A member or adherent of any of the Christian Churches that separated from the Roman Catholic Church at the Reformation. The term was coined after the imperial Diet summoned at Speyer in 1529 and derives from the ‘Protestatio’ of the reforming members against the decisions of the Catholic majority. These adherents of Martin Luther were not merely registering objections: they were professing their commitment to the simple faith of the early Church, which they believed had been obscured by the unnecessary innovations of medieval Roman Catholicism.

All the early Protestants shared a conviction that the Bible was the only source of revealed truth and it was made available to all in vernacular translations. They minimized the ceremonial aspects of Christianity and placed preaching and hearing the word of God before sacramental faith and practice. Numerous Protestant sects and churches were formed, largely because the principle of ‘private judgement’ in the interpretation of the scriptures led to many shades of doctrine and practice.

The established Church in England is the Anglican Church, recognized by the State and with the British monarch as titular head. Although Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church in 1533 and Edward VI made moves to establish Protestant doctrines and practices, the formulation of distinctively Anglican principles dates from the reign of Elizabeth I. The second Book of Common Prayer of Edward VI’s reign was revised with modifications (1559) and its use enforced by an Act of Uniformity. In 1563 the Thirty-Nine Articles were issued by Convocation (the highest assembly of the Church) and finally adopted by the Church of England (1571) as a statement of its beliefs and practices. The aim was to set up a comprehensive, national, episcopal Church with the monarch as supreme governor. Those who refused to attend church services were fined. The Puritans were dissatisfied with the Elizabethan religious settlement but the queen opposed all their attempts to modify her Anglican Church.

The ‘Catholicization’ of the Church in the 1630s under Archbishop Laud exacerbated Puritan antipathy to the bishops, and religion was a crucial factor in the outbreak of the English Civil War. Although Anglicanism was banned during the Commonwealth and Protectorate, it returned with vigour at the Restoration (1660). The Clarendon Code and Test Acts created a breach between establishment Anglicanism and Nonconformists, and James II’s pro-Catholic policies played a significant part in provoking the Glorious Revolution. The Toleration Act (1689) secured limited toleration for Nonconformists, although clergymen refusing to swear the oath of allegiance to William III were deprived of their office. (Catholics were not emancipated until 1829.)

The 18th century witnessed disputes between High Anglicans, who maintained Laud’s conservatism, and Low Anglicans, or Latitudinarians, who were less concerned with forms of worship. The 19th century saw growing divergence between the ‘High’ Church tradition, which was revived by the Oxford Movement of the 1830s, led by John Henry Newman, and the burgeoning evangelical movement. The former claimed historical continuity with the pre-Reformation Roman Catholic Church, stressing the authority of the bishops and priesthood, the doctrinal centrality of the seven sacraments, and the importance of ceremony in worship. By contrast, the Evangelicals were more Protestant in outlook, setting less store by the sacraments and tradition, and emphasizing the importance of the Bible as the basis of faith. In the 19th century the Evangelicals were particularly active in missionary work and social reform.

During the 20th century a third tradition, that of theological liberalism, has also been widely influential in its emphasis on the need for the Church to adapt to modern knowledge and conditions.

With over 80 million adherents worldwide, the Lutheran churches are the largest Protestant grouping. Lutherans derive their practice and doctrine from the teachings of Martin Luther, especially as set out in the Augsburg Confession of 1530. There is an emphasis on the preeminence of Scripture and on Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith, but otherwise teaching varies widely. The Lutheran churches are particularly prominent in Germany, Scandinavia, and North America.

A more radical wing of the 16th-century Reformation was represented by Anabaptism, which centred on the belief that people baptized as infants must be rebaptized as adults. The Anabaptists originated mainly in Zürich in the 1520s, with the aim of restoring the spirit and institutions of the early Church. They managed to establish centres in Saxony, Austria, Moravia, Poland, the Lower Rhine, and the Netherlands, but made almost no headway in the French-speaking world. In the 17th century the Mennonites preserved some of the best of the Anabaptist traditions, which made a significant contribution to the religious history of modern Europe and America.

The modern Baptist movement dates its beginnings from the English church established in Amsterdam in 1609 by John Smyth (1554–1612) and the church in London under Thomas Helwys (1612). They were ‘General’ or Arminian Baptists, as opposed to ‘Particular’ or Calvinist Baptists, who evolved between 1633 and 1638. After the Restoration they moved closer to the Presbyterians and Independents and were recognized as dissenters from the Anglican Church. America’s first Baptist church was probably the one established at Providence, Rhode Island, with the help of Roger Williams (1639). From 1740, under the influence of the Great Awakening, the movement made considerable headway, especially in the southern states.

In both Britain and the USA Baptist Churches grew in the late 18th century. Baptist missionaries first went to India in 1792 and in the 19th century were active all over the world including in Russia.

The Methodist Church was founded by John Wesley in the 18th century. Stressing the individual believer’s personal relationship with God, Wesley wished his followers to remain within the Anglican Church, but after his death Methodism’s rejection of theological doctrine and traditional ecclesiastical authority led to its development as a distinct Church. In Wales the religious revival inspired by Howel Harris and Daniel Rowlands in the 18th century led to the establishment in 1811 of a dominant Calvinist form of Methodism. In the USA the Methodist Church divided into many groups, largely as a result of its over attitudes towards slavery.

Presbyterians subscribe to anti-episcopal theories of church government and usually to the doctrines of John Calvin. Presbyterian churches oppose state intervention in religious affairs and advocate the primacy of the Bible as a rule of faith. The first American Presbyterian Church was founded in Philadelphia in 1706. The official Church of Scotland is one of the largest of the Presbyterian churches.

The first Calvinist Church to be organized on a national basis was in 16th-century France; its members became known as Huguenots and they played a large part in provoking the French Wars of Religion. Reformed (Calvinist) congregations contributed to the Dutch Revolt and once the Netherlands secured independence from Catholic Spain the Reformed Church became established there. Elsewhere in Europe, many congregations managed to survive the Counter-Reformation. In 1628 a Dutch Reformed Church was organized on Manhattan Island.