1 Key Reformation Themes: a Summary (With Attention To
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Causes and Consequences of the Protestant Reformation Sascha O
Chapman University Chapman University Digital Commons ESI Working Papers Economic Science Institute 2016 Causes and Consequences of the Protestant Reformation Sascha O. Becker University of Warwick Steven Pfaff University of Washington Jared Rubin Chapman University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/esi_working_papers Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, Econometrics Commons, Economic Theory Commons, History of Christianity Commons, and the Other Economics Commons Recommended Citation Becker, S.O., Pfaff, S., & Rubin, J. (2016). Causes and consequences of the Protestant Reformation. ESI Working Paper 16-13. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/esi_working_papers/178 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Economic Science Institute at Chapman University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in ESI Working Papers by an authorized administrator of Chapman University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Causes and Consequences of the Protestant Reformation Comments Working Paper 16-13 This article is available at Chapman University Digital Commons: http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/esi_working_papers/178 Causes and Consequences of the Protestant Reformation* Sascha O. Becker† Steven Pfaff‡ University of Warwick University of Washington Jared Rubin§ Chapman University The Protestant Reformation is one of the defining events of the last millennium. Nearly 500 years after the Reformation, its causes and consequences have seen a renewed interest in the social sciences. Research in economics, sociology, and political science increasingly uses detailed individual-level, city-level, and regional-level data to identify drivers of the adoption of the Reformation, its diffusion pattern, and its socioeconomic consequences. -
WEEK 1: a Very, Very, Brief History of the Pre-Reformation Christian Church B Y D R
EVER-REFORMING: A REFORMATION 500 CROSS-GENERATIONAL STUDY WEEK 1: A Very, Very, Brief History of the Pre-Reformation Christian Church B Y D R. MA RK ELLINGSEN ( PROFES SOR OF CHU RCH HISTORY, INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL CENTER ) TOPIC SUMMARY The church grew like wildfire in the 1500 years after Jesus’ death. It quickly changed from being a small Jew- ish sect into the religion of Europe. Although Christianity had originally been a movement of Jews, immediate- ly after gaining a Gentile majority of the membership sometime in the 2nd century, it was still a religion with its heaviest concentration in Israel, the Near East, and North Africa. It was not until the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century that Christianity began to be associated with Europe and Western culture. (We must never forget how Jewish, Asian, and African our faith is.) Most of the first Christians, much like Jesus, came from lower-class backgrounds. However, their commitment, willingness to suffer for their faith, and care for the poor attracted more and more powerful people within the Roman Empire. This accounted for much of the church’s phenomenal growth. This in turn led the church to gain educated leaders who in the 4th and 5th centuries developed some of our great doctrines: the Trinity, the two natures of Jesus, original sin, and the prioritizing of grace over works. (Liturgical styles of worship, teach- ing about the sacraments, and the determination of what books would and would not be in the Bible had been addressed in previous centuries.) The increasing numbers of Christians among the educated elite meant that Christian theology developed in conversation with the cutting-edge intellectual developments of the day. -
Lutherans Respond to Pentecostalism
TLC 4 TLC THEOLOgy in thE LifE OF thE Church Vol. 4 The spread and influence of diverse expressions of Pentecostalism through out the world, especially in Africa, is posing significant challenges to Lutheran as well as other churches. At a seminar of the Lutheran World Federation in South Africa, theologians discussed how they are responding to these challenges. Articles in this book highlight how some Lutheran convictions to Respond Pentecostalism Lutherans and understandings can counter, balance or expand upon Pentecostal beliefs and practices. Contributors include: J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Ghana; Ibrahim Bitrus, Nigeria; Musawenkosi Biyela, South Africa; Samuel Dawai, Cameroon; Hans-Peter Grosshans, Germany; Guillermo Hansen, Argentina/USA; Paul John Isaak, Namibia/Switzerland; Rogate Mshana, Tanzania/Switzerland; Sarojini Nadar, South Africa; Cheryl S. Pero, USA; Gertrud Tönsing, South Africa; and Galana Babusa Yako, Kenya. Lutherans Respond The editor, Karen L. Bloomquist, directs the Department for Theology and Studies, LWF, Geneva, Switzerland. to Pentecostalism LWF The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches ISBN (Europe) 978-3-905676-68-6 DTS-Studies-201002-text.indd 10 02/03/2011 15:55:18 PM Lutherans Respond to Pentecostalism edited by Karen L. Bloomquist on behalf of the Lutheran World Federation— A Communion of Churches Lutheran University Press Minneapolis, Minnesota Previous volumes in the Theology in the Life of the Church series Karen L. Bloomquist (ed.), Being the Church in the Midst of Empire. Trinitarian Reflections Simone Sinn (ed.), Deepening Faith, Hope and Love in Relations with Neighbors of Other Faiths Karen L. Bloomquist (ed.), Identity, Survival, Witness. Reconfiguring Theological Agendas Lutherans Respond to Pentecostalism Theology in the Life of the Church, vol. -
