Eucharistic sacrifice and patristic tradition in the theology of Martin Bucer 1534–1546

Abstract

As scholars continue to examine the variety and complexity of religious life in early modern England, we recognize that figures such as George Herbert resist our efforts to place them in convenient categories. However, we can account for this resistance by comparing Herbert's poetry to the Lutheran theologian Johann Gerhard's popular devotions of the same period. An intertextual study of Herbert's poems and Gerhard's devotional classic reveals their shared emphasis on baptism as an essential defining element of the Christian's life within the communion of saints. This emphasis synthesizes the tradition and sacramental piety of the old faith with the emphasis on the efficacy of the biblical word that marks the new faith of the Reformation and, at the same time, provides an irenic foundation for their interaction with the Church in early modern England.     

Protestant Theological Writings on Angels in Post-Reformation Thought from 1565 to 1739

Abstract

This is an introductory survey of Protestant theological writings on the doctrine of angels expressed in systems of theology (primarily loci communes), treatises, and sermons produced during the post-Reformation era of scholastic orthodoxy. The topic has received little scholarly attention, but is of importance for the light it sheds on a significant theological era that is not well known for its prolific literary activity on angelology. It provides a frame of reference on bibliographical sources for this subject to scholars of historical theology, historians of Reformation, Renaissance and Enlightenment thought, and those with interdisciplinary interests.

The Lord knows, we have weak Eyes, stammering Tongues, and trembling Quills; if we go about to speak or write of the deep and sublime things of God; And such, without peradventure, is the Doctrine of Angels¹—Robert Dingley (1619-1660)     

White sage,bears, and territory: contemporary indigenous religion among the Chumash

ABSTRACT

Since the 1960s, indigenous revitalization has been widespread in Native North America. However, few systematic studies of contemporary indigenous religion exist. This article provides an in-depth analysis of revitalized beliefs and practices as they are lived among the Chumash of Southern California. Shaped by a colonial history that almost eradicated indigenous culture, Chumash tradition is reinterpreted through religious practices that ground it in local territory and anchor it in pre-Catholic traditions. Although postcolonial agendas are significant in indigenous Chumash religion has existential significance beyond ethnicity politics. Contemporary Paganism is employed as a comparative perspective to discuss how religion provides a way for individuals to define and explore their cultural specificities when they relate to and participate in globalized society. The practices of healing, cleansing, and divination as well as beliefs in the unity with animals, spirits, and ancestors form a framework not only for individuals’ search for meaning, but also for reestablishing community.     

Life,Death, and Life After Death: Meanings of the Relationship Between Death Anxiety and Religion

ABSTRACT

A sample of 389 individuals completed a death anxiety scale and a series of items that measured self-reported religious practices and beliefs. Those lowest in religious practices and beliefs were significantly higher in death anxiety. Contrary to some prior research, depth of belief had a stronger negative association with death anxiety than did religious activities. Strongest relationships had to do with concepts of life after death. The oldest respondents reported the least death anxiety.     

Luther,Calvin and Musculus on Abraham's Trial: Exegetical History and the Transformation of Genesis 22

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the exegetical history of Genesis 22, and particularly the contributions of Martin Luther, John Calvin and Wolfgang Musculus to that history. It focuses on a specific issue with which these, and other, interpreters grappled, namely, the issue of how one ought to understand the character of Abraham's trial. The article maps out different answers given to this question from Philo to the Reformation towards the end of demonstrating the spirited creativity of the aforementioned trio of interpreters.     

Calvin Versus the Calvinists? The Case of John Preston (1587-1628)

Abstract

It has long been popular when considering the relationship between Reformation and Post-Reformation theology, to emphasize doctrinal discontinuities to the extent that even John Calvin is pitted against the Calvinists. R.T. Kendall's influential thesis in this regard is still seen as authoritative by some, despite numerous critiques. This article presents a new critique of Kendall's thesis by focusing on John Preston, one of Kendall's case studies for the alleged defection of English Calvinism from Calvin. Kendall uses Preston as an example of how Calvinism's doctrine of limited atonement, in contrast to Calvin's doctrine of universal redemption, allegedly resulted in a compromising of Reformed teaching on faith and assurance. It is here demonstrated that, ironically, Preston actually held to a form of universal redemptionism, and hence Kendall's argument backfires. In an attempt to understand how such a misreading of history could have arisen, this article cautions against a ‘zoom lens’ approach that all too often trades in short quotations taken out of context. It goes on to explore, through the ‘wide angle lens,’ aspects of the broader historical context of Reformation and Post-Reformation theologians, taking Martin Bucer as a further example. It is argued that ecclesiology and sacramentology—factors that Kendall intentionally avoided—are crucial in fostering a more historically and theologically sensitive appraisal of the appropriation of Reformation theology in a post-Reformation world.     

