The Saved and the Damned : A History of the Reformation

Thomas Kaufmann, the leading European scholar of the Reformation, argues that the main motivations behind the Reformation rest in religion itself. The Reformation began far from Europe's traditional political, economic, and cultural power centres, and yet it threw the whole continent into turmoil. There has been intense speculation over the last century focusing on the political and social causes that lay at the root of this revolution. Thomas Kaufmann, one of the world's leading experts on the Reformation, sees the most important drivers for what happened in religion itself. The reformers were principally concerned with the question of salvation. It could all have ended with the pope's condemnation of Luther and his teaching. But Luther believed the pope was condemned to eternal damnation, and this was the root cause of the great split to come. Hatred of the damned drove people to take up arms, while countless numbers left their homes far behind and carried the Reformation message to the furthest corners of the earth in the hope of salvation. In The Saved and the Damned , Thomas Kaufmann presents a dramatic overview of how Europe was transformed by the seismic shock of the Reformation--and of how its aftershocks reverberate right down to the present day. Cover 1 THE SAVED AND THE DAMNED: A History of the Reformation 4 Copyright 5 Publisher’s Acknowledgement 6 Contents 8 Chronology 10 Illustrations 18 1. Luther and the Reformation 20 1.1. A European Event 20 1.2. Ideal and Actual Reformations 22 1.3. One Reformation or Many? In the Beginning Was Luther 25 2. European Christendom c.1500 29 2.1. Construction of a Continent 29 New Horizons 29 New Economic Spheres 34 2.2. Structures 36 Estates-Based Societies 36 Political Structures 40 2.3. Nations and Powers in Europe 41 2.4. The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation 46 2.5. Shared Spiritual and Clerical Cultures 52 Forms of Piety 55 Diversity in Theology 61 Indulgence 63 2.6. Cultural Awakenings 65 The Print Revolution 65 The Humanists’ Mobility 67 3. The Early Reformation in the Empire,1517–30 72 3.1. Thirteen Turbulent Years 72 3.2. Martin Luther: A Portrait 75 3.3. The Drop-Out: A Young Augustinian Monk 78 Secular Career Plans 78 The Zealous Monk 82 3.4. The Exegete of Wittenberg 87 Grace and Justification 87 The Ninety-Five Theses against Indulgence 91 3.5. Luther’s Break with the Pope 95 Polemics and Controversies 95 Luther Writes to Save His Life 101 3.6. The Imperial Diet of Worms, Rebellion, and Upheaval 105 Refusal to Recant 105 Agitation, Protest, Unrest 108 Changes in the Cities 114 3.7. Zwingli and the Urban Reformation in Zurich 115 Stipendiary Priest at the Grossmünster 115 An Evangelical, Municipal Church 123 3.8. Intra-Reformation Disputes 125 Franz von Sickingen and the Knights’ Revolt 126 The Peasants’ War and Thomas Müntzer 127 Luther’s Repudiation of Karlstadt 131 The Controversy over the Eucharist 133 The First Anabaptist Congregations 135 Luther’s Dispute with Erasmus 138 3.9. Political Decisions of Church and State 141 Denominational Camps in the Empire 141 The Founding of Evangelical Churches 143 Augsburg: Evangelical Confession and Imperial Ban 147 4. Post-Reformation Europe,1530–1600 151 4.1. Language, Education, Law: Religious Culture Reformed 151 4.2. Early Reformation Movements outside the Empire 155 The Netherlands 156 France and England 158 Scandinavia 161 Italy and Spain 165 Eastern Europe 166 4.3. John Calvin and the Reformed International 172 Calvin’s Intellectual Background 174 Church Ordinance and Congregational Discipline 176 The Fiery Death of Michael Servetus 180 Closing Ranks with Heinrich Bullinger and the Zurich Reformation 183 The Internationalization of Reformed Protestantism 184 From the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre to the Edict of Nantes 186 Political Liberation in the Netherlands 190 John Knox and the Scottish Reformation 192 4.4. The Royal Reformations in Scandinavia and England 195 Lutheran Northern Europe 195 The Anglican Church and the Puritans 198 4.5. The Pacified, Restive Empire 207 The Schmalkaldic League and the Schmalkaldic War 208 The Augsburg Interim and the Vacuum Left by Luther 212 Magdeburg Resists 215 The Peace of Augsburg 218 Lutheran Theological Disputes 221 4.6. The Transformation of Roman Catholicism 224 The Council of Trent 226 New Orders, New Ordinances 231 4.7. Dissenters and Nonconformists 236 The Anabaptists and the Münster Experiment 238 Mystics and Spiritualists 243 Antitrinitarians 246 4.8. Latin Europe after the Reformation 248 5. The Modern Reception of the Reformation 254 5.1. Reformation Jubilees: 1617 to 2017 254 5.2. Interpretation and Debate 263 The Biographical Orientation 264 The Enlightenment and the French Revolution 265 Beginnings of Scientific Historiography 268 German Appropriation 270 Relegation to the Middle Ages and the Luther Renaissance 272 Anglo-American Perspectives 277 Reformation History in East and West Germany before 1990 278 Current Research Challenges 284 6. The Reformation and the Present: An Appraisal 288 6.1. Time Accelerated: A Change or an Apocalypse? 288 6.2. Impact on the Modern West 292 Confessional Cultures and the Role of the Laity 293 Economics and Law 297 Rationalism and Individualism 299 6.3. Global Protestantism 301 Endnotes 306 Chapter 1 306 Chapter 2 307 Chapter 3 308 Chapter 4 312 Chapter 5 316 Chapter 6 321 Further Reading 324 General Works Sources, Source Studies, and Bibliographies 324 Further Reading by Chapter 328 1. Luther and the Reformation 328 2. European Christendom c. 1500 329 3. The Early Reformation in the Empire, 1517–30 338 4. Post-Reformation Europe, 1530–1600 354 5. The Modern Reception of the Reformation 362 6. The Reformation and the Present: An Appraisal 363 Index 368 he Reformation began far from Europe's traditional political, economic, and cultural power centres, and yet it threw the whole continent into turmoil. There has been intense speculation over the last century focusing onthe political and social causes that lay at the root of this revolution. Thomas Kaufmann, one of the world's leading experts on the Reformation, sees the most important drivers for what happened in religion itself. The reformers were principally concerned with the question of salvation. It could all have ended with the pope's condemnation of Luther and his teaching. But Luther believed the pope was condemned to eternal damnation, and this was the root cause of the great split to come. Hatred of the damned drove people to take up arms, while countless numbers left their homes far behind and carried the Reformation message to the furthest corners of the earth in the hope of salvation.In The Saved and the Damned, Thomas Kaufmann presents a dramatic overview of how Europe was transformed by the seismic shock of the Reformation--and of how its aftershocks reverberate right down to the present day. -- Provided by publisher