Protestantism: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
General works
General works on the history of Protestantism include Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity, rev. ed., 2 vol. (1975), with useful bibliographies; and Émile G. Léonard, A History of Protestantism (1965–68; originally published in French in 3 vol., 1961–64).
Late Middle Ages and Reformation
Useful introductions to the late medieval and Reformation period are Thomas A. Brady, Heiko A. Oberman, and James D. Tracy (eds.), Handbook of European History, 1400–1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation, 2 vol. (1994–95); Hans J. Hillerbrand (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, 4 vol. (1996); Heiko A. Oberman, The Dawn of the Reformation: Essays in Late Medieval and Early Reformation Thought (1986, reissued 1992); Francis Oakley, The Western Church in the Later Middle Ages (1979, reissued 1985); Steven Ozment, The Age of Reform (1250–1550): An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe (1980); and Lewis W. Spitz, The Protestant Reformation, 1517–1559 (1985, reissued 1987).
Major figures of the Reformation
There are numerous studies of the lives of the major figures of the Reformation. Among the more important studies of Martin Luther are Roland D.H. Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (1950, reissued 1995); Erik H. Erikson, Young Man Luther: A Study in Psychoanalysis and History (1958, reissued 1993); and Heiko A. Oberman, Luther: Man Between God and the Devil (1989, reissued 1993; originally published in German, 1982). Good introductions to the life and influence of John Calvin are William J. Bouwsma, John Calvin: A Sixteenth Century Portrait (1988); and Alister E. McGrath, A Life of John Calvin: A Study in the Shaping of Western Culture (1990, reissued 1996). For the life and work of Huldrych Zwingli see Ulrich Gäbler, Huldrych Zwingli: His Life and Work (1986; originally published in German, 1983); and Robert C. Walton, Zwingli’s Theocracy (1967). The revolutionary career of Thomas Müntzer is best studied in Hans-Jurgen Goertz, Thomas Müntzer: Apocalyptic, Mystic, and Revolutionary, ed. by Peter Matheson (1993; originally published in German, 1989); and Tom Scott, Thomas Müntzer: Theology and Revolution in the German Reformation (1989). Useful studies of John Knox are Roger A. Mason (ed.), John Knox and the British Reformations (1998); and W. Stanford Reid, Trumpeter of God: A Biography of John Knox (1974, reissued 1982).
Puritanism
For Puritanism, see William Haller, The Rise of Puritanism: or, The Way to the New Jerusalem as Set Forth in Pulpit and Press from Thomas Cartwright to John Lilburne and John Milton, 1570–1643 (1938, reissued 1984); Christopher Hill, Society and Puritanism in Pre-Revolutionary England (1964, reissued 1997); Patrick Collinson, The Elizabethan Puritan Movement (1967, reissued 1990); Samuel Eliot Morison, The Intellectual Life of Colonial New England, 2nd ed. (1956, reprinted 1987; originally published as The Puritan Pronaos, 1936); and Francis J. Bremer, The Puritan Experiment: New England and Society from Bradford to Edwards, rev. ed. (1995).
Arminianism and Pietism
For Arminianism, see A.W. Harrison, The Beginnings of Arminianism to the Synod of Dort (1926); and Carl Bangs, Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation, 2nd ed. (1985). For Pietism, see F. Ernest Stoeffler, The Rise of Evangelical Pietism (1965, reissued 1971), and German Pietism During the Eighteenth Century (1973).
Missionary Expansion
For Protestant missionary expansion, see vol. 3–7 of Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of the Expansion of Christianity, 7 vol. (1937–45, reissued 1971); and Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, 2nd ed. rev. by Owen Chadwick (1986, reissued 1990).
Protestantism in the 19th and 20th centuries
For the 19th and 20th centuries, see Kenneth Scott Latourette, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, 5 vol. (1958–62, reissued 1973); David B. Barrett (ed.), World Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Study of Churches and Religions in the Modern World, AD 1900–2000 (1982); and Bryant L. Myers, The Changing Shape of World Mission (1993).
American Protestantism
For American Protestantism, see H. Shelton Smith, Robert T. Handy, and Lefferts A. Loetscher, American Christianity: An Historical Interpretation with Representative Documents, 2 vol. (1960–63), a general guide; Edwin S. Gaustad, A Documentary History of Religion in America, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1993), a comprehensive overview; William Warren Sweet, The Story of Religion in America, 2nd rev. ed. (1950, reissued 1983); and Robert T. Handy, A Christian America: Protestant Hopes and Historical Realities, 2nd ed. rev. and enl. (1984), on cultural intentions.
