Roots of the Reformation

Renowned historian G. R. Evans revisits the question of what happened at the Reformation. Contravening traditional paradigms of interpretation, Evans charts the controversies and challenges that roiled the era of the Reformation and argues that these are really part of a much longer history of discussion and disputation. Evans takes up several issues, such as Scripture, ecclesiology, authority, sacraments and ecclesio-political relations, and traces the shape of the charged discussions that orbited around these through the patristic, medieval and Reformation eras. In this, she demonstrates that in many ways the Reformation was in considerable continuity with the periods that preceded it, though the consequential outcome of the debates in the sixteenth century was dramatically different.

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbbreviations1. Setting the Scene: The "Fair Field of Folk"Part 1: Bible and Church: The Questions Begin2. The Idea of ChurchA New IdeaThe Emergence of Ministers as LeadersLocal Churches and the Universal Church3. The Idea of FaithWhat Do We Believe? Trying to Put the Faith in a NutshellOne Faith and Different Rites4. Where Was the Bible?Adding to the Old TestamentCreating a Standard Text of the Bible for Use in the WestThe Ministry of the Word in the Early ChurchFinding Many Meanings in Scripture5. Becoming and Remaining a Member of the ChurchThe Doctrine of Baptism EmergesInsiders and Outsiders: Cyprian and the Rigorist Approach to the Problem of Apostasy6. Penance and the Recurring Problem of Sin7. The Eucharist and the Idea of SacramentsEucharistSacraments8. Organization, Making Decisions and Keeping TogetherCouncils and Other Ways of Making DecisionsThe Fifteenth-Century Bid for Conciliarism Instead of Primatial Government of the Church9. The Church and the StateThe Two SwordsThe Body Politic, the City, the Corporation and the ChurchTitles and Benefices and the Growing Problem of the Church's WealthPart 2: Continuity and Change in the Middle Ages10. Monastic Life, Monastic Education and Awakening Social ConcernsGuibert of Nogent: Monk and Social CommentatorMonasteries as Powerhouses of Education11. The Beginning of Academic Theology and the Invention of UniversitiesThe Invention of UniversitiesBible Study and the Beginning of Academic Theology12. The Evangelical Urge and the Wandering PreachersPreaching Becomes Popular AgainThe Formal Rhetorical Art of PreachingThe Franciscans and the Dominicans13. Religious Experiments by the LaityWorking People, Active OrdersExemplary Individuals and Being an Example to OthersGlimpses of Ordinary Lives: Learning What to Believe and How to LiveThe Church Fosters the Mixed Life14. Rebels, Dissidents and RepressionSocial Comment and the Debate About PovertyJohn Wyclif15. Popular Preaching and the Bible in the Later Middle AgesWycliffites, Lollards and the English BibleLollard Preaching and the BiblePart 3: Continuity and Change from the Reformation16. RenaissanceThe Rediscovery of the Greek and Hebrew ScripturesThe Biblical Languages and the UniversitiesHumanism or Scholasticism: The Two Ways17. Luther and His Heirs: The Moderate ReformersThe Conversion of Martin Luther and Its ConsequencesMelanchthon, Moderation and Building a Bridge Between the Academic and the PopularCreating a Lutheran Doctrinal System18. Henry VIII and English Lutheranism19. Peaceful Extremists? The Anabaptist Heirs of the WaldensiansHuldreich Zwingli and the Battle with the AnabaptistsLutheran "Good Citizens" and Anabaptist "Anarchy"20. Calvin and His Heirs: The Puritan ReformersJohn CalvinFrance, Huguenots and Some Notable WomenJohn Knox and ScotlandThe English Reformation Turns CalvinistPuritans Leave for the New World21. The Counter-ReformationResponding to the Challenge: Reforming Moves in RomeScience and the Bible from a Roman Catholic Perspective22. Church and State Again: New Political Dimensions of the Idea of Order23. Bible Questions ContinueTaking a Stand on the King James Version?The Bible in Use: Private Reading and Personal OpinionsBible Commentary in Preaching and TeachingPolyglot BiblesTranslation Theory Moves OnConclusionHandlist of Reformation Concerns and Their HistoryBibliographyAuthor IndexSubject IndexScripture Index