Protestantism

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Protestantism is one of the three major divisions in Christendom; the others are Catholicism and the Orthodox Church.

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

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

Contents 1 Politics 2 Missions 3 Numbers and Distribution in 1900 4 Impact 5 Notable events 6 Protestantism in the United States 7 Further reading 7.1 United States 7.2 Primary sources 7.2.1 notes 8 Reference

Politics

Europe was polarized by the Reformation, with the Catholics striking back with a Counter-Reformation that held key states such as Italy, France and Poland for Catholicism. Religious wars broke out, the worst being the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) that devastated much of Germany and neighboring areas. By 1648 a compromise was reached such that the religion of the Prince determined the religion of the people. Nevertheless religious strife continued in Germany as late as the 1870s in the Kulturkampf, and in Ireland into the late 20th century.

Missions

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

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

Numbers and Distribution in 1900

One of the most striking facts in the history of Protestantism in the 19th century was its great expansion in North America.^[1] The United States by 1910 had the largest Protestant population of any land—from 65,000,000 to 66,000,000 (out of a total population of 79,000,000)^[2], which is based upon the census of 1900. Britain probably comes next with 38,000,000 Protestants (total population 42,500,000) and Germany third with somewhat more than 35,000,000 (total population 56,000,000).^[3]

Reformed Protestantism in 1900:

• Great Britain 20,500,000
  • see Church of Scotland
• Germany 3,000,000
• Switzerland 2,000,000
• Netherlands 3,000,000
• Hungary 2,500,000
• France 500,000
• United States 65,000,000
• Canada 2,000,000
• Australia and New Zealand 1,500,000
• India 1,500,000
• South Africa 1,000,000
• Elsewhere 2,000,000
  • Total Reformed 104,500,000

Lutheran: in 1900

• Germany 32,000,000
• Norway and Sweden 7,500,000
• Denmark 2,500,000
• Finland and the Baltic Provinces 6,000,000
• Hungary 1,250,000
• United States 6,000,000
• Elsewhere 750,000
  • Total Lutheran 56,000,000

Anglican: in 1900

• England 10,750,000
• Scotland and Ireland 750,000
• British Empire 4,000,000
• United States 2,500,000
  • Total Anglican 24,000,000

Protestant missions 5,500,000

Grand Total in 1900: 182,000,000

Impact

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

Notable events

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

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

Protestantism in the United States

Protestants are the largest Christian division in the United States. There are two main groupings, the more conservative Evangelical Christians and the more liberal Mainline denominations. Many of the Evangelicals incline to Fundamentalism, but the lines are blurry.

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

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

Smaller groups include:

• Mennonite
• Amish
• Brethren
• Quakers
• Unitarians

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

Further reading

• Bell, James S., and Tracy Macon Sumner. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Reformation and Protestantism (2002) excerpt and text search
• Gonzalez, Justo L. A History of Christian Thought: Volume 3: From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century (1987) excerpt and text search
• Hillerbrand, Hans J. ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation. (OUP 1996); the book is online at many academic libraries; excerpt and text search
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of Christianity (2 vol 1975) excerpt and text search vol 1, to 1500
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1958) vol 1 online edition
• Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A history of the expansion of Christianity (7 vol 1939-1970), monumental history of missionary work worldwide online edition
• MacCulloch, Diarmaid. The Reformation (2005), influential recent survey excerpt and text search
• McGonigle, Thomas D., and James F. Quigley. A History of the Christian Tradition, Vol. II: From the Reformation to the Present (1996) excerpt and text search
• New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (1911), ), major sources of older scholarly articles; mainline Protestant perspective
  • Vol. 1: Aachen - Basilians
  • Vol. 2: Basilica - Chambers
  • Vol. 3: Chamier - Draendorf
  • Vol. 4: Draeseke - Goa
  • Vol. 5: Goar - Innocent
  • Vol. 6: Innocents - Liudger
  • Vol. 7: Liutprand - Moralities
  • Vol. 8: Morality - Petersen
  • Vol. 9: Petri - Reuchlin
  • Vol. 10: Reutsch - Son
  • Vol. 11: Son of Man - Tremellius
  • Vol. 12: Trench - Zwingli
  • Vol. 13: Index

United States

• Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A religious history of the American people‎ (1979) 1192 pages; classic history from broad perspective excerpt and text search
• Balmer, Randall. Protestantism in America (2005) excerpt and text search
• Balmer, Randall. Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (2nd ed. 2004), 655pp
• Balmer, Randall. Grant Us Courage: Travels along the Mainline of American Protestantism (1996) online edition
• Hutchison, William R. ed. Between the Times: The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, 1900-1960 (1990) excerpt and text search
• Lippy, Charles H. and Peter W. Williams, eds. Encyclopedia of the American religious experience: studies of traditions and movements (3 vol 1988) 1872 pages; standard reference work; long essays by scholars
• Noll, Mark A. The Old Religion in a New World: The History of North American Christianity (2001) excerpt and text search, by a leading evangelical scholar
• Noll, Mark A. A history of Christianity in the United States and Canada‎ (1992), by leading Evangelical historian excerpt and text search, by a leading evangelical scholar
• Queen, Edward L. et al, eds. Encyclopedia of American Religious History (3rd ed. 2 vol. 2009) 1200pp
• Reid, Daniel G. et al. eds., Dictionary of Christianity in America (199)
• Roof, Wade Clark, and William McKinney. American Mainline Religion: Its Changing Shape and Future (1990) excerpt and text search
• Wooley, Davis C. ed. Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists‎ (5 vol 1958-1982); 2565 pages
• Wuthnow, Robert, and John H. Evans, eds. The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-Based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism, (2002), 430 pp.; essays by scholars

Primary sources

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

notes

1. ↑ This section is based on F. Kattenbusch and Arthur C. A. Hall, "Protestantism" in New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, (1911) Vol. IX
2. ↑ According to the estimate of H. K. Carroll in W. D. Grant, ed. Christendom Anno Domini 1901, (1902), i. 530–531
3. ↑ H. Zeller's figures for the Eastern Church are 106,480,000, Orthodox; 8,130,000 "other [Eastern] Christians."; H. A. Krose, gives Greek Orthodox 109,000,000l schismatic Orientals, 6,554,913; Raskolniks (Russian dissenters), 2,173,371. Roman Catholics 265,000,000; Eastern Church 117,000,000.

Reference