The theme I propose to develop in this paper is that in the victorious and neutral nations the dominant ideals of post-War Protestantism have been carried over from before the War, that these led in the direction of Catholicism, but that in spite of its catholic ideals, Protestantism since the war has actually become more Protestant than before, not only in Germany where Protestantism has become aggressive, but also in the other nations where it is less self-conscious. In other words, Protestantism has been revived by force of circumstance in ways not of its own choosing; or, to use Protestant language, it has been saved by grace, not justified by faith.

From the downfall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, the center of Eastern Orthodoxy slowly shifted from the Byzantine church, which suffered a tragic deterioration under the rule of the Turk, to the Empire of the Russian Orthodox tsars. Before the World War, the predominant rôle in numbers and resources as well as in spiritual and theological leadership was played by the church of Russia. Out of the total of some 144 millions of Orthodox adherents, the Russian membership comprised about 110 millions. By reason of its wealth and of the generous financial aid which it freely dispensed to the rest of the needy Orthodox communions, Russia exercised a far reaching, in some instances controlling, influence among them. Moreover, the Russian Slavophil theologians and publicists have been largely instrumental in the modernization of Orthodox theology which they have restated in modern philosophico-religious terms. In turn, the Russian thought has affected all Orthodox communions and has exercised a dominant theological influence over them.

Donatism was an exclusively African schism and for more than a century held the center of the stage in the Christian life of that land. It was born of local passions and quarrels, and had no success outside of Africa. It became the church of the native population and, raising“altar against altar,”1 successfully opposed both the Catholic church and the Roman Empire during several generations. Frequently, and especially in Numidia, the church of Donatus was more numerous, richer, and more powerful than its Catholic neighbor. Moreover, the Donatist cause came to shelter under its name a true social and economic revolt, which it found a useful instrument at times, but which was never a recognized part of its policy. Although the Donatist controversy was thus a local schism, it had important results for the Latin church, chiefly in regard to the doctrine of the sacrament of baptism, the orders and reception of schismatics and heretics, and the coercion of non-Catholics.

With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 the region we have chosen to call trans-Missouri became a potential American frontier. Settlement began in Missouri with the opening of the nineteenth century, but it was not until after 1850 that the remainder of the region was thrown open to allow the restless flood of western-moving people to pour into Kansas, Nebraska, and Dakota. Protestantism came into the new region as a part of this vast conquest.