Reformation Thought

"A superb anthology of primary sources relating most directly to sixteenth-century Reformation movements. The initial selection is from the late fourteenth century and the final two from the mid-eighteenth century. The fifty texts here are wide and well focused. They are drawn from forty-one authors with diversities across many categories—birth, occupation, gender, religious orders, and 'the rest married women of middling and noble rank.' . . . This book has many excellencies. It can be highly recommended as a well-conceived collection of well-constructed presentations and as an eminently useful textbook."
—Donald K. McKim, in Renaissance Quarterly

Click here to see the complete Table of Contents (PDF).

Read Margaret King's post, Teaching the Reformation in a Secular Age, on The Hackett Colloquim blog.

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An Anthology of Sources

Edited and Translated, with an Introduction, by Margaret L. King

September 2016 - 248 pp.

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"A superb anthology of primary sources relating most directly to sixteenth-century Reformation movements. The initial selection is from the late fourteenth century and the final two from the mid-eighteenth century. The fifty texts here are wide and well focused. They are drawn from forty-one authors with diversities across many categories—birth, occupation, gender, religious orders, and 'the rest married women of middling and noble rank.' Fifteen are Roman Catholic with twenty-six coming from Lutheran, Reformed, and radical movements. King notes that genres include 'treatise, lecture, pamphlet, letter, speech, devotional work, martyr testament, diary, memoir, and autobiography.' So this is as representative a group of documents as one can imagine, spanning 400 years and conveying essential insights that fueled Reformation thought.
      "In addition to the judicious selection of pieces, the book is clearly organized. It features perceptive, focused descriptions of each selection conveying its backgrounds and contexts, and providing insights for readers to help in understanding and comprehending the content and importance of the piece. This is an immense benefit. King gives true texture and brings her masterful teaching instincts to bear on the selections. Her annotations in themselves are an instructive guide through Reformation movements. The selections are short but well-focused. They are accessible in form, and thirty-eight of the fifty pieces have been newly translated by King from a number of languages. Spelling, punctuation, and diction of pieces that have appeared in earlier English editions (sixteenth through nineteenth centuries) have been modernized. The New International Version (NIV) has been used for biblical quotations in the narratives. In short, every effort has been made—and has succeeded—in providing a reliable, accessible, and truly useful anthology to serve a number of functions.
      "This book has many excellencies. It can be highly recommended as a well-conceived collection of well-constructed presentations and as an eminently useful textbook."
      —Donald K. McKim, in Renaissance Quarterly

"King's anthology could prove very useful in sparking debate between students of the Reformation. It is a good supplement to a historiographical study of Reformation thought, because it shows that the people involved in the great religious upheaval of the early modern era cannot easily be simplified. It was a time of great diversity and depth of thought, when individuals took hold of their faith for themselves. King’s anthology successfully re-creates this atmosphere."
      —Angela Ranson, University of York, in Renaissance and Reformation

"Source readers can be interesting barometers of how certain fields have changed over the years. Margaret King's Reformation Thought is an intriguing case in point as it effectively illustrates how our understanding of the Reformation world has shifted in at least two significant ways. First is an expanded chronology. . . . The second distinctive feature is the determined effort on her part to include a broad range of voices.
      "Though there are a number of Reformation readers on the market today, King's volume is a welcome addition. Her selections are judicious, and the breadth that she offers distinguishes Reformation Thought from some of its competitors.
      "Finally, Hackett Publishing should be commended for their commitment to producing primary source anthologies at an attractive price point. Indeed, the price alone makes the volume well worth considering for any course on the Reformation world."
      —Howard Louthan, University of Minnesota, in Journal of Jesuit Studies

"[A] brilliant way to introduce . . . students to the expanse of the Reformation experience while keeping them grounded in the central issues addressed among its plethora of sources. . . . [N]oteworthy in this collection are the fair number of women whose intriguing writings are included. Among those featured within are Teresa of Avila, Marguerite de Navarre, and Lady Jane Grey."
      —Benjamin Esswein, Liberty University, in The Sixteenth Century Journal

