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This book is an essay in the interpretation of Protestant Christianity. It has grown out of the conviction that thenature and meaning of Protestantism can be seen only in the light of its historical development. We have, therefore, deliberately abandoned many of the usual patterns for interpreting Protestant life and thought. Survey descriptions of the various Protestant denominations almost invariably lack unity and historical depth and fail to disclose the spiritual dynamics which both cut across and give rise to denominational pattern. Interpretations which focus exclusively on the Reformation cannot give due weight either to the new impulses which have appeared in Protestant history or to the varying development of the Reformation principles. Efforts to develop independent statements of Protestant 'principles' or 'beliefs' tend to be so general and filled with all manner of qualifications as to be often meaningless, or they are sufficiently partisan as to exclude important motifs.
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