body and blood of Christ
^Cross, (ed.) "Westphalia, Peace of"Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
^Thomas S. Kidd,The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America (2009)
^Nancy Cott, "Young Women in the Great Awakening in New England", Feminist Studies 3, no. 1/2 (Autumn 1975): 15.
^William G. McLoughlin,Revivals Awakenings and Reform (1980)
^Mark A. Noll,A History of Christianity in the United States and Canada (1992) pp. 286–310
^Robert William Fogel,The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of Egalitarianism (2000)
^Robert William Fogel (2000),The Fourth Great Awakening & the Future of Egalitarianism; see the review by Randall Balmer,Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2002 33(2): 322–325
^Gibbard, Noel (2005).Fire on the Altar: A History and Evaluation of the 1904–05 Welsh Revival. Bridgend:Bryntirion Press.ISBN978-1850492115.
^Fox, Jonathan (2008).A World Survey of Religion and the State. Cambridge University Press. p. 120.ISBN978-0-521-88131-9.Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved30 December 2019.The Church of England (Anglican) and the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) are the official religions of the UK.
^Mead, Frank S; Hill, Samuel S; Atwood, Craig D, "Adventist and Sabbatarian (Hebraic) Churches",Handbook of Denominations in the United States (12th ed.), Nashville: Abingdon Press, pp. 256–276
^McGrath, William, "Neither Catholic nor Protestant",CBC 4 me(PDF), archived fromthe original(PDF) on 27 December 2016
^Shurden, Walter (2001)."Turning Points in Baptist History". Macon, GA: The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University.Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved16 January 2010.
^"Theology and Communion".World Communion of Reformed Churches.Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved5 December 2013.
^"Member Churches".World Communion of Reformed Churches. Archived fromthe original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved5 December 2013.
^Nĕmec, Ludvík "The Czechoslovak heresy and schism: the emergence of a national Czechoslovak church", American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1975,ISBN0-87169-651-7
^Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, Fourth Session, Decree on Sacred Scripture (Denzinger 783 [1501]; Schaff 2:79–81). For a history of the discussion of various interpretations of the Tridentine decree, see Selby, Matthew L.,The Relationship Between Scripture and Tradition according to the Council of Trent, unpublished Master's thesis, University of St Thomas, July 2013.
^Olson, Roger E. (1999).The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition & Reform. InterVarsity Press. p. 158.ISBN978-0830815050.The magisterial Protestant denominations such as major Lutheran, Reformed and Anglican (Church of England, Episcopalian) denominations recognize only the first four as having any special authority, and even they are considered subordinate to Scripture.
^Kelly, Joseph Francis (2009).The Ecumenical Councils of the Catholic Church: A History. Liturgical Press. p. 64.ISBN978-0814653760.The Church of England and most Lutheran churches accept the first four councils as ecumenical; Orthodox churches accept the first seven.
^"About Us".Lutheran Church of New Zealand.Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved5 March 2015.
^abWinn, Christian T. Collins (2007).From the Margins: A Celebration of the Theological Work of Donald W. Dayton. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 115.ISBN978-1630878320.In addition to these separate denominational groupings, one needs to give attention to the large pockets of the Holiness movement that have remained within the United Methodist Church. The most influential of these would be the circles dominated by Asbury College and Asbury Theological Seminary (both in Wilmore, KY), but one could speak of other colleges, innumerable local campmeetings, the vestiges of various local Holiness associations, independent Holiness oriented missionary societies and the like that have had great impact within United Methodism. A similar pattern would exist in England with the role of Cliff College within Methodism in that context.
^The Trouble With "Ministers"Archived 19 October 2013 at theWayback Machine by Chuck Fager gives an overview of the hierarchy Friends had until it began to be abolished in the mid-eighteenth century. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
^Confessionalism is a term employed by historians to refer to "the creation of fixed identities and systems of beliefs for separate churches which had previously been more fluid in their self-understanding, and which had not begun by seeking separate identities for themselves—they had wanted to be truly Catholic and reformed." (MacCulloch,The Reformation: A History, p. xxiv.)
^Tarasoff, Koozma J. (2006)."Overview".Spirit Wrestlers: Doukhobor Pioneers' Strategies for Living. Ottawa: Legas.ISBN1-896031-12-9.Archived from the original on 23 December 2007. Retrieved19 July 2023.