A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han
Consensus Volume 38 Issue 1 Reformation: Then, Now, and Onward. Varied Article 4 Voices, Insightful Interpretations 11-25-2017 A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus Part of the Chinese Studies Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Japanese Studies Commons, Korean Studies Commons, and the Missions and World Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Han, Christina (2017) "A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia," Consensus: Vol. 38 : Iss. 1 , Article 4. Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol38/iss1/4 This Articles is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Han: Reformation in East Asia A Historical Overview of the Impact of the Reformation on East Asia Christina Han1 The Reformation 500 Jubilee and the Shadow of the Past he celebratory mood is high throughout the world as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Themed festivals and tours, special services and T conferences have been organized to commemorate Martin Luther and his legacy. The jubilee Luther 2017, planned and sponsored the federal and municipal governments of Germany and participated by churches and communities in Germany and beyond, lays out the goals of the events as follows: While celebrations in earlier centuries were kept national and confessional, the upcoming anniversary of the Revolution ought to be shaped by openness, freedom and ecumenism. -
Reappropriating Luther's Two Kingdoms by CRAIG L
Reappropriating Luther's Two Kingdoms by CRAIG L. NESSAN n the Lutheran tradition the usual villain lurking behind apparent Ifailures to oppose political tyranny has been Martin Luther's teach ing on the "two kingdoms." The failure of the German Lutheran churches adequately to resist the Nazi regime and the quietism of the Lutheran church in the United States in relationship to political questions are but two examples of the apparent insufficiency of Luther s two kingdoms teaching. Moreover, questions can be raised about the adequacy of this political ethic for Luther himself, espe cially in light of his stance during the rebellion of the peasants and his writings against the Jews. Is it possible to re-appropriate Luther's two kingdoms teaching as a viable political ethic for the church in its ministry and mission at the beginning of the twenty-first cen tury?1 Walter Altmann has sketched four models that in various ways dis tort the relationship of church and state.2 First, there can be a sepa ration of church and state with a demonization of politics. This oc curs especially in theologies that focus on salvation as an escape from this evil world. Second, there can be separation of church and state whereby politics is understood to be autonomous from religious in fluence. This approach usually functions with a very positive esti mation of the political order as an instrument of God's creative and ordering power. Altmann cites not only Nazi Germany but also the prevailing view in the United States as examples of this model. -
Dating the Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century religious, political, intellectual and cultural upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place the structures and beliefs that would define the continent in the modern era. In northern and central Europe, reformers like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Henry VIII challenged papal authority and questioned the Catholic Church’s ability to define Christian practice. They argued for a religious and political redistribution of power into the hands of Bible- and pamphlet-reading pastors and princes. The disruption triggered wars, persecutions and the so-called Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church’s delayed but forceful response to the Protestants. DATING THE REFORMATION Historians usually date the start of the Protestant Reformation to the 1517 publication of Martin Luther’s “95 Theses.” Its ending can be placed anywhere from the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, which allowed for the coexistence of Catholicism and Lutheranism in Germany, to the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years’ War. The key ideas of the Reformation—a call to purify the church and a belief that the Bible, not tradition, should be the sole source of spiritual authority—were not themselves novel. However, Luther and the other reformers became the first to skillfully use the power of the printing press to give their ideas a wide audience. 1 Did You Know? No reformer was more adept than Martin Luther at using the power of the press to spread his ideas. Between 1518 and 1525, Luther published more works than the next 17 most prolific reformers combined. THE REFORMATION: GERMANY AND LUTHERANISM Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an Augustinian monk and university lecturer in Wittenberg when he composed his “95 Theses,” which protested the pope’s sale of reprieves from penance, or indulgences. -
