Venables on Macculloch, 'The Reformation: a History' and Rublack, 'Die Reformation in Europa'

H-German Venables on MacCulloch, 'The Reformation: A History' and Rublack, 'Die Reformation in Europa'

Review published on Wednesday, June 1, 2005

Diarmaid MacCulloch. The Reformation: A History. New York: Viking, 2003. xxiv + 750 pp. $34.95 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-670-03296-9; $20.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-14-303538-1.Ulinka Rublack. Die Reformation in Europa. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 2003. 278 S. EUR 12.90 (broschiert), ISBN 978-3-596-60129-5.

Reviewed by Mary Venables (Independent Scholar) Published on H-German (June, 2005)

Reformation 101

Diarmaid MacCulloch's The Reformation and Ulinka Rublack's Die Reformation in Europa both present broad overviews of the history of the Protestant Reformation. They explain issues that rarely grab headlines today--the substance of the Eucharist, the role of priests, the understanding of scripture, and the organization of the church--and explicate why these topics were debated, discussed, and fought over throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Although they share these common purposes, the books differ noticeably in audience, scope, and method.

The first thing that strikes the reader in comparing the two books is their size. MacCulloch's substantial work weighs in at close to seven hundred pages of text plus photographs, notes, and a bibliography. Rublack's book, which also includes notes, a bibliography, and a few illustrations, is a true Taschenbuch that could easily fit into many pockets. The books' dimensions reflect their fundamental differences. The books target different audiences. MacCulloch aims at an informed British or American reader who may have a minimal acquaintance with Martin Luther, the Bible, and religious services, but is sufficiently interested in European history to feel that he or she should know more about the Reformation. (The blurb on the back cover advertises the MacCulloch book by arguing that to understand Europe and America, one needs to understand the Reformation.) Rublack addresses a more scholarly reader, albeit one who is relatively new to historical studies. She assumes that her reader is already familiar with Martin Luther and John Calvin and has a good grasp of the general course of the Protestant Reformation. She does not so much introduce the Reformation as expound upon it. In the book under review here, Rublack is writing for a German-speaking audience. Die Reformation in Europa will, however, shortly appear in an edited and expanded English version in Cambridge University Press's "New Perspectives on European History" series.

The books also cover different historical territory. Rublack'sDie Reformation focuses on Luther, Calvin, and their environments, while MacCulloch's tome encompasses both the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and extends from the late-fifteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century, and from Eastern Europe to the Atlantic colonies. Rublack takes a mostly thematic approach, covering Luther before moving on to other themes. MacCulloch pursues a mostly chronological approach, resulting sometimes in disjointed transitions between confessions and countries.

Citation: H-Net Reviews. Venables on MacCulloch, 'The Reformation: A History' and Rublack, 'Die Reformation in Europa'. H-German. 09-30-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/35008/reviews/44229/venables-macculloch-reformation-history-and-rublack-die-reformation Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-German

MacCulloch starts off by outlining the religious world of the late-fifteenth century, paying particular attention to religious structures. Following a section on printing and humanism, he introduces Luther. MacCulloch argues that the new teachings of Protestantism appealed to many because Luther convinced common folk that they had been cheated by the clergy. MacCulloch pursues the development of Protestantism through the 1540s, introducing Swiss, English, French and Polish evangelicals. He then turns his attention to Catholicism and the work of Ignatius Loyola. After a brief return to Calvin, MacCulloch presents Tridentine Catholicism, including accounts of missions to Spanish colonies. In bits and pieces, MacCulloch summarizes religious affairs in almost all European countries, touching on France, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. He draws the stories of many of these countries together in his account of the Thirty Years' War, which he sees as the end of religiously motivated wars and the beginning of rising religious tolerance. MacCulloch concludes the chronological section of his book with a section on the English Civil War and the North American colonies, arguing that America's national character is deeply rooted in English and Scottish Protestantism.

Throughout his history, MacCulloch takes pains to explain theology to lay readers. He illustrates the centrality of the late medieval church by pointing out that two of the three most mechanically complicated machines that most people encountered--the pipe organ, the clock, and the windmill-- could only have been found in churches. In one of the book's finest sections of theological explanations, MacCulloch clearly elucidates the Lutheran doctrine of ubiquity and the differences between Reformed and Lutheran understandings of the Eucharist in a way that clarifies theology and practice.

