Some turned to their bibles to justify bold acts of political opposition, others to spurn orthodoxies and insight on their God-given rights. Protestants created America and defined its special brand of entrepreneurial diligence. In this dazzling history, Alec Ryrie makes the case that we owe many of the rights and freedoms we have cause to take for granted-from free speech to limited government-to our Protestant roots.įired up by their faith, Protestants have embarked on courageous journeys into the unknown like many rebels and refugees who made their way to our shores. The revolution he set in motion toppled governments, upended social norms and transformed millions of people's understanding of their relationship with God. –Jon Meacham, author of American Lion and Thomas Jeffersonįive hundred years ago a stubborn German monk challenged the Pope with a radical vision of what Christianity could be. 'Ryrie writes that his aim 'is to persuade you that we cannot understand the modern age without understanding the dynamic history of Protestant Christianity.' To which I reply: Mission accomplished.' 455-468.On the 500th anniversary of Luther’s theses, a landmark history of the revolutionary faith that shaped the modern world. Sample chapter deposited: ‘Epilogue: The Protestant Future.’, pp. As this ever-changing faith puts down deep roots across contemporary China, Africa, and Latin America, Alec Ryrie’s dazzling history explores how its restless energy made and is still making the modern world. Protestantism’s global story is still only just beginning. Yet beneath it all is a shared passion for God, a vital belief in the principle of self-determination and a readiness to fight for their beliefs. Protestants have been both for and against liberalism, imperialism, slavery, Nazism, communism, apartheid and women’s rights. In the process, they have played decisive roles on both sides of the great ideological battles of modern times. Inspired by their newly accessible Bibles, they transformed their inner lives, a transformation that spilled over into social upheavals and political revolutions.

Fired by life-changing encounters with their God, they set out for every corner of the world, demanded alarming new freedoms and experimented in new systems of government. Protestants is the story of the men and women who made and remade this quarrelsome faith. The upheaval Martin Luther triggered inspired one of the most creative and destructive movements in human history. Today, it includes a billion people across the globe. On the 500th anniversary of Luther’s rebellion, this spectacular global history traces the revolutionary faith that shaped the modern world.įive hundred years ago Protestant Christianity began with one stubborn monk.

Protestants by alec ryrie