The Reformation in England
The Reformation The Left to right in England Edward VI and the Pope By an unknown artist, c.1575 In the early sixteenth century the people NPG 4165 Detail of the inset scene Reformation of England and Wales, like nearly all other showing the destruction European nations, practiced the Roman of religious sculpture Catholic faith. The birth of an independent Church of England was brought about partly The Early Reformation in England However, it was not until the accession of the as the result of the movement of religious boy king Edward VI that the English Protestant In England, the creation of an independent reform in continental Europe that we have Reformation touched the lives of the people national church was directly powered by political come to call the ‘Reformation’. Theologians of the realm more widely. Under a protectorate events. In 1527 Henry VIII attempted to obtain such as Martin Luther in Germany, and of Protestant nobles, significant religious reforms a divorce from Katherine of Aragon. When the Ulrich Zwingli and later John Calvin in were executed in the king’s name. A Book of Pope would not comply, Henry adopted a solution Switzerland, protested against what they Common Prayer was issued in English and over suggested by his advisor Thomas Cromwell that saw as abuses in the Roman Church the period 1547–1553 the structure of church he take the title of ‘Supreme Head of the English (hence the term ‘Protestant’). ceremonies was simplified. The appearance Church’. Monasteries were forcibly disbanded and of parish churches continued to be drastically images and shrines were destroyed (in attacks transformed; communion tables replaced altars, known as iconoclasm). -
The Lord's Prayer in Luther's Catechism
Word & World Volume 22, Number 1 Winter 2002 The Lord’s Prayer in Luther’s Catechism JAMES ARNE NESTINGEN S COMMONLY AS IT APPEARS IN PERSONAL DEVOTION AND THE LITURGICAL life of the church, the Lord’s Prayer draws surprisingly little theological atten- tion. Children raised in the Christian faith often learn it as the first full paragraph of their speech; if new Christians don’t get a full treatment in adult instruction, they quickly come to know the prayer as generations have, by saying it with the congregation in services or with those standing with them at the close of a meeting. Yet for all the prominence of the prayer, full theological treatments are not nearly as common as might be expected. I. RECENT SCHOLARSHIP This has not always been the case. The World War II generation of German theologians, perhaps just because of their experience, produced some classic stud- ies, most all of them published in English translations. Joachim Jeremias and Ernst Lohmeyer did full dress New Testament studies, Jeremias setting it in the context of first-century prayer, Lohmeyer paying particularly close attention to the escha- tology.1 Helmut Thielicke published a classic set of sermons on the Lord’s Prayer 1Joachim Jeremias, “The Lord’s Prayer in Light of Recent Research,” in The Prayers of Jesus, trans. John Reu- mann (London: SCM, 1967) 82-107; Ernest Lohmeyer, “Our Father”; An Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer, trans. John Bowden (New York: Harper & Row, 1965). Luther’s explanations of the Lord’s Prayer are not concerned primarily with cor- rect doctrine. -
The 'Evangelical' Heart of Pietist Anthony William Boehm
Digital Commons @ George Fox University Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary Portland Seminary 2016 The ‘Evangelical’ Heart of Pietist Anthony William Boehm Daniel L. Brunner George Fox University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gfes Part of the Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Brunner, Daniel L., "The ‘Evangelical’ Heart of Pietist Anthony William Boehm" (2016). Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary. 109. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gfes/109 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Portland Seminary at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Heart Religion: Evangelical Piety in England & Ireland, 1690–1850 John Coffey The ‘Evangelical’ Heart of Pietist Anthony William Boehm Daniel L. Brunner DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198724155.003.0004 Abstract and Keywords German Lutheran Pietism, as represented by Philipp J. Spener and August H. Francke’s institutions at Halle, is one noteworthy outworking of the ‘spiritual’ revival during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The foremost proponent of Halle Pietism in England was Anthony William Boehm (1673–1722), whose literary activity became significant in English religious life. This chapter evaluates the ‘evangelical’ nature of Boehm’s Pietist voice in the ‘tunnel period’ between the Restoration and the Evangelical Revival. Using the lens of David Bebbington’s quadrilateral—conversionism, activism, biblicism, and crucicentrism—the article explore the similarities and dissimilarities between Pietism and evangelicalism at the nexus of Boehm’s publications. -