In contrast to MacCulloch's wide-ranging book, Rublack's Die Reformation concentrates on the early phases of the Lutheran and Reformed reformations. She sets out two central questions: how did Luther and Calvin gain influence and what did these new Protestant truths mean for all levels of society. The book is divided into four sections, each devoted to a "Wahrheit": "die neue Wahrheit" in Wittenberg, "andere Wahrheiten," "reformierte Wahrheit," and "Alltagswahrheiten." Throughout the book she occasionally hints at the activities of the Catholic church, but she points the reader to Ronnie Po-chia Hsia's The World of Catholic Renewal, 1540-1770 (1998) for the Catholic side of the story.

Rublack addresses her question on Luther and Calvin's influence in the first and third sections of the book. She discusses Luther's theology as a "Wahrheit" that created a new form of verifying Christian truths, in which scripture replaced church councils as the source of authority. Luther's epistemological shift was not universally accepted; his opponents charged that he opened the door to multiple truths. Despite disagreement throughout the German empire, Luther transformed Wittenberg, so Rublack argues, into a city that accepted his "Wahrheit." Reform then spread from Wittenberg to the world. Rublack does a fine job illustrating the efficacy of Luther's personal ties (particularly his correspondence and friendships) in spreading new evangelical beliefs. She also points to the centrality of print: Wittenberg became a printing center, publishing more of Luther's works than any other city.

For both Luther and Calvin their respective cities had tremendous importance. Just as Wittenberg played a central role for the acceptance of Luther's message, so Geneva was integral to Calvin's growing influence. Rublack puts it bluntly, "ohne Genf kein Calvinismus" (p. 153). Geneva, like

Wittenberg, was the center of a movement. Reformed pastors and congregations in France, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Brandenburg received support from the Swiss city. Geneva became the exemplar of Reformed Christianity. Rublack interprets Calvinism more as a renewed practice of belief than as a new Protestant theology. For this reason, Calvin's establishment of the company of pastors and the consistory secured the visibility of Reformed Christianity. Geneva became a living model of Calvin's thought.

In the introduction and second and fourth sections, Rublack addresses her second question: how (or whether) all levels of society accepted Protestant truths. She begins by sketching the world in 1500. Rather than outlining church structures as MacCulloch did, however, she aims to draw a picture of mentality, emphasizing the prevalence of beliefs in spiritual powers and prophecy. In contrast to some who see the Reformation as the start of the rationalization of belief, she posits that Protestantism led to an intensification of belief in other-worldly forces and an excessive mystification (berzauberung) of the world. The second section ("andere Wahrheiten") focuses on more privileged members of society. Rublack introduces five people (Charles V, Erasmus, Zwingli, Marguerite of Navarre, and Martin Bucher) whose lives intersected with Protestant movements. Together their biographies show the limited appeal and/or limited reach of Protestantism. In the fourth section Rublack selects prophecy, printing, preaching, hymn-singing, material culture, and church discipline to illustrate the creation of Protestant cultures.

MacCulloch likewise concludes his book with a section that might broadly be termed the difference that the Reformation made for ordinary people. He examines calendar reform, iconoclasm, witch- hunts, funeral practices, preaching, catechizing, church discipline, marriage customs, family life, sexual practices, and religious tolerance. By ending with the Enlightenment, he seems to suggest that religious disputes, which were tremendously important throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, had lost their influence by 1700. Although MacCulloch's section on social history is extensive, it feels like it is tacked onto the main body of his book. In contrast, Rublack integrates newer research on the impact of Lutheran and Reformed thought throughout the book.

The authors' different approaches to social history highlight the different approaches and strengths of the books. MacCulloch's book is a straightforward summary of the Reformation that recounts which theologian or ruler did what when. Rublack devotes more attention to explaining why things happened and uses the fruits of newer research on communication and social practice to help illumine the survival of Protestantism. To give one representative example, MacCulloch helps the beginning student to understand what different confessions taught on the Eucharist and Rublack helps the more advanced student consider why different confessions still look at the Eucharist in different lights. For the reader who wants to know more about the Reformation, whatever this Reformation thing is, MacCulloch's The Reformation is the ticket; for the reader who wants to consider an interpretation of why Reformation, Rublack's Die Reformation offers food for thought.

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Citation: Mary Venables. Review of MacCulloch, Diarmaid, The Reformation: A History and Rublack, Ulinka, Die Reformation in Europa. H-German, H-Net Reviews. June, 2005.URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=10651

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