"This invaluable little anthology delivers exactly what it promises and a little bit more. There was a time when a source collection titled 'Reformation Thought' would have consisted entirely of extracts from the principal published works of the best-known Protestant theologians – and that would not be a bad thing: the Reformation was a revolution of ideas led by scholars, and unless students are willing to engage with those ideas they will not grasp much of what it was all about. So it is pleasing that, amongst Margaret L. King’s fifty short extracts, we have five from Martin Luther and ten more from major Protestant thinkers, plus five from Erasmus. The extracts are brief but well-chosen, and will give novices a decent overview of some of the most burning issues in the Reformation debates.
      "The book's real value, however, is in its recognition that Reformation studies is now a much broader discipline than just big name theologians. As is now conventional, the Protestant Reformation is joined by its Catholic counterpart. Where King moves beyond convention is in the extent of her inclusion of women's voices: fully ten of her fifty sources are written wholly or partly by women, a mixture of well-known figures like Teresa of Ávila, representative voices of female piety such as the English diarist Margaret Hoby, and strikingly fresh and undeservedly neglected theological interventions like that of Marie Dentière, who not only insisted on the legitimacy of women's theology, but added, 'they will not be able to stop us' (p. 94)."
      —Alec Ryrie, Durham University, in the Journal of World History

 


About the Author:

Margaret L. King is Professor of History, Emerita, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, and recipient of The Renaissance Society of America’s 2018 Paul Oskar Kristeller Lifetime Achievement Award. She is editor-in-chief of the Renaissance and Reformation module of Oxford Bibliographies Online, and co-editor of the text series The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe.

 


 

CONTENTS:

Introduction

Chapter One: In Search of Christ: Steps toward Reformation

The whole of holy Scripture is the word of the Lord.
From John Wyclif, On the Truth of Holy Scripture (1377/1380)

Who is the church?
From Jan Hus, On the Church (1413)

Here you have no real home.
From Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (1420/1427)

By faith we possess that which we do not have.
From Marguerite de Navarre, The Mirror of the Sinful Soul (1531)

God’s gift to us is Christ on the cross.
From Benedetto da Mantova, The Benefit for All Christians of Jesus Christ Crucified (1543)

 

Chapter Two: Erasmus: The Egg That Luther Hatched?

All hope of safety rests in iron.
From Desiderius Erasmus, Handbook for the Christian Soldier (1503)

Christianity itself is akin to Folly.
From Desiderius Erasmus, Praise of Folly (1509)

May these be the stories we tell each day.
From Desiderius Erasmus, The Summons (1516)

Spurned and rejected by all, Peace speaks out.
From Desiderius Erasmus, The Complaint of Peace (1517)

Get ready to swim, for life or death.
From Desiderius Erasmus, The Shipwreck (1523)

 

Chapter Three: Luther the Rebel

The believer’s whole life should be one of repentance.
From Martin Luther, Ninety-Five Theses (1517)

A free lord of all things, subject to no one.
From Martin Luther, On the Freedom of a Christian (1520)

Faith alone justifies and fulfills the law.
From Martin Luther, Preface to the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans (1522)

Over the soul, God can and will grant authority to no one but himself alone.
From Martin Luther, On the Power of the State (1523)

They live like dumb cows and unthinking pigs.
From Martin Luther, The Small Catechism (1529)

 

Chapter Four: Luther’s Lieutenants

Why else do we adorn them with golden crowns?
From Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt, On Extirpating Images (January 27, 1522)

Not a woman’s nonsense, but the word of God.
From Argula von Grumbach, Letter to the rector and council of the University of Ingolstadt (September 20, 1523)

If works can justify, of what use is Christ and our regeneration?
From Philip Melanchthon, Defense of the Augsburg Confession (1530)

Chosen by God for the reformation of the church.
From Philip Melanchthon, Funeral Oration for Martin Luther (February 22, 1546)

The kingdom of Christ and the kingdoms of this world.
From Martin Bucer, The Kingdom of Christ (1550)

 

Chapter Five: The Swiss Response

The freedom of the Gospel means freedom to eat.
From Ulrich Zwingli, On Choice and Freedom in Food (April 16, 1522)

