Lutheran Orthodoxy Research Articles

Prolegomena zur Erforschung der Predigt im Zeitalter der lutherischen Orthodoxie

This article, based on a paper given at a symposium uniting scholars from different academic disciplines on the topic of the Sermon in the Age of Lutheran Orthodoxy, deals with the fact that the sermon nowadays is the object of several disciplines. As a literary genre it is included in an enlarged definition of literature, and it is used as a historical source for social history and the history of mentalities. In this context, the article questions the significance of the sermon for the theologian. Based on Martin Luther's assertion that the sermon is an oral event, the author emphasizes the difference between the sermon as it is held and the printed sermon, and he examines the aspects to be considered in dealing with the sermon in Lutheran Orthodoxy if the sermon is to be taken seriously as an oral event.

Schiller und das Theater: Über die Entwicklung der Schaubühne zur theatralen Kunstform. (Medien und Theater, Neue Folge, 9) by Lothar Pikulik

904 Reviews thatoffering, surely accounts inpart for the theological preoccupations of Lessing's last years and for their highly ambivalent stance in relation to Lutheran ortho doxy. (It seems to be generally agreed that in publishing the Reimarus fragments, Lessing was trying to pick one quarrel?with the neologians?but got another? with the orthodox; but could or should he not have foreseen this?And had the man who had written to his father in 1749 that 'Die Xstliche Religion ist kein Werk, das man von seinen Eltern auf Treue und Glaube annehmen soll' really reverted to that very position, as in Nathan's defence of his Judaic loyalties to Saladin?) The?forgiving or unforgiving??father also plays a significant part in Lessing's plays, even inMi? Sara Sampson, the 'least autobiographical' of them (p. 275). Indeed, as Nisbet points out, though Lessing s plays can be seen to some extent as experiments in dramatic forms and techniques, they are never totally removed from real lifeand itsproblems?paternal authority,war and peace, patriotism and politics, and of course ultimately religious truth and toleration. Nisbet argues?on this theremay be furtherdissension?that philosophically Lessing remained funda mentally a Leibnizian, and that in the famous 'Spinoza' conversations Jacobi quite failed to appreciate Lessing's irony and Lessing, quickly perceiving this, promptly took his usual pleasure inplaying Devil's (or in this case Spinoza's) advocate. (A pity that on page 391?one of a very few slips?the essay Durch Spinoza istLeibniz nur auf die Spur der vorherbestimmtenHarmonie gekommen has lost its all-important nur.) Lessing's faith in Providence was sorely tested by the loss of Eva and their son, but he clung to it to the end, even if in the last greatworks, Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts, Ernst und Falk, and Nathan derWeise, the best of all possible worlds seems a vision foran increasingly remote, perhaps in real termsunattainable, future. After a brief but welcome tribute toKarl Lessing forhis irreplaceable services to his brother's memory, Nisbet concludes with a concise survey of the reception of Lessing's work down to the present, and a substantial bibliography. Drawing on an encyclopedic knowledge of both primary and secondary literature, of the circum stances of Lessing's life,and of all those who played significant parts in it, this is a trulyremarkable work of scholarship. Worcester College, Oxford F. J. Lamport Schiller und das Theater: ?ber die Entwicklung der Schaub?hne zur theatralen Kunstform. By Lothar Pikulik. (Medien und Theater, Neue Folge, 9) Hildesheim and Zurich: Olms. 2007. 160 pp. 22. ISBN 978-3-487-13502 1. This compact study, aimed primarily at undergraduates, positions Schiller within some of themajor theatrical developments of the eighteenth century. Lothar Pikulik stresses Schillers concern with transforming the stage into an aesthetic institution MLR, 104.3, 2009 905 rather than using ittopreach amoral (contrary to themisleading expectation some times aroused by hisMannheim essay, best known under the title 'Die Schaub?hne als einemoralische Anstalt betrachtet'). Under theheadings 'Zuschauer, 'Schauspie ler', and 'Inszenierung' the study surveys changing theatrical tastes and conditions: the creation of court and 'national' theatres, the process of Literarisierung, the turn away from theHaupt- und Staatsaktion to sentimental drama of the private sphere, the consequent cultivation of a realistic style of acting reflective of psychological states, the rise in status and professionalization of the actor.Against thebackground of these changes Pikulik positions Schiller's distinctive combination of heroic tra gedy and private emotion. He expounds the playwright's views on the stage, from the early Stuttgart and Mannheim essays to his aesthetic writings of the 1790s, and sketches his involvement with theWeimar Court Theatre from 1799 up to his death.While acknowledging how far the eighteenth-century theatre was from modern Regiekunst, Pikulik examines the Weimar theatre experiment as an attempt to realize a vision of theatre as an ?sthetische Anstalt' that rejected the dominant realist style. This account of Schiller's ideas on theatre and of their place within his aesthetic theory is clear and fluent. If,however, the title raises expectations of learning how Schiller related to the actual theatreworld of his day, rather than to the stage as a concept, then...