^Melton, J. Gordon, ed. (2005)."Messianic Judaism".Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Encyclopedia of World Religions. New York: Facts On File. p. 373.ISBN0-8160-5456-8.Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved19 July 2023.Messianic Judaism is a Protestant movement that emerged in the last half of the 20th century among believers who were ethnically Jewish but had adopted an Evangelical Christian faith.…By the 1960s, a new effort to create a culturally Jewish Protestant Christianity emerged among individuals who began to call themselves Messianic Jews.
^"Redirect".secularhumanism.org.Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved10 February 2016.
^The Concise Oxford Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 1978.
^Burgess, Stanley M; van der Maas, Eduard M, eds. (2002),The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, pp. 286–287
^"Chambers Biographical Dictionary", ed. Magnus Magnusson (Chambers: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 62.
^Kenneth D. Keathley, "The Work of God: Salvation", inA Theology for the Church, ed. Daniel L. Akin (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2007), 703.
^Robert G. Torbet,A History of the Baptists, third edition
^Gonzalez, Justo L.The Story of Christianity, Vol. Two: The Reformation to the Present Day (New York: Harpercollins Publishers, 1985; reprint – Peabody: Prince Press, 2008) 180
^In places, such as parts of England and America, where Pietism was frequently juxtaposed with Catholicism, Catholics also became naturally influenced by Pietism, helping to foster a stronger tradition of congregational hymn-singing, including among Pietists who converted to Catholicism and brought their pietistic inclination with them, such asFrederick William Faber.
^Meier, Marcus (2008). The Origin of the Schwarzenau Brethren. Philadelphia: Brethren Encyclopedia. p. 144.
^Calvinist Puritans believed that government was ordained by God to enforce Christian behavior upon the world; pietists see the government as a part of the world, and believers were called to voluntarily live faithful lives independent of government.
^"Latimer's Pulpit".Faculty of Divinity 50 Treasures.Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved30 December 2020.
^Langford Oliver, Vere (1912).Pym Letters. Caribbeana: Being Miscellaneous papers Relating to the History. Genealogy, Topography, and Antiquities of the British West Indies. Volume II. London: Mitchell Hughes and Clarke, 140 Wardour Street, W. p. 14.The Government is changed. Within twenty days after his arrival, the Governor called an assembly, pretending thereby to reform certain things amiss. All the ministers in the island, Mr. White, Mr. Goldinge, and Mr. Copeland, were Independents, and they had set up a Congregational Church, of which most gentlemen of Council were members or favourers. The burgesses of thisassembly were picked out of those who were known to be enemies to that way, and they did not suffer a Roundhead (as they term them) to be chosen.
^Lefroy, Major-General Sir John Henry (1981).Memorials of the Discovery and Early Settlement of the Bermudas or Somers Islands 1515-1685, Volume I. Bermuda: The Bermuda Historical Society and The Bermuda National Trust (the first edition having been published in 1877, with funds provided by the Government of Bermuda), printed in Canada by The University of Toronto Press.
^Spater, Jeremy; Tranvik, Isak (1 November 2019). "The Protestant Ethic Reexamined: Calvinism and Industrialization".Comparative Political Studies.52 (13–14):1963–1994.doi:10.1177/0010414019830721.ISSN0010-4140.S2CID204438351.
^Cohen, I. Bernard (1990).Puritanism and the rise of modern science: the Merton thesis. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.ISBN978-0-8135-1530-4.
^Heinrich August Winkler (2012),Geschichte des Westens. Von den Anfängen in der Antike bis zum 20. Jahrhundert, Third, Revised Edition, Munich (Germany), p. 233
^Clifton E. Olmstead (1960),History of Religion in the United States, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, pp. 69–80, 88–89, 114–117, 186–188
^M. Schmidt,Kongregationalismus, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band III (1959), Tübingen (Germany), col. 1770
^McKinney, William. "Mainline Protestantism 2000."Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 558, Americans and Religions in the Twenty-First Century (July 1998), pp. 57–66.
^Gerhard Lenski (1963),The Religious Factor: A Sociological Study of Religion's Impact on Politics, Economics, and Family Life, Revised Edition, A Doubleday Anchor Book, Garden City, New York, pp. 348–351
^Cf.Robert Middlekauff (2005),The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789, Revised and Expanded Edition, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-516247-9, p. 52
^Eduard Heimann,Kapitalismus, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band III (1959), Tübingen (Germany), col. 1136–1141
^Hans Fritz Schwenkhagen,Technik, inEvangelisches Soziallexikon, 3. Auflage, col. 1029–1033
^Georg Süßmann,Naturwissenschaft und Christentum, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band IV, col. 1377–1382
^C. Graf von Klinckowstroem,Technik. Geschichtlich, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band VI, col. 664–667
^Kim, Sung Ho (Fall 2008)."Max Weber".The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, Stanford University.Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved21 August 2011.