No woman ever sold Jesus or betrayed him, but a man named Judas.
From Marie Dentière, A Very Useful Letter to Marguerite de Navarre (1539)

The intolerable blasphemy of the Mass, and a welcome conversion.
From John Calvin, Letters, to Renée de France, duchess of Ferrara, and Jeanne d’Albret, queen of Navarre (1541, 1561)

Eternal election: The inscrutable profundity of God’s judgment.
From John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559)

Resisting tyranny—by force of arms if necessary.
From Theodore Beza, On the Right of Magistrates over Their Subjects (1574)

 

Chapter Six: The Radical Reformation

The godless have no right to live, unless the Elect permit them to.
From Thomas Müntzer, Sermon to the Princes: An Exposition of the Second Chapter of Daniel (Allstedt, July 13, 1524)

Hear, children, the instruction of your mother.
From the martyr testaments of Maeyken van Deventer (Rotterdam, 1573) and Janneken Munstdorp (Antwerp, August 10, 1573)

All created things belong to all in common.
From Peter Riedemann, An Account of Our Religion, Teaching, and Belief (1540–1541)

Do you think they were discussing hypostases?
From Michael Servetus, On the Errors of the Trinity (1531)

Then we will know for sure just who are the real heretics.
From Sebastian Castellio, On Heretics: Whether They Should Be Punished, and How They Should Be Treated (1554)

 

Chapter Seven: The English Compromise

They have gotten into their hands the third part of your realm.
From Simon Fish, A Supplication for the Beggars (1529)

Who would refuse light in darkness? In hunger, food? In cold, fire?
From Thomas Cranmer, Preface to the Great Bible (1540)

What did he take, and break, and give, but bread?
From Lady Jane Grey, A Certain Communication (1554)

We shall either win you heaven, or die upon your pikes.
From Edmund Campion, Challenge to the Privy Council (1580)

And I later returned to private examination and prayer.
From Lady Margaret Hoby, Diary (1599–1605)

 

Chapter Eight: Catholic Reform and Renewal

A good bishop will not fail to perform this office.
From Gasparo Contarini, The Duties of a Bishop (1517)

You have usurped this new and unprecedented honor.
From Reginald Pole, On the Unity of the Church (1536)

The heretics have spread their false theology to the masses.
From Ignatius of Loyola, Letter to Father Peter Canisius (Rome, August 13, 1554)

I took great care not to do anything against obedience.
From Teresa of Ávila, The Book of Her Life (1565)

Devotion is to charity as the flame is to the fire.
From Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life (1609)

 

Chapter Nine: The Expanding Reformation

The effect of religious discord is the destruction of religion itself.
From Jacobus Arminius, Oration 5: How to Settle Religious Differences among Christians (February 8, 1606)

Horrible chains bind the soul during this earthly life.
From Jacob Boehme, Of True Repentance, in The Way to Christ (1622)

The return of all things, when God will be all in all.
From Johanna Eleonora Petersen, Autobiography (1718)

The power and spirit of the Lord Jesus was poured upon them.
From Margaret Fell, Women’s Speaking Justified, Proved, and Allowed of by the Scriptures (1666)

God is the joy of his heart, and the desire of his soul.
From John Wesley, The Character of a Methodist (1742)

 

Chapter Ten: The Reformation Overseas

War cannot force the Indians to believe, but only to pretend to believe.
From Francisco de Vitoria, On the Indians of the New World, First lecture, section two: The false arguments for the subjection by the Spanish of the Indians of the New World (1539)

So many become Christians, my arms grow weary from baptizing them.
From Francis Xavier, Letter to his fellow Jesuits in Rome (Cochin, January 15, 1544)

Are we not of all people on earth the happiest and most fortunate?
From Marie de l’Incarnation, Letter to a lady of quality (Quebec, September 3, 1640)

I hear the cry of the whole earth, drunk with the blood of its inhabitants.
From Roger Williams, The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution (1644)

More than three hundred souls were savingly brought home to Christ.
From Jonathan Edwards, A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (November 6, 1736)

 

Texts and Studies
Index

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