The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism edited by Alister E. McGrath & Darren C. Marks (Blackwell Companions to Religion Series: Blackwell Publishing) brings together new essays from internationally renowned scholars in order to examine the past, present and future of Protestantism.  

The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism is co-edited by leading Protestant theologians Alister E. McGrath, Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford; and Darren C. Marks, who lectures in systematic theology and religious studies at Huron University College at the University of Western Ontario. The volume opens with an investigation into the formation of Protestant identity across Europe , North America , Asia , Australasia and Africa . The book then goes on to consider the interaction of Protestantism with different areas of modern life, including the arts, politics, the law and science. A final section debates the future of Protestantism in both Western and non-Western settings.

The text reflects a triad of concerns: Protestantism as pan-global, theological and ideologically loaded. The Introduction provide a historical theological background, from Protestantism's own confes­sions, of what Protestants believe and how they organize themselves as a con­sequence in their church polity. Complementing this introduction is the final part on 'The Future of Protestantism'. In this part, the essays define and analyze the offspring of Protestantism – post-modernism, Pentecostalism, Evangelicalism, the emergence of Asian, African and South American Protes­tant forms, and the situation of historic western Protestant denominations. The Introduction and final part begin and end (at least for the present) the conver­sation about what Protestantism is in terms of its origins and its future.

Sandwiched between the Introduction and ‘The Future of Protestantism' are two further major parts. The first, ‘The Formation of Protestant Identity: History and Ideology', is a magisterial survey of Protestantism in various regional and national identities, as well as an exploration by several major Protestant thinkers. The 'big five' of Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Schleiermacher and Barth have been highlighted in this part.

'The next major part, 'Protestantism and Present Identity', is broken down into two components. Once again, these reflect the triadic concern that drives the text. 'Protestantism and Its Relations' frames the conversation that Protestantism has had with major segments of' human enterprise and culture, usually in the western context. The relationship of Protestantism to science, art, politics and law as well as itself via its Bible-centered commitments is explored, highlighting the interplay between the `religious' or 'theological' and other presumably secular human enterprise and creations. 'Protestantism and its Influence' furthers this conversation by addressing Protestantism to various movements that dominate much of the present situation and constitute the grounds of future conversations elsewhere. The section explores Protestant responsibility for (and resources to combat) anti-Semitism, racial and sexual inequality, and presents two of the major Protestant variations (or reactions) in liberalism and fundamentalism. In looking forward to the ‘New Protestantism' of the twenty-first century in new climes it seems imperative that Protestantism learns of its own critique well, if only to avoid repeating the same mistakes in new situations. This section also examines how Protestantism has exported itself in missions and its spirituality. These essays indicate how the interplay between idea theology and wider culture is transferred into real concrete situations in both pleasantly surprising and woefully shattering ways.

The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism has nearly 40 different contributors, many writing in a second or even third language, which makes for some stylistic variance, and McGrath and Marks have retained the con­tributors' spelling and punctuation style, whether UK or US. References and up-­to-date further reading lists are also provided.

The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism takes seriously the shift in Protestantism from a predominantly North Atlantic perspective to a more global reality. The strength of the volume is contributions by indigenous scholars on regional Protestant history and context as well as chapters that examine the nature of neo-Protestant forms and the future of historic Protestant identities as a consequence of increasing secularity and the emergence of “new” non-Eurocentric or American Protestants.

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