The History of Protestantism: Volume 1: Books 1-8 (Unabridged‪)‬

When Luther proposed his Ninety-Five Theses and nailed them to the door of the church at Wittenberg, where did his ideas originate? The History of Protestantism can answer that question. James Aitken Wylie, in his phenomenal work The History of Protestantism, details the source of this religious transformation and how it impacted the world.

The History of Protestantism by J. A. Wylie is an incredibly inspiring work. It pulls back the divine curtain and reveals God's hand in the affairs of his church during the Protestant Reformation. Throughout the centuries, the sacrifices and victories of God's faithful people have often been obscured and forgotten. Now, once again, you can listen to the fascinating story of how truth triumphed over error, principle over falsehood, and light over darkness.

Exposing the forerunners of Protestantism, such as the Waldenses, and describing how the Roman Catholic church had progressed since the fall of the Roman Empire, Wylie explains how discussions on religion and the position of the Church of Rome in mid-16th-century Europe was a hot topic. 

He writes on the history of the founding fathers - Luther, Hus, Calvin, and Zwingli and how they constructed their churches even while under the oppression of the Roman Catholic leaders, and in some instances, conflict with other Protestant churches. He also discusses how different countries responded to the Reformation during the 16th and 17th centuries. Protestantism was not an organization, so it had no authority to outline its doctrine while these churches were growing. Wylie discusses the theology of the churches and their different beliefs. 

While Wylie is intent on telling the story of Protestantism, he - in many places - travels back to the Middle Ages and picks up the story and moves forward to the Reformation of the 16th century. When listening to the book, you can find that Wylie is thrilled to see just that men and woman stood for truth, and in doing so, made way for truth to prevail in the end.

Wylie's ability as a scholar and an author is apparent in every chapter. Anyone interested in knowing about the history of the Christian Church would be truly enlightened by referring to this work of Dr. Wylie on the history of Protestantism. His disposition to use the pen as a mighty "sword of the Loord" (Judges 7:18) is evident throughout this work. 

The History of Protestantism is no mere history of dogmas. The teachings of Christ are the seeds; the modern Christendom, with its new life, is the goodly tree which has sprung from them. We shall speak of the seed and then of the tree, so small at its beginning, but destined one day to cover the earth. The History of Protestantism is fundamental for anyone who is interested in knowing how the faith broke with Rome and endured through its tumultuous first few centuries to become the religion that it is today.

James Aitken Wylie was a Scottish historian of religion and Presbyterian minister. He was a prolific writer and is most famous for his 24-book set The History of Protestantism, which was first published in 1878. Wylie died before completing his History of the Scottish Nation in 1890.

This was originally published as a large 24-book set. It is now available in four smaller volumes. There is a table of contents at the beginning of each book and at the beginning of each volume, as well as a fully descriptive table of contents at the beginning of each book.

The contents of this audiobook include:


Book one - Protestantism in Scotland
Book two - Wicliffe and His Times, or Advent of Protestantism
Book three - John Huss and the Hussite Wars
Book four - Christendom at the Opening of the Sixteenth Century
Book five - History of Protestantism in Germany to the Leipsic Disputation, 1519
Book six - From the Leipsic Disputation to the Diet at Worms, 1521
Book seven - Protestantism in England, From the Times of Wicliffe to Those of Henry VIII
Book eight - History of Protestantism in Switzerland