The Making of the Reformation. The Early Urban Reformation Between Continuity and Change

While recent scholarship has highlighted various theological, social, and cultural continuities from the Middle Ages to the Reformation, the emergence of early urban Reformations still seems surprising and sudden. Focusing on the case of the electoral city of Wittenberg, this paper discusses elements of continuity and change in the early urban Reformation. It argues that the emergence of the Reformation can only be understood within the long-term social and political contexts of the city’s history. The historical record indicates that the negotiation of religious authority was a continuous theme expressed in repeated social and political conflicts; attitudes and mindsets changed only gradually, creating a sense of cultural continuity that contradicts the traditional idea of violent, rapid change. The narrative of change emerged only later as a result of archiving and collecting strategies, which shaped the collective memory and historical knowledge of subsequent generations.     

Internal Reformation Within the Contemporary Coptic Imagined Community: The Sunday School Movement and Mechanisms of Minority Survival

Abstract

With the centennial jubilee of the Sunday School Movement (SSM) occurring in 2018, this article explores two main questions: what are the main features of the Coptic community as imagined by the leaders of the SSM? And what is the nature of the relationship between “Coptic” Christian and “national Egyptian” identities within the dominant discourse of the SSM? The article argues that the contemporary Coptic identity, as reconstituted by the SSM, helps the Coptic community to survive as a vertical ethnie. The new Coptic identity is rooted in and relies upon the exclusive use of demotic symbols and narratives. Thus equipped, modern Copts perceive themselves as part of an imagined spiritual community within the wider Egyptian community. Indeed, this article argues that the SSM’s discourse presents a unique ‘marble cake’ model wherein religious and national identities are both present. By portraying Coptism as the area of interplay between Christianity and Egyptian-ness, the SSM blends “biological” and “cultural-ideological” modes of myth-making. Accordingly, to identify as Copt becomes equivalent to identifying as Egyptian.     

Reformation,gender, and sexuality in Switzerland: two case studies

Abstract

Niklaus Manuel, active in Bern, painter, playwright, and politician, wrote a carnival play in 1525 entitled the Der Ablasskrämer [The Indulgence Seller], which stages seven women as rather aggressive propagators of the Reformation. The first case study examines this play and questions the predominant tendency among scholars to qualify Manuel's staging of women simply as a case of literary inversion. The second case study is concerned with sexual deviance among the Anabaptists of the St. Gall and Appenzell areas of eastern Switzerland in the mid-1520s. It interprets this, in line with other recent research, as an attempt to spiritualize sexuality.     

2017: The Quincentennial Celebration of the Reformation in an Age of Secularization and Religious Pluralism

In the last days of October 1517 Martin Luther finished a series of theological theses in which he argued that selling indulgences was theologically wrong; in fact, untenable. Protestants consider Luther's initiative the beginning of the Reformation. But how should we celebrate the memory of these events that took place 500 years ago? What is the lasting value of Luther's message in our time, in an age of secularization and religious pluralism?     

The meaning and legacy of the Reformation in a global perspective

When reviewing the non‐European perspectives of Lutheran theology presented in the contributions of this issue of Dialog, it is easy to recognize a dominant, unifying theme and a common task in a confrontation with the new Pentecostal churches. It then makes sense to refer to the two central themes and tasks of Lutheran theology mentioned in this volume: the development of a Lutheran pneumatology in contrast to the Pentecostal/charismatic movements; and an interpretation of the Lutheran doctrine of justification that concentrates on how the pure grace and love of God can be witnessed in good works. As a future focal point of Lutheran theology, the contributions from non‐European Lutheran Christianity presented here show that the connection between the theology of the cross as a central element of the grammar of Lutheran Christianity and the dialectics of law and gospel for the interpretation of the salutary efficacy and experienceable nature of the Spirit requires further reflection.     

Mary, the Reformation and some Scots!In Memory of John Macquarrie (1919–2007)

Since Vatican II great progress has been made towards an ecumenical understanding and appreciation of our Blessed Lady, even as there has been a certain development in Catholic understanding. This essay looks briefly at Reformation mariologies, those of Luther, Calvin and Zwingli before moving on to consider three Scots: John Knox, Edwin Muir and John Macquarrie. Arguably, John Macquarrie has shown one of the most careful retrievals of Marian theology, not least in his  Principles of Christian Theology  and  Mary for All Christians.  His final mariological sounding took him back to his Celtic roots, and is summarized here. John Macquarrie died in 2007, and this essay is dedicated to his memory.     

