Consciences And The Reformation

Author : Timothy R. Scheuers
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2023-08-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780197692158

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Consciences and the Reformation by Timothy R. Scheuers Pdf

This book examines the contentious relationship between oath-taking, confessional subscription, and the binding of the conscience in reforms led by John Calvin. Calvin and his closest Reformed colleagues routinely distinguished what they believed were impious rules and constitutions in the Roman Church--human traditions claiming to bind the consciences of the faithful by putting them in fear of losing their salvation--and legitimate church observances, such as oaths and formal subscription to Reformed confessional standards. Doctrinal and moral reform in the cities became difficult, however, when friends and foes alike accused Calvin and his partners of burdening consciences with extra-Scriptural statements of faith composed by human authorities--a claim that, if true, would necessarily shape our assessment of the integrity of Calvin's Reformation. In light of these conflicts, author Timothy R. Scheuers offers a close reading of the texts and controversies surrounding Calvin's struggle for reform. In particular, he shows how they reveal the unique challenges Calvin and his colleagues encountered as they attempted to employ oath-swearing and formal confession of faith in order to consolidate the reformation of church and society. This book demonstrates how oaths and vows were used to shape confessional identity, secure social order, forge community, and promote faithfulness in public and private contracts. It also illustrates the complex and difficult task of protecting the individual conscience as Calvin sought to bring his new take on Christian freedom into Reformed communities.

Author : Timothy R. Scheuers
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2023
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780197692141

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Consciences and the Reformation by Timothy R. Scheuers Pdf

"We see Calvin most clearly - as a person and as a theologian - against the backdrop of his late medieval context. Older portrayals of Calvin as a father of modern doctrinal systems - popularized in early nineteenth- and twentieth-century accounts of the reformer's life and thought - have been soundly rebuffed, and for good reason. Calvin was, as a point of fact, thoroughly unaware of certain dogmatic patterns that we now recognize as being "modern." He was no more the father of modern critical exegesis than he was the original visionary of modern liberal democratic societies. That is to say, Calvin could not have considered himself a forerunner of something that lay entirely outside his historical purview. Likewise, the young Calvin was, in most respects, a man of his times. And his times were driven by the effort to promulgate and practice the authoritative teachings of the medieval Christian Church. Moreover, Calvin did not utterly disown the intellectual inheritance of his youth following his conversion to the evangelical religion in the early 1530s. Later in life, as a seasoned reformer of the church, Calvin continued to apply with great fervency many of the legal principles and theological methods he had acquired at an early age while studying in Paris, Orléans, and Bourges, albeit with an ever-critical eye toward the need for church reform"--

Author : David Myers
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 247 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2019-05-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781501744709

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"Poor Sinning Folk" by David Myers Pdf

In "Poor, Sinning Folk," W. David Myers investigates the sixteenth-century fate of the medieval Christian sacrament of penance, the process of confessing to a priest in secret one's sins against God and other humans. In Pre-Reformation Germany, numerous layers of public ritual, expectation, and display surrounded the central secret act of confessing and conditioned its meaning. Less frequent and less private than the ritual familiar to modern Catholics, medieval penance was for most German-speaking Christians a seasonal event with social as well as spiritual ramifications for participants. Protestantism swept confession away from many German lands. Even where Catholicism survived and flourished, as in the lands comprising modern Bavaria, the sacrament of penance changed profoundly. The modern confessional booth was introduced, making the sacrament more prominent, more secure from scandal, and ultimately more private. This reform coincided with the efforts of secular rulers to fashion a more disciplined, obedient population. New religious orders, most notably the Society of Jesus in Bavaria, saw the frequent confession of lay people as a means to piety and spiritual discipline amidst the temptations of worldly affairs. By the middle of the seventeenth century, political and religious forces combined to forge the sacrament of penance into an effective instrument of spiritual discipline which would fashion the modern Catholic conscience and endure essentially unchanged into the late twentieth century.

Author : Ronald K. RITTGERS,Ronald K Rittgers
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 331 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2009-06-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780674042797

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The Reformation of the Keys by Ronald K. RITTGERS,Ronald K Rittgers Pdf

