The Modern Period, 1517 to the Present.—The Church was in a corrupt and superstitious condition. All the at tempts at reform had been unsuccessful. Martin Luther, born 1483, began the Geneva reformation by publishing 95 theses against Rome. He translated the scriptures into German, gained the co operation of the German princes, and published sermons and other works against the errors of Romanism. Me lanchthon was the chief doctrinal writer of the Reformation. Erasmus labored in the department of New Testament criti cism. The leading Swiss Reformers were Zwingli in eastern Switzerland, and the learned and pure Calvin in western. Farel stood next to Calvin in Geneva. The English Reformation had King Henry VIII. on its side, through no pious motives, but because the Pope would not sanction his frequent marriages. This was the great opportunity for which the Reformers of England had been waiting. Protestant sentiment grew rapidly, but in the next reign Ridley, Latimer, Cran mer, Hooper, Taylor fell victims to Queen Mary's Romanism. Under Elizabeth the Reformation was placed on a firm foun dation. The Puritans were a reaction against Romanism and sympathy with it in the Church of England. Arminius, born 1560, in Holland, opposed the chief tenets of Calvinism. The Synod of Dort resulted in the political triumph of the Calvinists, and the expulsion of the Re monstrants, until the death of Maurice (1630). The Thirty Years' War (1618 1648) was confined to the Continent, and established the territorial boundaries of the Protestant and Catholic nations. The Huguenots of France were persecuted 1572, and 70,000 people were killed on St. Bartholomew's night. The Jesuits, organized by Ignatius Loyola, 1540, were established as an offset to the aggression of Protestantism. Deism prevailed to an alarming extent in England, its chief pro moters being Hobbes, Herbert, Shaftes bury, Tindal, Bolingbroke, Hume, and Gibbon. They had strong antagonists Rationalism arose in 1750, through the teachings of Wolfe, Semler, and the ex ample of the Prussian court. It declined in the 19th century, through the labors of Tholuck, Neander, Hengstenberg, Ull mann, and others. The Evangelical Alli ance (1846) promoted the unity of ortho dox Christians in all parts of the world, and, to a corresponding degree, the vic tory over skepticism. The Old Catholics,
a Roman Catholic reaction against the Vatican Council of 1869, were organized (Baxter, Cudworth, Taylor, Wateland, Leland, Butler, Paley), but the general condition of the people was irreligious. Methodism, which arose from John Wes ley, born 1703, was a fervent religious movement. Charles Wesley, Whitefield, John Fletcher, Joseph Benson, and Adam Clarke were strong coadjutors. German into a Church in 1870; DOBinger, Huber. and Friedrich were at their head.
The American Church.—The coloniza tion of North America sprang from reli gious motives. The colonists sought free dom here because of the oppressions at home. Periods of American Church His tory: (1) From 1607-1660, revival and progress. (2) 1660-1720, trial, disputes with Great Britain, religious decline. (3) From 1720-1750, great revivals. (4) From 1750-1783, political agitation, free dom from British rule. (5) From 1783 to the present, extensive revivals, separa tion of Church and State, abolition of slavery, evangelization. The Protestant Episcopal Church was founded by the James River Colony (1607) ; its first Gen eral Convention was in 1785; it ratified the Thirty-nine Articles in 1832. The Puritan Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620, and began the development of Con gregationalism. The Cambridge Plat form was established in 1648. The Re formed (Dutch) Church was established in 1628 in New Amsterdam (New York). The first independent organization was in 1771. The Baptists began in Providence, R. I., in 1639, through Roger Williams. The Reformed (German) Church was or ganized in 1741. The Lutherans were established first in New York in 1669; the first Synod was held in 1748. The Presbyterians were organized at the close of the 17th century. The first Pres bytery was established in Philadelphia in 1706, and the first General Assembly in 1789. The first Methodist Society in the United States was established in New York in 1766, and the first Conference was held in Philadelphia in 1771. The Reformed Episcopal Church was organ ized in New York in 1873, under Bishop Cummins. The Roman Catholic Church in the United States was first established in Maryland through immigration in 1632. The Episcopal See of Baltimore was established in 1789. For statistics of the American Churches see the separate articles.