^Braudel, Fernand. 1977. Afterthoughts on Material Civilization and Capitalism. Baltimore: Johns Hopskins University Press.
^Manager (31 January 2017)."Protestant Modernity".Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved17 September 2017.
^Trevor-Roper. 2001. The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century. Liberty Fund
^W. Williams, Peter (2016).Religion, Art, and Money: Episcopalians and American Culture from the Civil War to the Great Depression. University of North Carolina Press. p. 176.ISBN978-1469626987.The names of fashionable families who were already Episcopalian, like the Morgans, or those, like the Fricks, who now became so, goes on interminably: Aldrich, Astor, Biddle, Booth, Brown, Du Pont, Firestone, Ford, Gardner, Mellon, Morgan, Procter, the Vanderbilt, Whitney. Episcopalians branches of the Baptist Rockefellers and Jewish Guggenheims even appeared on these family trees.
^abcdHarriet Zuckerman,Scientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United StatesArchived 23 May 2020 at theWayback Machine New York, The Free Press, 1977, p. 68: Protestants turn up among the American-reared laureates in slightly greater proportion to their numbers in the general population. Thus 72 percent of the seventy-one laureates but about two-thirds of the American population were reared in one or another Protestant denomination-)
^abBaruch A. Shalev,100 Years of Nobel PrizesArchived 23 May 2020 at theWayback Machine (2003), Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, p. 57: between 1901 and 2000 reveals that 654 Laureates belong to 28 different religion Most 65% have identified Christianity in its various forms as their religious preference.While separating Catholics from Protestants among Christians proved difficult in some cases, available information suggests that more Protestants were involved in the scientific categories and more Catholics were involved in the Literature and Peace categories.Atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers constitute 11% of total Nobel Prize winners; but in the category of Literature, these preferences rise sharply to about 35%. A striking fact involving religion is the high number of Laureates of the Jewish faith—over 20% of total Nobel Prizes (138); including: 17% in Chemistry, 26% in Medicine and Physics, 40% in Economics and 11% in Peace and Literature each. The numbers are especially startling in light of the fact that only some 14 million people (0.02% of the world's population) are Jewish. By contrast, only 5 Nobel Laureates have been of the Muslim faith—1% of total number of Nobel prizes awarded—from a population base of about 1.2 billion (20% of the world's population)
^Heinrich Bornkamm,Toleranz. In der Geschichte des Christentums inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band VI (1962), col. 937
^Original German title:Dass eine christliche Versammlung oder Gemeine Recht und Macht habe, alle Lehre zu beurteilen und Lehrer zu berufen, ein- und abzusetzen: Grund und Ursach aus der Schrift
^Clifton E. Olmstead,History of Religion in the United States, pp. 4–10
^Karl Heussi,Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, 11. Auflage, p. 325
^Quoted in Jan Weerda,Calvin, inEvangelisches Soziallexikon, 3. Auflage (1958), Stuttgart (Germany), col. 210
^Clifton E. Olmstead,History of Religion in the United States, p. 10
^Karl Heussi,Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, pp. 396–397
^Cf. M. Schmidt,England. Kirchengeschichte, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band II (1959), Tübingen (Germany), col. 476–478
^Allen Weinstein and David Rubel (2002),The Story of America: Freedom and Crisis from Settlement to Superpower, DK Publishing, Inc., New York,ISBN0-7894-8903-1, p. 61
^Clifton E. Olmstead,History of Religion in the United States, p. 5
^Heinrich Bornkamm,Toleranz. In der Geschichte des Christentums, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band VI (1962), col. 937–938
^H. Stahl,Baptisten, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band I, col. 863
^G. Müller-Schwefe,Milton, John, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band IV, col. 955
^Karl Heussi,Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, p. 398
^Clifton E. Olmstead,History of Religion in the United States, pp. 99–106, 111–117, 124
^Edwin S. Gaustad (1999),Liberty of Conscience: Roger Williams in America, Judson Press, Valley Forge, p. 28
^Hans Fantel (1974),William Penn: Apostle of Dissent, William Morrow & Co., New York, pp. 150–153
^Robert Middlekauff (2005),The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789, Revised and Expanded Edition, Oxford University Press, New York,ISBN978-0-19-516247-9, pp. 4–6, 49–52, 622–685
^Clifton E. Olmstead,History of Religion in the United States, pp. 192–209
