Final answer:
John Donne initially rebelled against and later joined the Roman Catholic Church. His early life was marked by religious tension in England following Henry VIII's establishment of the Church of England, which maintained elements of Catholicism despite its separation from Papal authority.
Step-by-step explanation:
The church that John Donne initially rebelled against but later joined was the Roman Catholic Church. Donne was born into a Roman Catholic family during a time of anti-Catholic sentiment in England and initially harbored anti-establishment sentiments. However, over time, Donne abandoned his Catholic roots and joined the Church of England, becoming an ordained priest within it.
His early rebellion can be seen in the context of the religious strife of the period. After Henry VIII's split from the Catholic Church, an act reinforced by the Act in Restraint of Appeals and the Act of Submission of the Clergy, the Anglican Church took on the role of the official church in England, retaining many elements of Catholicism while rejecting Papal authority.
When Elizabeth I took the throne, the Anglican Church was re-established as the state church. Despite pressures for further reforms by the Puritans, who wanted to purge all aspects of Catholicism from the church, the framework of the Anglican Church largely remained intact.