Introduction: Globalizing Protestantisms

Abstract

The articles in this Special Issue shed new light on the global dimensions of the Protestant Reformation from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century. Drawing upon a range of historiographical debates and methodological approaches, they examine the variety of identities and perspectives that made up post-Reformation religious cultures. Contributions uncover the ways in which multiple forms of Protestantism shaped and responded to global patterns of knowledge and practice, movement and migration, colonization and empire, commercial ventures, and cultural encounters. They reveal the role of Protestant beliefs and practices in expressing and recalibrating changing attitudes towards race, gender, and sexuality, as well as shifting cultural perceptions of the world and its history. This Introduction frames the articles featured in the Special Issue and situates them in historical context. It also reflects upon key themes and concepts as well as recent historiographical developments.