^Ivković, Sanja Kutnjak; Haberfeld, M.R. Measuring Police Integrity Across the World: Studies from Established Democracies and Countries in Transition. Springer. 2015-06-10: 131. ISBN 9781493922796(英语). Estonia is considered Protestant when classified by its historically predominant major religion (Norris and Inglehart 2011) and thus some authors (e.g., Davie 2003) claim Estonia belongs to Western (Lutheran) Europe, while others (e.g., Norris and Inglehart 2011) see Estonia as a Protestant ex-Communist society.
^Rausing, Sigrid. History, Memory, and Identity in Post-Soviet Estonia: The End of a Collective Farm. Oxford University Press. 2004: 96. ISBN 9780199263189(英语). Protestantism has done much to inform the moral world view of the Estonians, particularly the process of distinguishing themselves from the Russians.
^Ringvee, Ringo. Is Estonia really the least religious country in the world?. The Guardian. 2011-09-16. For this situation there are several reasons, starting from the distant past (the close connection of the churches with the Swedish or German ruling classes) up to the Soviet-period atheist policy when the chain of religious traditions was broken in most families. In Estonia, religion has never played an important role on the political or ideological battlefield. The institutional religious life was dominated by foreigners until the early 20th century. The tendencies that prevailed in the late 1930s for closer relations between the state and Lutheran church [...] ended with the Soviet occupation in 1940.缺少或|url=为空 (帮助); 使用|accessdate=需要含有|url= (帮助)
^Francoeur, Robert T.; Noonan, Raymond J. The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. A&C Black. 2004: 361. ISBN 9780826414885. The dominant religion in Estonia is Evangelical Lutheranism. Estonians were Christianized by the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century. During the Reformation, Lutheranism spread, and the church was officially established in Estonia in 1686.