Protestant Reformation Studies

This penultimate volume in the series is a fully annotated translation of Capito's existing correspondence covering the years 1532-36 and culminating in the Wittenberg Concord between the Lutheran and Reformed churches. The correspondence includes Capito's efforts, alongside those of his colleague Martin Bucer, to negotiate that compromise.

An anthology that includes writings by the magisterial reformers (Luther, Melanchthon, Calvin, etc.) along with lesser-known names (Frith, Capito, Vermigli, etc.) to provide a unique insight into Protestant spirituality as it developed from the earliest days of the Reformation.

This carefully translated and edited volume in the Library of Christian Classics contains Philip Melanchthon's famous Loci Communes and Martin Bucer's De Rengo Christi. Long recognized for the quality of its translations, introductions, explanatory notes, and indexes, the Library of Christian Classics provides scholars and students with modern English translations of some of the most significant Christian theological texts in history. Through these works--each written prior to the end of the sixteenth century--contemporary readers are able to engage the ideas that have shaped Christian theology and the church through the centuries.

Martin Bucer has usually been portrayed as a diplomat who attempted to reconcile divergent theological views, sometimes at any cost, or as a pragmatic pastor who was more concerned with ethics than theology. These representations have led to the view that Bucer was a theological light-weight, rightly placed in the shadow of Luther and Calvin. This book makes a different argument.Bucer was an ecclesial diplomat and a pragmatic pastor, yet his ecclesial and practical approaches to reforming the Church were guided by coherent theological convictions. Central to his theology was his understanding of the doctrine of justification, an understanding that Brian Lugioyo argues has an integrity of its own, though it has been imprecisely represented as intentionally conciliatory. It was this solid doctrine that guided Bucer's irenicism and acted as a foundation for his entrance into discussions with Catholics between 1539 and 1541. Lugioyo demonstrates that Bucer was consistent in his approach and did not sacrifice his theological convictions for ecclesial expediency. Indeed his understanding was an accepted evangelical perspective on justification, one to be commended along with those of Luther and Calvin.

Description: George Herbert, in his poetic skill and the depth of the spiritual experiences he explores, may be the greatest of all religious poets. This is a study of the specific religious experiences and beliefs that Herbert writes about, both in his poetry and in his prose. As such, it also examines the spiritual landscape of seventeenth-century England, a period, for all of its controversies, still dominated by the understanding of God and the human condition articulated by Martin Luther and systematized by John Calvin. Reformation spirituality, which was different both from medieval Catholicism and late Protestantism, is itself little understood by literary historians, who have tended to look to medieval or Counter-Reformation ideas and practices or to a simplistic distinction between ""Anglicans"" and ""Puritans"" as ways of understanding the religion of the time. This study presents Reformation spirituality phenomenologically, from the inside. Just as Reformation spirituality reflects Herbert's poetry, Herbert's poetry illuminates Reformation spirituality, showing the experiential and mystical dimensions of an important religious tradition. Endorsements: For the reader who wants to understand George Herbert's unique Protestant aesthetic, Gene Veith's Reformation Spirituality is indispensible reading. Theologically alert, historically aware, and artistically generous, Veith's book helped to dispel many foggy and anachronistic notions about Tudor-Stuart religion when it first appeared a generation ago, and its strong, steady light still shines. ""Is there in truth no beauty?"" Herbert provocatively asks in ""Jordan I."" Veith's emphatic answer is, Very much indeed. -Christopher Hodgkins, University of North Carolina at Greensboro -Co-Founder, The George Herbert Society -Author, Authority, Church, and Society in George Herbert: Return to the Middle Way Veith's book is a scrupulous and sensitive reading of the protestant spirituality underlying much of Herbert's poetry - particularly helpfully identifying parallels with Calvin's theology - and constitutes an important contribution to scholarship on the early modern English devotional lyric. -Helen Wilcox, Professor of English, Bangor University, Wales -editor, The English Poems of George Herbert (Cambridge University Press, 2007) About the Contributor(s): Dr. Gene Edward Veith is Provost and Professor of Literature at Patrick Henry College. He is the author of 18 books on topics involving literature, Christianity and culture, classical education, theology, and the arts. They include Reading Between the Lines, Painters of Faith, Postmodern Times, Classical Education, Loving God With All Your Mind, and The Spirituality of the Cross.