The articles in this Special Issue shed new light on the global dimensions of the Protestant Reformation from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century. Drawing upon a range of historiographical debates and methodological approaches, they examine the variety of identities and perspectives that made up post-Reformation religious cultures. Contributions uncover the ways in which multiple forms of Protestantism shaped and responded to global patterns of knowledge and practice, movement and migration, colonization and empire, commercial ventures, and cultural encounters. They reveal the role of Protestant beliefs and practices in expressing and recalibrating changing attitudes towards race, gender, and sexuality, as well as shifting cultural perceptions of the world and its history. This Introduction frames the articles featured in the Special Issue and situates them in historical context. It also reflects upon key themes and concepts as well as recent historiographical developments.

本期特刊中的文章为十六世纪至十九世纪新教改革的全球范围提供了新的视角。他们利用一系列史学辩论和方法论方法，研究了构成后宗教改革宗教文化的各种身份和观点。贡献揭示了多种形式的新教如何塑造和应对全球知识和实践、运动和移民、殖民和帝国、商业冒险和文化相遇的模式。它们揭示了新教信仰和实践在表达和重新调整对种族、性别和性的态度变化以及对世界及其历史的文化观念转变方面的作用。本引言概述了特刊中的文章，并将它们置于历史背景中。它还反映了关键主题和概念以及最近的史学发展。