The Catholic Church's claims to spiritual and temporal authority rest on Jesus' promise in the gospels to give Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. In the sixteenth century, leaders of the German Reformation sought a fundamental transformation of this "power of the keys" as part of their efforts to rid Church and society of alleged clerical abuses. Central to this transformation was a thoroughgoing reform of private confession. Unlike other Protestants, Lutherans chose not to abolish private confession but to change it to suit their theological convictions and social needs. In a fascinating examination of this new religious practice, Ronald Rittgers traces the development of Lutheran private confession, demonstrating how it consistently balanced competing concerns for spiritual freedom and moral discipline. The reformation of private confession was part of a much larger reformation of the power of the keys that had profound implications for the use of religious authority in sixteenth-century Germany. As the first full-length study of the role of Lutheran private confession in the German Reformation, this book is a welcome contribution to early modern European and religious history. Table of Contents: List of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Allegiance to the Regnum 2. Between Hope and Fear 3. The Assault on the Keys 4. Tentative Beginnings 5. An Evangelical Dilemma 6. The New Rite 7. Resisting the Old Jurisdiction 8. Confession Established 9. Propaganda and Practice Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index Figures Map of the Holy Roman Empire Late medieval Nuernberg The 1539 Schembartlauf hell-float The storming of the hell-float Woodcut from Andreas Osiander's children's sermon on the keys In an exceptionally fair-minded and scrupulous book, Ronald Rittgers charts a route through theological and social complexities with great clarity and subtlety. Lutherans experienced strong and conflicting emotions about confession, and Nuremberg makes a fine case study of their divergent reactions. This is an original and important addition to scholarship. --Andrew Pettegree, University of St. Andrews A finely detailed survey of the disputes and controversies surrounding the introduction of an evangelical form of confession in sixteenth-century Nuremberg. There is, to my knowledge, no comparable treatment of the subject. Rittgers's study is deeply researched. His writing is fluent, the argument easy to follow. Useful for Reformation scholars, this book also holds much for the general reader with a serious interest in the history of the Reformation. --Gerald Strauss, Emeritus, Indiana University

Author : Randall C. Zachman
Publisher : Westminster John Knox Press
Page : 276 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2005-01-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0664228658

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The Assurance of Faith by Randall C. Zachman Pdf

Common widsom concerning Luther and Calvin suggests differences in the way they related the testimony of Christ to the conscience. Zachman undertakes the long overdue comparison of their theologies, especially the ways in which Luther and Calvin define and describe the conscience and relate it to the testimonies of the Word and the Spirit. Winner of the Marc Perry Galler Prize for a work of scholarly distinction.

Author : Baylor
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2022-03-07
Category : History
ISBN : 9789004474277

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Action and Person: Conscience in Late Scholasticism and the Young Luther by Baylor Pdf

Author : Benjamin T. G. Mayes
Publisher : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
Page : 258 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2011-08-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9783647550275

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Counsel and Conscience by Benjamin T. G. Mayes Pdf

In Lutheran Germany of the post-Reformation era (ca. 1580–1750), a genre of pastoral, ethical writings arose that consisted in casuistry and in topically or thematically related theological counsels. In this first volume of the new Refo500 series Mayes shows that this casuistry literature was intended to instruct and comfort the consciences of Christians. Lutheran casuistry, related to but also distinct from Roman Catholic and Reformed counterparts, arose especially as pastors looked within Holy Scripture, the medieval tradition, and the writings of Martin Luther and other Lutheran authorities for answers to ethical problems and doctrinal disputes, and then catalogued their findings. As an extensive example from this genre Mayes examines the Thesaurus Consiliorum Et Decisionum, published in 1671 by Georg Dedekenn and Johann Ernst Gerhard. This Thesaurus was an anthology of wise advice from Lutheran theologians and jurists, published to encourage readers to avoid individualistic ethical choices and instead to engage in an "aristocratic" process of moral decision making in which one would consult the wise men of the past and present. The counsels included in the Thesaurus address inter-confessional disputes, intra-Lutheran disputes, sacraments, church government, pastoral ministry, social ethics, marriage, sexual ethics, and many other topics. The topics of divorce and remarriage, especially, show the different ways in which Lutherans reasoned about moral matters. The author shows that in the Thesaurus the Lutheran casuistry literature, which has been overlooked in most scholarship of the 20th and 21st centuries, was in bloom. It arose to meet the needs of people who had doubts, and it continued to instruct and console Christian consciences for many generations.

Author : Paul Strohm
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 153 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2011-06-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780191620393

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Conscience: A Very Short Introduction by Paul Strohm Pdf

Where does our conscience come from? How reliable is it? In the West conscience has been relied upon for two thousand years as a judgement that distinguishes right from wrong. It has effortlessly moved through every period division and timeline between the ancient, medieval, and modern. The Romans identified it, the early Christians appropriated it, and Reformation Protestants and loyal Catholics relied upon its advice and admonition. Today it is embraced with equal conviction by non-religious and religious alike. Considering its deep historical roots and exploring what it has meant to successive generations, Paul Strohm highlights why this particularly European concept deserves its reputation as 'one of the prouder Western contributions to human rights and human dignity throughout the world.' Using examples from popular culture including the Disney classic Pinocchio, as well as examples from contemporary politics, he explores the work of thinkers such as Nietzsche, Freud, and Aquinas, to show how and why conscience remains a motivating and important principle in the contemporary world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author : Michael Germann,Wim Decock
Publisher : Evangelische Verlagsanstalt
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2017-03-01
Category : Law
ISBN : 9783374046898

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Das Gewissen in den Rechtslehren der protestantischen und katholischen Reformationen / Conscience in the Legal Teachings of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations by Michael Germann,Wim Decock Pdf