The Theology of the Cross
Hans Joachim Iwand: “Theologia Crucis” The Theology of the Cross Prepared for the Beinroder Konvent in Herbst 1959 As I now—at the end of our conference—present a short summary of Luther’s theology of the cross, I would like to make clear from the start that by no means is this a definitive rendering of the theme before us; it is not even something fundamentally new. Clearly our theme has a certain relevance insofar as the old opinion advocated by O. Ritschl in his Dogmengeschichte des Protestantismus has been taken up again by Gyllenkrok1 and Bizer2, and indeed also Barth thinks that the young Luther must be seen in this way. This opinion holds that the theology of the cross is the quintessence of the prereformation views of Luther and points back to the humility-piety [Humilitas- Frömmigkeit] of mysticism. At the same time W. von Loewenich’s comprehensive and excellent book3 has refuted this understanding of early Luther scholarship as far as it deals with the theology of the cross in Luther. It has shown that Luther’s theology of the cross is an entirely new understanding of the theme acquired from mysticism. In connection to this I would like to show that in this theological catch-word lies a theological epistemology with which Luther surmounts the old scholastic method and, to a certain extent, the Augustinian Neoplatonic method in glowing formulae at the Heidelberg Disputation. Along with the development of this new theological epistemology Luther also employs it as the basis for interpreting the Psalms, a work which he completes through Psalm 22. -
Luther and Moltmann: the Theology of the Cross
QUARTERLY Wume 49, Number 1 JANUARY 1985 Propitiation in Old Testament Prophecy . .Douglas Judisch 1 Luther and Moltmann: The Theology of the Cross . .Bum11 F, Ecknrdt, Jr. 19 Theological Observer . .29 Homiletical Studies . .31 Book Reviews . .65 Indices to Volurrle 48 (1984) Author Index . , . .71 Title Index . .75 Subject Index ......................................77 Scripture Index to Homiletical Studies . .79 Luther and Moltmann: The Theology of the Cross Burnell F. Eckardt, Jr. Since he borrowed two key expressions from Luther, "theology of the cross" and the "crucified God," it might easily be supposed that Moltmann's theology is similar, by and large, to Luther's. It is true that both focus upon the crucifixion and its effects as the locus of theology, but since the interpretation of this event radically differs bmLuther to Moltmann, they actually have very little in common. To one, "theology of the cross" means something altogether differ- ent than to the other. I.LutherPsTheology of the Cross. For Luther, the key to understanding not only theology, but reality in general, is in the cross. There we see what we would not naturally expect to see. Man's lwe is naturally directed toward the attractive. It is attracted by what appears good to it. But in the cross, the love of God is dkkdtoward the unattractive, toward sinful humanity. Rather than seeking its own good, the love of God flows forth and bestows good. Therehre sinners are attractive because they are lwed; they are not lwed because they are attractive! The crucifixion is the demonstration that reality cannot be interpret- ed in light of empirical evidence. -
Introduction
Introduction Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), wants everyone to understand that what defines Lutherans is their theology. Bishop Eaton states that it is not Jello or “hot dishes” or any of the ethnic or cultural characteristics we may chuckle over when we listen to Garrison Keillor. “We have a very particular way of understanding the Jesus story,” Eaton writes. “It’s the story of God redeeming us from sin, death and the devil, setting us free from our bondage to sin so that liberated and alive, we may serve God by serving the neighbor. And it’s not about our effort or goodness or hard work. It’s about God’s gracious will to be merciful.”1 That “particular” theology, presented in the Augsburg Confession, is the subject of this book. The premise of this book is that the theology expressed in the 1530s by Luther and the other Reformers in Saxony, Germany, is as relevant today—and as necessary today—as it has ever been. The current de facto theology of many (including even heirs of the Reformation) is a theology that assumes we have a transactional relationship with God—if I do this, then God will do that. The sad result is that the work of Christ—in particular his death and resurrection—is wasted and human beings are left with burdened consciences or with self-destructive pride. They are left with the realization that the good they do is never really all that good and never really good enough—and that the good they do does not undo the selfish and hurtful things they have done or said.