ISBN 0670032964. She suggested I read it since I was interested in the Reformation. Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2014. Scott Michael Rank, Ph.D., is the editor of History on the Net and host of the History Unplugged podcast. We've got some steamy novels for you to snuggle up with, including Casey McQuiston's... To see what your friends thought of this book. The family name of the Scottish royal family perhaps deserves its own footnote: Its spelling in a Scots context is normally Stewart, but when it is transplanted to England to preside over a dual (in fact triple) monarchy after 1603, in an English context it becomes Stuart. We will return to this issue of images frequently in the course of this book. The author has no unifying focus, at least not one like chronology which let's him jump around in time and space. There are no heroes in this book, only blood, guts, executions, trials, and internicene hatreds.The horrors of the Inquisition are shown not to be the sole purview of the Catholics--after all, Calvin burned Servetus at the stake for disagreeing with him about the Trinity, and he beheaded a few others for various reasons. He teases the reader with the puzzle of who wrote the Reformation hymn "Faith of our Fathers" and the answer will astonish you. By Diarmaid MacCulloch. And it can be overwhelming. At the end he reminds us that the Reformation stretched from 1517 to 1700, and Europeans were at peace for only thirty of those years. A more appropriate word would be "inadequately skimmed." Beaucoup biographies. Still, it’s well worth reading. This book is larger than comparable volumes, distinctive in its approach, and written with an engaging style that repays the persevering reader with a panoramic picture of the Reformation … The Reformation and Counter-Reformation represented the greatest upheaval in Western society since the collapse of the Roman Empire a millennium before. If I had not already studied the Reformation during my Masters Program, I would have been extremely unprepared for many of the terms the author uses and assumptions that he makes. Publisher's Description At a time when men and women were prepared to kill - and be killed - for their faith, the Reformation tore the Western world apart. The Reformation : a brief history. By contrast, it is remarkable how many religious labels started life as a sneer. it was about as entertaining as a college textbook. The author alludes to that fact in the text, and seems not to care that his work really only scratches that surface. Many anecdotes. Knowing the personal erudition that Collinson brings to the table, I am somewhat stunned that he produced such a mess, let alone bring it to publication. Acclaimed as the definitive account of these epochal events, Diarmaid MacCulloch's award-winning new history brilliantly re-creates the religious battles of priests Sproul. The Reformation was, first and foremost, all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The simple title of the book, “The Reformation, A History” might indicate to the reader that the explanation of the implied subject would also be simple. I also agree with those who are surprised that a man of Collinson's stature would produce something like this. Ideas mattered profoundly; they had an in dependent power of their own, and they could be corrosive and destructive. But these are too obvious and basic for Collinson, who spends much more time talking about Erasmus laying eggs..... Ch. New York: Viking Penguin, 2003. At the end, the borders had moved, but Catholics were still Catholics and Protestants were still Protestant, although very heterogeneous. The Reformation began as an argument about what Christians needed to do to be saved, but rapidly engulfed society in a … He has a deft way with words and phrases which made this book. Because the two first great powers to embark on this enterprise remained loyal to the pope, the early story of Europe’s religious expansion is more about Catholics than Protestants—with one huge exception. My religious background is in the Anglican Communion, coming as I do from a line of Scottish Episcopalian clergy who have merited an entry in Crockford’s Clerical Directory continuously from the 1890s. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! Looking for a fictional meet-cute in the new year? This engaging history reveals what was really at stake in the overthrow of Catholic culture and the reshaping of the English Church. Unable to add item to List. Few dates. This book is that rare thing--an exciting history book. It is not a simple introduction to the topic though, instead it is more of a mature scholar's reflections and insights on the Reformation, its causes and influences, and on the history of history writing on the Reformation. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2008. But in the case of the Orthodox, the status quo was restored and not partially overthrown as it was in the West. This History of the Reformation has been written with the intention of describing a great religious movement amid its social environment. Historians are likely to retort that blind belief has a record even more abysmal: Historical narratives told with a confessional viewpoint lurking in the background are very likely to bend the story to fit irrelevant preconceptions. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Various well known themes are in the book, the effects of the printing press on the reformation, the seeds of Marxism in some 'religious' movements and a look at the role and effect of princes choosing the religion of their states. It won the 2003 Wolfson History Prize (UK) and the 2004 National Book Critics Circle Award (US). But it can also stand-alone as an excellent summary of the major characters, events, and themes of the Reformation. The phenomenal spread and growth of dispensational theology in America is a fascinating chapter in church history. MacCulloch has taken a subject full of controversy and oversize individuals and made the book a page turner. In the present scene of American evangelicalism, Reformation theology is a minority report. It’s excellent for a while – a broad brush approach with important, illustrative details and valuable insights. No Italian despots better represented the profligacy, the materialism, and the intellectual hedonism that accompanied these values than did the three Renaissance popes, Alexander VI, Julius II,… Only rather later did the word gain a broader reference. And this book is not for beginner since the author that the readers already know something about the Reformation. For me, the most intriguing bit was in the epilog wherein the author introduces me to Max Weber, even though Collinson pans the English translations of Weber's work, and even calls the German text to task for being hard to read. This History of the Reformation has been written with the intention of describing a great religious movement amid its social environment. Collinson has a deep knowledge of the many religious leaders and movements of that era, but the book is loaded with terminology that goes unexplained for someone who doesn't know the history and rituals of Christianity. As one who is looking for what the title suggests – “A History” – it is a bit too theory and theology-heavy, and without enough basic occur. The Reformation is an excellent book in many regards. The fault line is the business of this book. Is Western individualism a product of the Reformation? Read Scott’s Full Bio. Also, the roles of various orders such as the Society of Jesus, (Jesuits). - which) bears investigation. She suggested I read it since I was interested in the Reformation. Sold by John Wiley & Sons The Reformation: A Brief History is a succinct and engaging introduction to the origins and history of the Protestant Reformation. No Anabaptists ever described themselves as Anabaptist, since “Anabaptist” means “rebaptizer,” and these radical folk believed that their adult baptism was the only authentic Christian initiation, with infant baptism signifying nothing. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 7, 2019. Did he mention that before? That recovered perspective only serves to emphasize the importance of the ideas the reformers put forward. So the Reformation, particularly in its English Protestant form, has created the ideology dominant in the world’s one remaining superpower, and Reformation and Counter-Reformation ways of thought remain (often alarmingly) alive and central in American culture and in African and Asian Christianity, even when they have largely become part of history in their European homeland. THE “REFORMATION” An ambitious production filmed in 14 countries with over 1,000 actors. The Protestant Revolution was the first time in the history of Western Europe that the established Church was thoroughly defeated. His study of the Reformation is vast in its scope with many magisterial summaries and scholarly objectivity. Why is he reverting to French?) Snarky comments throughout about issues/ people that didn't sit well with me in what I wanted to be a basic history. (p. 29), This was one of three books my wife had to read for one of her history courses. The result is a landmark book that will be the standard work on the Reformation for years to come. The narrative verve of The Reformation as well as its provocative analysis of American culture’s debt to the period will ensure the book’s wide appeal among history readers. So this continent-wide narrative, the first third of the book, is shaped by crisis points. See all videos for this article. I tend to avoid European history (especially from this time period), but I found that this particular book is written for people like me. are given as B.C.E. Acclaimed as the definitive account of these epochal events, Diarmaid MacCulloch's award-winning new history brilliantly re-creates the religious battles of priests The Reformation occurred, he writes, "within a larger dynamic driven by the Christianization of Europe" (p. ix). American life is fired by a continuing energy of Protestant religious practice derived from the sixteenth century. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. This was the only chapter that he seemed to just report the facts. This book is that rare thing--an exciting history book. The Reformation introduced many more complications to the word; in fact, there were very many different Reformations, nearly all of which would have said that they were aimed simply at recreating authentic Catholic Christianity. In the book, the author examines the events, characters, and significance of the Reformation… It was then, and it still is now. Also more discussion of 19th century sociologist Max Weber than one would reasonably expect. The supporters of this 2: Was the reformation all that unique? As religious divisions become ever greater, it becomes necessary to split the narrative, so that Part II consists of a series of regional narratives from 1570, between northern, southern, and central Europe. How did this movement succeed? The Reformation and Counter-Reformation represented the greatest upheaval in Western society since the collapse of the Roman Empire a millennium before. Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2018. Once this chronological narrative is complete, the third section takes up social and intellectual themes that do not lend themselves so readily to chronological treatment. Some of the conclusions drawn don't make sense to me, and I might suggest that the author comes from a more liberal persuasion. They represented the greatest fault line to appear in Christian culture since the Latin and Greek halves of the Roman Empire went their separate ways a thousand years before; they produced a house divided. Attempts to reform (change and improve) the Catholic Church and the development of Protestant Churches in Western Europe are known as the Reformation. InThe Reformation, one of the preeminent historians of the period, Patrick Collinson, offers a concise yet thorough overview of the drastic ecumenical revolution of the late medieval and Renaissance … I've had my eye on this book for several years. This title no longer pleases all the inhabitants of the islands, and a more neutral as well as more accurate description is the Atlantic Isles, which will be used throughout the book. While I appreciate a realistic depiction of a person and don't think someone ought to be painted as faultless, the use of foul language to translate Luther's comments was unnecessary. The common Latin inheritance of Catholic and Protestant, besides and beyond their sixteenth-century quarrels, is the shaping fact of European identity, but it has become a divided inheritance. The Reformation: History in an Hour is a clear and comprehensive look at this long and complex period of religious change. 864. But the literary and intellectual quality makes that a moot point in my book. Mr. MacCulloch talked about his book, [The Reformation: A History], published by Viking Books. students of the Reformation wishing to understand Collinson's take on the event, Knowing the personal erudition that Collinson brings to the table, I am somewhat stunned that he produced such a mess, let alone bring it to publication. For example -- what are the different roots of the White and Black southern protestantisms? The task of reformation never ends, for every person, in every generation, needs to hear the good news of their Savior from sin and eternal death. More than a history of the Reformation, MacCulloch's study examines its legacy of individual religious authority and autonomous biblical interpretation. The early modern era is generally reckoned to run from the late fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, and my survey, after setting the medieval background, runs from around 1490 to around 1700. I'm not sure what I expected when I picked this up on a whim, but I'm sure I expected more political history than this book focuses on. The Reformation was a seismic event in European history, one which left an indelible mark on the modern world. (Okay, two words). It will help you understand the significance of the Reformation in European history in just one hour. Its greatest leaders undoubtedly were Martin Luther and John Calvin. The Reformation was full of angry words: “Calvinist” was at first a term of abuse to describe those who believed more or less what John Calvin believed; the nickname gradually forced out the rival contemptuous term “Picard,” which referred to Calvin’s birthplace in Noyon, in Picardy. history of Europe: Reformation and Counter-Reformation In a sense, the Reformation was a protest against the secular values of the Renaissance. I've just finished reading this and I already know that I'll be returning to it for reference and probably rereading sections as well. ‘When the coronation of little King Edward VI was being organized in London in 1547, the planners putting in order the procession of dignitaries through the city appointed a place for “the Protestants,” by whom they meant the diplomatic representatives of these reforming Germans who were staying in the capital. In the United States of America, Protestantism stemming from England and Scotland set the original patterns of identity, and the diversity within English Protestantism achieved a new synthesis. Please try your request again later. I have read many books on the time period and he provided insight upon insight, revealing small details and big opinion. This book is good but too short (and uneven) to be an adequate brief history. The history of the Reformation shows incontestably that the civil power was the chief factor in spreading it in all lands, and that in the last analysis it was not religious, but dynastic, political, and social interests which proved decisive. It gets very good again at points, but it isn’t the one short work on the Reformation if you're only going to read one. Even that slippery term Anglican appears to have been first spoken with disapproval by King James VI of Scotland, when in 1598 he was trying to convince the Church of Scotland how unenthusiastic he was for the Church of England. There is a simple reason for this: So far, the Orthodox churches have not experienced a Reformation. Instead, this book spends much more time on tracing ideas rather than political facts and is accordingly more unwieldly. The overarching themes of Reformation as Humanism, of the meaning of the Eucharist, of challenges and rebuffs to Papal authority do create a certain unity. The Mass and the Rood need capitals; both their devotees and those who hated them would agree on that. The most corrosive ideas of all were to be found in the Bible, an explosive, unpredictable force in every age. Proficient student of history - no Kindle device, PC, phones or.... 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