Re‐reading Bach as a Lutheran Theologian

Abstract: The presence of certain motifs associated with pietism in the music of J. S. Bach has led some scholars to conclude that the composer was profoundly influenced by the 17th century movement within the German Lutheran Church. This essay argues that Bach was a Lutheran theologian, whose works can be understood only in the closest relationship to Martin Luther. Bach's commitment to Lutheran orthodoxy is evidenced by his erudite grasp of the writings of Luther and his long friendship with Eerdmann Neumeister. But it is in his music that Bach shows himself to be the true heir of the Lutheran tradition. This essay examines Bach's commitment to Scripture, his Christology and his soteriology.

Did the Pietists become esotericists when they read the works of Jacob Boehme?

As is commonly known, Jacob Boehme (1575–1624) is, and has been ever since his emergence, difficult to place in the history of thought. He has, for instance, been characterized as ‘the most religious of philosophers’. As such Boehme could be seen to be on a borderline somewhere between philosophy and theology. From a reverse point of view, however, he could also be termed the most speculative of the religiously minded, as a deeply religious thinker or mystic. His influence is also shown in both fields; not only was he to play an important role within German philosophy during the Romantic era, but also, within the Pietist movement, or the movement for re­vival of piety within the Lutheran church. Focusing on the Pietist movement, initiated by Philipp Jakob Spener (1635–1705) in the late seventeenth century and its spread on Finnish ground, the author of this article shows that where Boehmian influence is traceable, it reached quite different environments depending on the movement’s leaders or followers. Also some light is shed on the controversy between Lutheran orthodoxy and Pietism in early eighteenth century Finland.

Music, Morals and the Body: An Academic Issue in Turku, 1653-1808

This book focuses on five dissertations on music produced between 1653 and 1808 at the Royal Academy of Turku (also known as the University of Aura), a small but nevertheless fascinating body of texts that Sarjala uses to open up a window onto early modern thinking about music and its effects. Despite the fact that music did not enjoy much formal status (the institution was divided into four faculties of Theology, Law, Medicine and Philosophy) it nevertheless appeared in sections of other theses presented at the Academy, a bastion of Lutheran orthodoxy designed to raise the educational level of the clergy and to fit young gentlemen to their future roles in Finnish (or rather Swedish) public life. In other words, Sarjala is not concerned with composers and their works, or the relationship between music teacher and student, a body of practical knowledge (musica practica) that was mostly transmitted orally rather than written down. Rather, Sarjala is examining the assumptions held by academics who sought to understand music's powers in the broader context of science and philosophy, the realm of music theory or speculative music (music theorica).

"Admitted to the Heavenly School": Consolation, Instruction, and Admonition in Aegidius Hunnius's Academic Funeral Sermons

The funeral sermons Aegidius Hunnius (1550–1603) preached for members of the academic community in Wittenberg reveal both a learned and a warmly emotional piety. A leading figure in early Lutheran orthodoxy, Hunnius participated in the formulation of Lutheran confessional theology and in its defense against Calvinists, “papists,” and Anabaptists. During his tenure as professor and pastor in Wittenberg, he also contributed to the rise in popularity of the printed funeral sermon. Hunnius’s funeral sermons are evidence that he was a talented preacher and pastor, able to address both the minds and hearts of his parishioners. Even as he instructed them in Lutheran doctrine, teaching that they were justified by faith, that there was meaning in suffering, and that a Christian life lived in service of one’s neighbor was the best preparation for death, he put to use his skills in classical rhetoric to speak to their emotions, encouraging transformed feelings, attitudes, and behavior.

Aufgeklärter Unterricht und Cartesische Affektenlehre: das Oberstufencurriculum eines westfälischen Gymnasiums um 1700 zwischen lutherischer Orthodoxie und Pietismus

At the western border of the old German empire the secularization of secondary schools’ curriculum began at the end of the seventeenth century. Secularizing tendencies are delineated in the present paper with regard to the aspect of rationalization of life. In this regard religious and secular motives separated under the influence of Cartesian philosophy. In 1700 the reception of Descartes began at the Lutheran classical secondary school of Soest in the Prussian part of Westphalia with the discussion of Passiones animae in the senior classes. The present paper shows by the example of three disputations De Affectibus held at Soest’s secondary school between 1700 and 1702 that strong self‐reflective elements were introduced in the higher grade curriculum of this school. Biographical information is given on the teacher who led the disputations, and on the students involved. The students’ rationalistic reflection on human feelings and passions aimed at an enlightened conduct of life. This reflection in search of a morale provisoire combined the appreciation of one’s own emotional life, affects and corporality with rationality, and it established the purpose of tolerance. The present paper argues that there is a certain incompatibility of the Lutheran doctrine of sola gratia, and the doctrine proposed at Soest that a reasonable and virtuous style of living belongs to the responsibilities of man, which are to be taken over voluntarily. This scrutiny of the disputations also illustrates the role of humour in higher grade instruction of the early Enlightenment. The evaluation of these disputations throws light on an intermediate phase between the predominance of Lutheran orthodoxy on Soest’s higher grade curriculum before 1700, and the success of the pietistic curriculum in Soest after 1730. So far this paper is a case study of a secularizing tendency in a secondary school that was followed by a re‐Christianizing tendency. Additional information is given on the influence of the Cartesian system on the higher grade courses of Westphalian Calvinistic secondary schools at Hamm (1669) and Steinfurt (1700). No evidence for the reception of Descartes could be found at the Lutheran secondary school in Dortmund or at the Catholic secondary school of Münster, although Cartesian Principia philosophiae were studied in Münster from 1660.

