The World’s Reformation: How Protestantism Became a Global Religion with Alec Ryrie

2026-05-22

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That word mission might make you think of Robert De Niro or Jeremy Irons in Jesuit robes clambering up the Iguazu Falls in deepest South America, but, lagging as they might have been and forgotten as their efforts may be, there was a Protestant expansion too, a clear will to propagate the Gospel to the world, that challenges those preconceptions. This week on the podcast, Professor Alec Ryrie joins ⁠Zeb Baker-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠, Editor of ⁠⁠⁠⁠Aspects of History⁠⁠⁠⁠, to discuss his new book, The World’s Reformation: How Protestantism Became a Global Religion, publis...

That word mission might make you think of Robert De Niro or Jeremy Irons in Jesuit robes clambering up the Iguazu Falls in deepest South America, but, lagging as they might have been and forgotten as their efforts may be, there was a Protestant expansion too, a clear will to propagate the Gospel to the world, that challenges those preconceptions.

This week on the podcast, Professor Alec Ryrie joins ⁠Zeb Baker-Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠, Editor of ⁠⁠⁠⁠Aspects of History⁠⁠⁠⁠, to discuss his new book, The World’s Reformation: How Protestantism Became a Global Religion, published by Yale University Press. From Lapland to the Caribbean and across Asia and Africa, we discuss how a now global religion attempted to convert the nations, sometimes falteringly, some successfully, and examine the motivations, approaches and instances where religion, colonialism and empire become intertwined.

Episode Links

The World’s Reformation: How Protestantism Became a Global Religion⁠

Alec Ryrie Links

Alec ⁠⁠online⁠⁠

Aspects of History Links

AoH ⁠⁠⁠⁠online⁠⁠⁠⁠

AoH on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter /X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

AoH on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Zeb Links

Zeb on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter /X⁠⁠⁠⁠

Zeb on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠

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