Reformation Rhetoric: The Genealogye of Heresye

Abstract

The following article is drawn from a thesis investigating early print culture during the Reformation in England. It is previously unpublished and discusses Reformation rhetoric in light of the impact of the printing press and the nature of early printed propaganda. A text from this period is edited and presented with full notes to illuminate the nature, tone and style of quickly-assembled and distributed Reformation rhetoric.     

Proclaiming the Passion: Popular Drama and the Passion Tradition in Luther's Germany

Abstract

This article examines Martin Luther's opinions on popular drama, in particular his views on Carnival plays, Corpus Christi plays, and Passion-tide performances. A consideration of key works by the Lutheran playwright, Joachim Greff (1510-1552), provides an insight into the development of Lutheran biblical drama from its beginnings. It accordingly challenges the consensus that Luther objected to, and actively prevented, the performances of Protestant dramatizations in Reformation Germany of Christ's Passion and the Resurrection.     

‘Calling’ and ‘Training’: Role Innovation and Religious De-differentiation in Commercialised Indonesian Islam

Abstract

This article explores parallels between emergent Islamic popular culture in the commercial arena in Indonesia and popular religion propagated through the mass media in Europe and North America. Focusing on two emergent types of emicly distinguished but eticly overlapping lay religious roles, that of the da’i (lay preacher) and the ‘trainer’, it shows how borrowing from globally disseminated genres of secular culture by Islamic lay leaders in the commercial arena in Indonesia partially blurs the boundaries between religiously marked and unmarked communications, despite the popularity there of Islamicly marked dress styles and consumables. This is suggestive of a similar, if partial, de-differentiation of the religious and other communication spheres in Indonesia such as Hubert Knoblauch found in Europe. However, as in his reading of European popular religion, it does not further imply Weberian ‘disenchantment’, since leading exemplars of Indonesian Islamic commercialised ‘preaching’ and ‘training’, such as those examined in case material presented here, still focus consumers on the transcendent, while those proselytisers yet work to overcome the compartmentalisation of Indonesian selves in their differentiated modern society.     

Understanding spirit possession in the Philippines: a social representations approach

ABSTRACT

Where there are diverse professionals and curers dealing with possession, differences in representations exist. This study uses social representations theory as a frame to examine both the representational overlaps and differences in possession among various Filipino health professionals and the lay distinctly socialised in Western biomedical and psychological lenses and in local religious and traditional folk beliefs. Themes were extracted from 12 individual interviews. Results showed five representational themes, namely: possession as sinakluban, as a vulnerability, as a disease, as kulam, and as being chosen. Findings were discussed in relation to the interface among religion, indigenous beliefs, psychopathological frame, and the Western biomedical model.     

The cultivation of ‘wild channeling’: lived religion as a normalizing force

ABSTRACT

Channeling, a New Age form of spirit mediumship, is a hyper-individualized religiosity, with proponents claiming that each person can create his/her own reality. Yet, most channels hold to very similar beliefs and practise their craft in a uniform manner. This, for most channels, involves moving through two stages: first, in the wild phase, they undergo powerful experiences of direct encounters with non-material beings who can be harsh and demanding, sensations are strongly embodied, the experience can be horrifying and its meaning remains obscure. In the second, cultivated stage, channels come to understand these raw experiences through pre-existing narratives of meaning learned from friends and literature, the entities channeled are benevolent, and both the content and the form of the sessions come to emphasize empowerment. Both the phenomenology and repetition of lived religion, it is shown, can serve as a regulating force, creating institutionalization of religious practices and beliefs, even when these advocate individualism and are situated in a milieu lacking any formal institutions.     

Bucer's Views on Ecclesiastical Property in the Light of Civil and Canon Law

Abstract

The issue of church property is a crucial one in the history of the sixteenth-century Reformation. In support of his views, Bucer could cite Holy Scripture, Roman Law and the Corpus Iuris Canonici, although Bucer felt that priority could be assigned to those laws that can be inferred from Holy Scripture. This article looks at four themes in the debate on ecclesiastical goods as they concern Martin Bucer: the differing ways in which Protestant estates dealt with the matter; the PR around such actions; resistance to the Emperor; and the issue of ecclesiastical estates ruled by prince-prelates.     

The Effects of Religiosity on Preferences and Expectations for Marital Therapy Among Married Christians

Highly religious couples constitute a substantial portion of marital therapy clients in the U.S. Married Christian individuals ( N = 211) completed a survey of demographics and religiosity (religious values and Christian beliefs). They rated preferences and expectations for one of four marital therapy situations: Christian therapist using Christian practices (e.g., prayer or reference to Scripture), Christian therapist using psychological practices only, non-Christian therapist willing to use Christian practices, and non-Christian therapist using psychological practices only. High religious values and high Christian beliefs predicted ratings of marital therapy situations, where high was defined as one standard deviation above the mean of standardized norm groups. Low to moderate religious values or Christian beliefs did not predict ratings of marital therapy. It was concluded that highly religious couples present a special situation where the marketing, assessment, and practice of marital therapy might differ from therapy with other types of couples.     