^Cf. R. Voeltzel,Frankreich. Kirchengeschichte, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band II (1958), col. 1039
^Douglas K. Stevenson (1987),American Life and Institutions, Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart (Germany), p. 34
^G. Jasper,Vereinte Nationen, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band VI, col. 1328–1329
^Cf. G. Schwarzenberger,Völkerrecht, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band VI, col. 1420–1422
^Karl Heussi,Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, 11. Auflage, pp. 396–399, 401–403, 417–419
^Jeremy Waldron (2002),God, Locke, and Equality: Christian Foundations in Locke's Political Thought, Cambridge University Press, New York,ISBN978-0521-89057-1, p. 13
^Jeremy Waldron,God, Locke, and Equality, pp. 21–43, 120
^Allen Weinstein and David Rubel,The Story of America, pp. 189–309
^Karl Heussi,Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte, 11. Auflage, pp. 403, 425
^M. Elze,Grotius, Hugo, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band II, col. 1885–1886
^H. Hohlwein,Pufendorf, Samuel, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band V, col. 721
^R. Pfister,Schweiz. Seit der Reformation, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band V (1961), col. 1614–1615
^Clifton E. Olmstead,History of Religion in the United States, pp. 484–494
^H. Wagner,Diakonie, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band I, col. 164–167
^J.R.H. Moorman,Anglikanische Kirche, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band I, col. 380–381
^Clifton E.Olmstead,History of Religion in the United States, pp. 461–465
^Allen Weinstein and David Rubel,The Story of America, pp. 274–275
^M. Schmidt,Kongregationalismus, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band III, col. 1770
^K. Kupisch,Bismarck, Otto von, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 3. Auflage, Band I, col. 1312–1315
^P. Quante,Sozialversicherung, inDie Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Band VI, col. 205–206
^Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church, 29 June 2007, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
^"Justification".WELS Topical Q&A.Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Archived fromthe original on 27 September 2009. Retrieved26 July 2016.A document which is aimed at settling differences needs to address those differences unambiguously. The Joint Declaration does not do this. At best, it sends confusing mixed signals and should be repudiated by all Lutherans.
^Brown, Stephen F. (2018).Protestantism. Infobase Publishing.ISBN9781604131123.Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved27 June 2015 – via Google Books.
^abcdefJay Diamond, Larry. Plattner, Marc F. and Costopoulos, Philip J.World Religions and Democracy. 2005, p. 119.linkArchived 23 May 2020 at theWayback Machine (saying "Not only do Protestants presently constitute 13 percent of the world's population—about 800 million people—but since 1900 Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.")
^~34% of ~7.2 billion world population (under the section 'People')"World". CIA world facts. 15 November 2021.Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved24 January 2021.
^Analysis (19 December 2011)."Global Christianity". Pewforum.org.Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved17 August 2012.
^Hillerbrand, Hans J., ed. (2004).Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Vol. 1–4. London; New York: Routledge. p. 1815.ISBN978-0-415-92472-6.Archived from the original on 23 May 2020.Observers carefully comparing all these figures in the total context will have observed the even more startling finding that for the first time ever in the history of Protestantism,Wider Protestants will by 2050 have become almost exactly as numerous as Catholics—each with just over 1.5 billion followers, or 17 percent of the world, with Protestants growing considerably faster than Catholics each year.
Bruce, Steve (2019).A house divided: Protestantism, Schism and secularization. London; New York: Routledge.
Cook, Martin L. (1991).The Open Circle: Confessional Method in Theology. Minneapolis, Mn: Fortress Press. xiv, 130 p. N.B.: Discusses the place of Confessions of Faith in Protestant theology, especially in Lutheranism.ISBN0-8006-2482-3
Giussani, Luigi (1969), trans. Damian Bacich (2013). American Protestant Theology: A Historical Sketch. Montreal: McGill-Queens UP.
Grytten, Ola Honningdal. "Weber revisited: A literature review on the possible Link between Protestantism, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth." (NHH Dept. of Economics Discussion Paper 08, 2020).online
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Leithart, Peter J.The end of Protestantism: pursuing unity in a fragmented church (Brazos Press, 2016).
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