Protestants A History from Wittenberg to Pennsylvania 1517 - 1740

'Protestants' is the first single-volume study of the history of Protestantism from its origins in Europe in the sixteenth century to its ultimate spread to America and other parts of the world on the eve of Enlightenment.The book centres on the rise of Protestantism as an historical phenomenon, what theologians term the 'outer history' of a religion. The aim is to trace the development of the religion as a dynamic force in the evolution of Western history in the early modern period, examining particular episodes when people or communities (or indeed nations) that thought of themselves as Protestants, and acted on the basis of the beliefs they thought of as Protestant, fundamentally shaped the social, cultural and political world of their age. The book follows the path of Protestantism as a creative force in history up to its refashioning and reconstitution as Pietism and Methodism started to recast traditional communities in the eighteenth century.The book is thematic in its arrangement but works within a broad, chronological framework. There are eight analytical chapters presenting innovative case histories that illustrate aspects of more general developments. Scott Dixon's innovative approach offers a bold exploration of the ways in which individuals and communities were involved in a close dialogue with their age, and the extent to which the modern age is a measure of their success.

C. Scott Dixon is Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University of Belfast, UK. He is the author of numerous books and articles on early modern religious history, including The Reformation and Rural Society (1996) and The Reformation in Germany (2002). Dixon has been the recipient of Alexander von Humboldt research fellowships in association with the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel and the Freie Universität Berlin.