Malte reviewed Protestants by Alec Ryrie
Review of 'Protestants' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Quite an accomplishment this book: It tells the 500 year history of Protestantism, following it wherever it has gone, both to new countries and continents, as its believers have often been exiled or gone on a holy mission, as well as in new directions, new sects and schools of faith. Alec Ryrie shows convincingly that it is in the DNA of the Protestant faith to splinter and fragment, as it is a child of the centrifugal religious wars, with a skepticism towards human authority and tradition, as well as a belief in the authority of the heart (the love affair with their god). The book is focused more on protestants than Protestantism, that is, it is a history of religious movements (with a common heartbeat, so to speak, but in the plural) more so than a theological history. There are a few theological chapters, without which the former history would …
Quite an accomplishment this book: It tells the 500 year history of Protestantism, following it wherever it has gone, both to new countries and continents, as its believers have often been exiled or gone on a holy mission, as well as in new directions, new sects and schools of faith. Alec Ryrie shows convincingly that it is in the DNA of the Protestant faith to splinter and fragment, as it is a child of the centrifugal religious wars, with a skepticism towards human authority and tradition, as well as a belief in the authority of the heart (the love affair with their god). The book is focused more on protestants than Protestantism, that is, it is a history of religious movements (with a common heartbeat, so to speak, but in the plural) more so than a theological history. There are a few theological chapters, without which the former history would not make sense. But Ryrie uses the theological dimension to tell a story of human movements, and the emphasis is on the latter. There's very little political economy in the book, but it is not entirely absent, and Ryrie doesn't paint an overly innocent picture of his subjects. Sometimes it is obvious that faith turns around the little finger of a local prince or a "holy pilgrimage" is in fact a pretty way of describing a band of desperate peasants fleeing persecution and poverty. There's an ecumenical mind behind this analysis, and it's probably the only way to write a history of such a diverse and fragmented religious movement - the author must have at least some sympathy for everyone. The book can be read chronologically, opportunistically or as a reference work in case one wants to understand the emergence of one particular Protestant sect or movement (and as this book shows, there are many). I give it a strong three stars, because I read it somewhat instrumentally and use-oriented, and the narration was good enough that you can read it casually too. I skipped some chapters, but take specific chapters about movements you need to know about, and this is a great resource.