1 / 8

Historiography of the Reformation

Historiography of the Reformation. Horizons of Understanding. Hans Georg Gadamer Student of Martin Heidegger, author of Being and Time Role of Memory Role of Community Question: what do these reflections imply for our ability to know the Truth?. Eusebius of Caesarea.

eudora
Download Presentation

Historiography of the Reformation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Historiography of the Reformation

  2. Horizons of Understanding • Hans Georg Gadamer • Student of Martin Heidegger, author of Being and Time • Role of Memory • Role of Community • Question: what do these reflections imply for our ability to know the Truth?

  3. Eusebius of Caesarea • Eusebius’ meta-historical perspective: • Christian doctrine as the key to the meaning of history • Roman emperors: valued according to their advocacy or persecution • History is God’s plan unfolding in the human realm • Question: Why might it be necessary for non-Christians to write the history of Christianity?

  4. The Middle Ages • Ad fontes • Illyricus’ Magdeburg Centuries: story of deterioration from pristine ideal • Catholic response: Baronius • “Impartial” history: Gottfried Arnold

  5. Reformation vs. reformatio • Doctrine vs. ethical renewal • Focus on justification by grace alone • Significance of Luther: early characterizations • Von Ranke: Epoch of the Reformation (incl. counter-Reformation) • Catholic vs. Counter Reformation

  6. Magisterial vs. Radical Intellectual vs. Social History • Magister: “teacher” • Radicals: more the province of social history? • Intellectual history: focus on doctrine and church history • Dominance of Luther; polarizing figure • Pietists • Enlightenment thinkers • Social history: focus on more “secular” matters

  7. Psychobiography • Erik Erikson: identity crisis • Conflict with father as a basis for understanding conflict with society • Norman O. Brown: Luther’s anal personality • Neo-Freudian • Reformation a form of pathology • Scott Hendrix • Contextual family history • Irreducible to simple pathology • Neither opportunism nor piety alone • Lortz • Tragic misunderstanding • Late medieval nominalism

  8. Social History • Centrality of social, economic, political goals • Theology an expression of these more fundamental concerns • Thomas Brady vs. Lewis Spitz • Marxist historiography • German Peasants War • Lindberg’s approach: • Continuity and mutuality • “Long sixteenth century”

More Related