Die in diesem Band vereinigten Beiträge untersuchen die Bedeutung der religiösen Reformbewegungen ab dem 16. Jahrhundert für die moderne Rechtsentwicklung an einem spezifischen Gegenstand: am Rechtsstatus der in allen Konfessionen aktuellen Berufung auf das Gewissen. So führt der Band sonst oft separat betriebene Forschungen über die Traditionsbildung in und nach den Lehren lutherischer, calvinischer und römisch-katholischer Theologen und Juristen des 16., 17. und frühen 18. Jahrhunderts exemplarisch vergleichend zusammen. Insbesondere gehen die Untersuchungen der Frage nach, inwiefern die konfessionell geprägten Rechtslehren miteinander in Wechselwirkung standen. Sie umfassen Themen zu Rechtskonzepten des Gewissens sowie zu ihrer Umsetzung in den Lehren vom Öffentlichen Recht und vom Kirchenrecht aus theologie-, rechts- und philosophiegeschichtlichen Perspektiven. The essays joined in this volume investigate the role of the religious reform movements since the 16th century in the transformation of the Western legal tradition, focussing on a particular topic: how Jurisprudence had to deal with the reference to conscience, virulent for all confessional positions. Research on the teachings of Lutheran, Calvinist, and Roman Catholic theologians and jurists from the 16th up to the early 18th century, most often examined separately, is brought together in a comparative perspective. The essays comprise studies on legal concepts of conscience and on their implementation in the teachings in Public Law and in Canon or Ecclesiastical Law from the perspectives of theology, law, and philosophy.

Author : Steven M. Studebaker,Gordon L. Heath
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2021-04-16
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781725287075

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The Reformation by Steven M. Studebaker,Gordon L. Heath Pdf

Martin Luther’s nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg was a pivotal moment in the birth of what would become known as the Reformation. More than five hundred years later, historians and theologians continue to discuss the impact of these events and their ongoing relevance for the church today. The collection of essays contained in this volume not only engages the history and theology of this sixteenth-century movement, but also focuses on how the message and praxis of the Protestant reformers can be translated into a post-Christendom West. With contributions from: Victor A. Shepherd James Keller Gwenfair Walters Adams W. David Buschart David Fitch Wendy J. Porter Jennifer Powell McNutt

Author : Mark A. Noll
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Fiction
ISBN : NWU:35556020918306

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Confessions and Catechisms of the Reformation by Mark A. Noll Pdf

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Author : Silvianne Aspray
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2021-01-28
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0197266932

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Metaphysics in the Reformation by Silvianne Aspray Pdf

This book argues that the anti-metaphysical stance of many reformers is itself a metaphysical position.

Author : Marsha Robinson
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 339 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2017-11-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781351741644

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Writing the Reformation by Marsha Robinson Pdf

This title was first published in 2002. This work invests the post-Shakespearean history plays of the Jacobean era - including among others Shakespeare's "Henry VIII" (1613), Dekker's "The Whore of Babylon" (1606), and Heywood's "If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody" (1604-5)-with new significance by recognizing the role they played in popularizing and re-appropriating Foxe's "Book of Martyrs", one of the most formative and culturally significant Reformation texts. This study presents the historical stage as a site of a continuing Reformation debate over the nature of political authority, the validity of conscience and the challenge to social and gender hierarchies implicit in Protestant doctrine. Relating each play to contemporary political events, the book demonstrates the role of the Jacobean stage in promoting reformation and informing with providential meaning the events unfolding outside the theatre.

Author : Pierre Berthoud,Pieter J. Lalleman
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 269 pages
File Size : 54,9 Mb
Release : 2017-09-07
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781498235709

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The Reformation by Pierre Berthoud,Pieter J. Lalleman Pdf

The papers in this volume are less a commemoration of the Reformation than a discussion of its meaning in the era after 2017. What is celebrated in 2017 is not the Reformation as such, but the beginning of the Reformation. It was the dynamics of the "new" theology of Luther and Calvin that caused a radical change with global effects. Reformation is not just an historical event but an ongoing movement of renewal and change. The message of the Reformation constantly challenges us to think through positions, actions, attitudes, and programs. This book presents contributions from eleven experts from all over Europe, who deal with their various topics on the conviction that the essence of Luther's theology does not need to be adapted to make it relevant. The papers originated at the 2016 conference of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians, which was held in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.

Author : Dr Jonathan Willis
Publisher : Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Page : 303 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2015-11-28
Category : History
ISBN : 9781472437365

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Sin and Salvation in Reformation England by Dr Jonathan Willis Pdf

This collection focusses upon the history and theology of sin and salvation in reformation and post-reformation England. Exploring their complex social and cultural constructions, it underlines how sin and salvation were not only great religious constants, but also constantly evolving in order to survive in the rapidly transforming religious landscape of the reformation. Drawing upon a range of disciplinary perspectives - historical, theological, literary, and material/art-historical - to both reveal and explain the complexity of the concepts of sin and salvation, the volume further illuminates a subject central to the nature and success of the Reformation itself.