Editorial

Abstract

This essay takes a critical view of conventionally subdividing the span between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries into periods. It queries terms like ‘Middle Ages’, ‘late Middle Ages’, ‘Renaissance’, ‘Reformation’, ‘pre-modern’, ‘early modern’, and ‘modern period.’ These macro-historical constructs are misleading, it argues, for they create the illusion of European history as a succession of relatively uniform eras separated by clear breaks, revealing a purposeful, linear ‘development’ connecting medieval premodernity with Enlightenment modernity. It is sensible to contrast the Reformation with the previous Church, theology, and piety. However, it is illadvised to interpret this religious ‘system break’ as a change of eras beyond question. The Reformation sustained a pre-existing momentum of change, but also left much culture unaltered. Accordingly, it was neither medieval nor early modern, nor an independent period sandwiched between medieval and modern periods. Instead, it was a far-reaching reconfiguration of parts of the Western Church between 1520 and 1560 that was both deeply rooted in the past and pointing to the future.     

A Complex Legacy: Louis Bouyer and the Metaphysics of the Reformation

Based on a discussion of Louis Bouyer's thesis about the metaphysics of the Reformation in The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism, this essay considers the methodological and hermeneutical issues involved in enquiring into the metaphysical commitments of Reformation theology. A case study of the theology of the Reformer Peter Martyr Vermigli is employed for the argument that Reformation metaphysics was a hybrid of elements pertaining both to a nominalist and a participatory ontology. This argument is then taken further by a reflection on the history of reception of the metaphysical complexity which is at the heart of the Reformation legacy.     

Preaching as a Communicative Event: A Discourse Analysis of Sermons by Robert Rollock (1555-1599)

Abstract

In 1999, Mary Morrissey called for interdisciplinary collaboration in research into early modern sermons, based on a common interest in sermons as discourse. Interdisciplinarity, however, can develop only on the basis of a systematic analysis of sermons as communicative events. All discourse is situationally embedded; analysis seeks to establish how the linguistic makeup of a sermon is related to the preacher's objective of communicating in a way that was situated, appropriate, and meaningful to the hearers. It thus helps to explicate the relationship between the sermon as text and its social, historical, literary, and theological settings. This article presents a methodology for such analysis, using a simple framework that embodies both language and communication. Sermons by the Scottish theologian, Robert Rollock, form the corpus of the analysis. It identifies clear patterning of linguistic forms and communicative acts, which are then examined in the light of the preacher's theological, hermeneutical, and pastoral concerns.     

Philipp of Hesse as an Example of Princely Reformation A Contribution to Reformation Studies

Abstract

This article deals with Landgrave Philipp of Hesse as an example of princely Reformation. It shows the interconnectedness of theological convictions and political policy in his undertakings. Scripture is paramount as the definitive criterion in his personal Reformation identity and in his theological engagement. It also comes to form the basis for the Reformation restructuring of his territory as can be seen in the founding of the University of Marburg as an alternative model to Wittenberg and of the territorial hospitals, his treatment of Jews and Anabaptists or his understanding of marriage. The article presents this prince as an independent type of theologian and Reformer. It shows the pluriform and processual nature of the Reformation and demonstrates the need for a re-evaluation of the relationship between princely, communal, and urban Reformations.     

An Annotated Bibliography of Protestant Theological Writings on Angels in Post-Reformation Thought from 1565 to 1739

Abstract

The annotated bibliography, comprised of fifty-five works by fifty-one authors and 3,242 pages (1,096 in Latin and 2,146 in English) of writings directly related to angelology, is arranged in chronological order. It is preceded by a Specifications Statement, which describes the domain, scope, selection process, organization and editorial practices of the bibliography. The selected works are representative of an array of Protestant confessional groups including the Anglican, Arminian, Calvinist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Puritan, and Remonstrant traditions. Designed to ease the task of conducting research on angelology as it relates to post-Reformation literature, it provides a useful bibliographical tool to scholars of historical theology, historians of Reformation, Renaissance and Enlightenment thought, and those with interdisciplinary interests.     

‘Between the bridge and the brook’

Abstract

That suicide was a damnable sin in Reformation England has been emphasized so far in the historiography of self-killing, but in practice the clergy were equivocal over the question of whether all self-killers were damned. This article re-examines English Protestant beliefs about suicide and salvation from the mid-sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth century. It suggests that clerical statements about the damnableness of suicide need to be understood in the context of the threat posed by Stoic philosophy. Religious writers rejected the notion of noble suicide and reiterated Augustinian theology that premeditated self-killing was a form of murder. However, the harsh rhetoric was mitigated by a number of factors that brought into question the idea that all suicides were destined for Hell. These included changing medical opinion about mental states, evidence of the good character of many suicides, belief in the overpowering influence of demonic forces and basic Christian charity and compassion.