Special topics
For the social Gospel, see Charles Howard Hopkins, The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism, 1865–1915 (1940, reprinted 1982). For churches under the Nazis, see J.S. Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches, 1933–45 (1968, reprinted 1997). For the ecumenical movement, see Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill (eds.), A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1517–1948, 4th ed. (1993); and Harold E. Fey (ed.), A History of the Ecumenical Movement, Volume 2, 1948–1968: The Ecumenical Advance, 3rd ed. (1993). Research findings related to primarily American Protestant church history are published in Church History (quarterly).
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- James C. Spalding
- E. Clifford Nelson
- Martin E. Marty
- Roland H. Bainton
- W. Owen Chadwick
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modified link of Web site: Social Sci LibreTexts - Protestantism. | Aug 01, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: Heritage History - Sixteenth Century The Century of Protestant Revolt - Protestantism. | Jun 09, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: Harvard University - The Pluralism Project - The Protestant Movement. | Apr 18, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: Hartford Institute for Religion Research - Encyclopedia of Religion and Society - Protestantism, Protestants. | Oct 31, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Harvard University - The Protestant Movement (PDF). | Apr 25, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Christianity.com - What is a Protestant? Their Beliefs and Differences from Catholics. | Apr 19, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Social Sci LibreTexts - Protestantism. | Nov 15, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Catholic Online - Protestantism. | Aug 08, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Protestantism. | Nov 11, 2022 | ||
| Add new Web site: Eternal Word Television Network - Logic and the Foundations of Protestantism. | Aug 29, 2022 | ||
| Add new Web site: Learn Religion - What is the definition of Protestantism? | Mar 07, 2022 | ||
| Add new Web site: PBS - Hispanic Protestants. | Aug 17, 2021 | ||
| Add new Web site: Georgetown University - Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs - Protestantism. | Nov 22, 2020 | ||
| Added cross-references throughout. | Oct 23, 2020 | ||
| Media added. | Oct 23, 2020 | ||
| Add new Web site: Virtual Museum of Protestantism - Summary : the beginnings and development of Protestantism. | Jan 10, 2019 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Sep 21, 2018 | ||
| Add new Web site: PBS LearningMedia - The Protestant Reformation | Inside the Court of Henry VIII. | Feb 15, 2017 | ||
| Article revised to mention that the three most important developments in Protestantism since the early 20th century have been Pentecostalism, Evangelicalism, and Fundamentalism. | Mar 17, 2016 | ||
| Removed map. | Mar 17, 2016 | ||
| Article revised to mention that the Convocation of Canterbury formally adopted the Thirty-nine Articles in 1571. | Dec 19, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: Fact Monster - Society - Protestantism. | Aug 09, 2011 | ||
| Add new Web site: British Broadcasting Corporation - Protestantism. | Aug 09, 2011 | ||
| Add new Web site: Buzzle.com - Protestantism. | Aug 09, 2011 | ||
| Add new Web site: ThinkQuest - History of Spreading. | Aug 09, 2011 | ||
| Added image of a page from the eighth edition of The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe. | Dec 20, 2010 | ||
| Added new Web site: Spartacus Educational - Evangelical Protestantism. | Jun 18, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: ReligionFacts - Protestantism. | Jun 18, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: Ohio History Central - Protestantism. | Jun 18, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: The Canadian Encyclopedia - Protestantism. | Jun 18, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: Country Studies - Haiti. | Jun 18, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: African Christianity - Ethiopian Protestantism. | Jun 09, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: The University of Georgia - Protestantism and the Protestant Ethic. | Jun 09, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: Grant Administrative Services - Protestantism - Christianity. | Jun 09, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: Australian Broadcasting Corporation - Christianity � Protestantism. | Jun 09, 2008 | ||
| Added new Web site: The Catholic Encyclopedia - Protestantism. | May 17, 2007 | ||
| Article revised. | Apr 28, 2005 | ||
| Article revised. | Aug 28, 2003 | ||
| Article revised. | May 29, 2002 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 24, 1998 |