Protestants: The Faith That Made the Modern World

Ryrie (history of Christianity, Durham Univ.; Being Protestant in Reformation Britain) effectively surveys 500 years of church history while illuminating the breadth and impact of the protestant faith. The first section traces the impact of the Protestant Reformation of the 1600s on Europe and America. The author also focuses on the transformation of global Protestantism during the 19th and 20th century by highlighting areas such as the millenarian movements, liberalism, slavery, and how the two World Wars affected and were impacted by the protestant churches. Later chapters cover the global nature of Protestantism by examining racial struggles in South Africa, the movement's influence in South Korea and China, and the global Pentecostal experience. Some of the unique themes and sections within this book are those that explain the pietism movement in England, the rise of Adventist movements including the Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Science, the struggle over the slave trade, the German Church in World War I and II, South African apartheid, and Korean Christianity.