Productive Misunderstanding in the Early Reformation Revisited: The Case of Lazarus Spengler's A Consoling Christian Instruction and Medicine in All Adversities (1521)

Abstract

This article revisits Bernd Moeller's concept of ‘productive misunderstanding’ as a way of explaining the early appeal and success of the Reformation among some of Luther's most important supporters. It does so through a case study of a consolation pamphlet by the secretary of Nuremberg City Council, Lazarus Spengler, whom Luther credited with planting the evangelical faith in this prominent imperial city. Spengler was one of the Wittenberg reformer's most important lay supporters: he authored the earliest pro-Luther lay pamphlet and his name was subsequently appended to the papal bull Exsurge Domine. However, in his consolation pamphlet Spengler espoused a view of suffering that Luther had firmly rejected because it contradicted his evangelical soteriology. This important difference suggests that while Spengler did a great deal to promote Luther's cause, and at great personal risk, he acted on the basis of an incorrect understanding of the Wittenberg reformer's theology, at least in the late 1510s and early 1520s. This article explores the reasons for Spengler's productive misunderstanding and suggests that it was likely shared by other evangelical burghers. By examining Moeller's concept from a novel vantage point, that of suffering and consolation, this article seeks to shed new light on the reception of Luther's ideas in the early German Reformation.     

Early Reminiscing in Cultural Contexts: Cultural Models,Maternal Reminiscing Styles,and Children's Memories

The present study examined conversations of 164 mothers from seven different cultural contexts when reminiscing with their 3-year-old children. We chose samples based on their sociodemographic profiles, which represented three different cultural models: (1) autonomy (urban middle-class families from Western societies), (2) relatedness (rural farming families from non-Western societies), and (3) autonomy-relatedness (urban middle-class families from non-Western societies). The results showed that mothers from the autonomous contexts predominantly adopted an elaborative-evaluative reminiscing style (variable-oriented approach) and pattern (person-oriented approach). Mothers from the relational contexts mainly adopted a repetitive reminiscing style and pattern. There was greater heterogeneity for style variables among mothers from autonomous-relational contexts; in addition, the person-oriented approach revealed that the majority of mothers from autonomous-relational contexts showed hybrid style patterns. Thus, the cultural models, and their respective orientations towards autonomy and relatedness, were reflected in the way mothers reminisced with their children. The children's provision of memory elaborations was high in the autonomous contexts, low in the relational contexts, and moderate in the autonomous-relational contexts. Across contexts, maternal evaluations prompted children to contribute memory elaborations. Maternal elaborations were an additional predictor for children's memory, but only for families from the relational cultural model.     

The German Reformation and the Mathematization of the Created World

This article explores the emergence of mathematics and mathematical method as a means of defining authoritative truth in the thought of some scholars in the German Reformation. Against the background of Martin Luther's critique of Aristotelian philosophy, Philip Melanchthon presented mathematics as an ideal discipline for preparing the mind to understand God. His approach drew on the work of humanist mathematicians such as Regiomontanus. It finds resonances in the work of the Basel humanist Simon Grynaeus, and (in a less mathematically informed way) in the thought of Peter Ramus. These discussions about the divine nature and certainty of mathematical truth formed the context within which Johannes Kepler's Platonist astronomy emerged.     

Reformed church buildings in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the early-modern period*

Abstract

This article introduces the history of Reformed churches in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Against the backdrop of the history of the Reformation there, it discusses the cooperation between the Reformed and Lutherans, the response of the Counter-Reformation, and the history of the most important Lithuanian Reformed churches. It focuses on the nobility, especially the Radziwi?? family, the most important protectors of the Reformed. The family saw the Reformed faith as the key to the unity of the Grand Duchy, and an important way of strengthening the position of Lithuania vis-à-vis the Kingdom of Poland. They hoped that the Reformed faith could become the foundation of a sovereign Lithuanian state. As well as discussing the foundation and fate of Reformed communities in Vilnius and across Lithuania, the article also presents the first detailed account of the interiors and furnishings of their church buildings.     

The ecumenical commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in Western Europe

This article explores why the Lutheran/Roman Catholic commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 is an ecumenical challenge par excellence. In particular it contrasts the context of the 2017 commemoration with that of previous centenaries and goes more deeply into this by analysing the dialectics of centenaries both in general and with respect to this very special centenary. It also describes major changes in the relationship between Protestants and Catholics, presenting other main aspects of the new context in which that commemoration is taking place in 2017, and addressing different aspects of commemoration. It offers an analysis of how the Catholic/Lutheran Commission on Unity overcame the hindrances to a common commemoration and celebration in its document ‘From Conflict to Communion’, opening the way for a twofold commemoration, both in joy and gratitude, and in lament and confession of guilt. The article also focuses on five ecumenical imperatives which this document offers, not only looking back, but also looking forward, committing Catholics and Protestants to continue their way from conflict to communion. It concludes by describing the highly remarkable service of Common Prayer, which took place in Lund Cathedral, with Pope Francis, for which the above document prepared the way and formed the basis. It becomes clear how theological preparation and the Common Prayer in Lund concurred in making possible a historic ecumenical commemoration and celebration of the Reformation.     

The courage to be: Paul Tillich's existentialist theology of the cross in relation to Martin Luther

Paul Tillich is a traditionally rooted, yet progressive, theologian and philosopher who sought to bring the Christian message to the predicament of existential meaninglessness faced by modern people. The present article addresses a scholarly gap by emphasizing Tillich's use of Martin Luther's theology of the cross, in order to demonstrate Tillich's theological relevance for today from a Lutheran lens.