Karl Barth's Christology as a Resource for a Reformed Version of Kenoticism

Abstract: This article starts by examining the ‘shift’ in thinking on kenosis from the sixteenth‐century doctrine established by Lutheran orthodoxy to the nineteenth‐century understanding developed by Gottfried Thomasius. Karl Barth's understanding of ‘kenotic Christology’ was largely controlled by the nineteenth‐century definition and, as a result, he rejected it. However, Barth's later treatment of the incarnation in CD IV/I provides resources for taking up the language of kenosis in a positive way that would be thoroughly ‘Reformed’ in character. There are considerable theological gains to be made by such an approach.

The Bible among Lutherans in America: The ELCA as a Test Case

Abstract: This article describes the biblical hermeneutics that inform the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America by comparing the ELCA's tradition of biblical interpretation with that of the Lutheran Church‐Missouri Synod. It sets both against the great social and intellectual challenges of the early twentieth century, including the modernist/fundamentalist controversy. One commonality that surfaces is that both church bodies appropriated pre‐modern hermeneutical impulses for “counter modern” biblical apologetics. In this process the LC‐MS privileged the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy (17th century) while the ELCA constructed its hermeneutical paradigm through a recovery of the early Reformation (Luther). This observation suggests that both interpretive trajectories need further historical as well as theological review and revision.

En upåagtet dimension i Grundtvigs tanker om “Anskuelsen”

En upåagtet dimension i Grundtvigs tanker om “Anskuelsen ”[An unnoted dimension in Grundtvig’s deliberations on “lifephilosophy”]By K. E. BuggeIn the introduction to his Northern Mythology (1832) Grundtvig outlines an ideological platform as a basis for rapport and cooperation with his contemporaries. Grundtvig suggests that a broad agreement should be possible on those elements of a life-philosophy, which in theological language are usually termed creation and fall. As far as the ideas of salvation are concerned, however, no unanimity is possible.The following study focuses on the basic assumptions of Grundtvig's argumentation. How could he be absolutely certain that his readers would readily accept his contention that every one of them, believers and non-believers alike, would agree that the ideas of the divine creation and the fall of man are basic realities of human existence? Such a presumption would certainly not be valid in the secularized cultural context of the following century. In order to answer this question attention is here directed towards the teaching aids used in Danish schools in the subject of Christian Education, especially those, which we know have been used in Grundtvig's own schooling, and which he later comments upon.The first of these books was published by Grundtvig's father, Johan Grundtvig under the title Catechismi Forklaring (1779), i.e. a thorough elucidation of Luther's catechism. Quite a number of such explanatory teaching aids were published during the centuries of Lutheran orthodoxy. Usually they were much too voluminous to be directly used by children. On this background Grundtvig's uncle, the prominent bishop N. E. Balle in 1791 published a new Lærebog i den evangelisk-christelige Religion, i.e. A textbook of evangelicalchristian religion, a booklet of 104 pages. As this book was officially authorized, it was widely distributed. By 1830 it had been reprinted ten times.In order to make the ideas of God's creation of the world evident to the children, both these books present the same argument: That just as a house is unable to build itself, in the same manner the world as such must have been built by a creator. Noteworthy is here that the argument in both cases is not rooted in holy scripture but in common sense and everyday experience.Also the argument in support of the idea of the fall of man is notable. Johan Grundtvig in his book combines biblical narrative with common sense. He raises the question, whether the sinfulness of Adam and Eve was inherited by their descendants. His answer is affirmative.Because they were unable to procreate children that were better than themselves, then, of course, their sinfulness was also inherited by their present day descendants. Balle goes directly into an argumentation based on experience and common sense: “Experience makes it clear that men are not as good, as they ought to be. All have some error.”Because of the authorization of the book, Balle's formulation gained a wide influence during the first half of the century. In the grammar schools preparing the young for university studies the dominating teaching aids in the subject were compendia of two extensive dogmatic expositions published by Ove Hoegh-Guldberg. A compendium by Mathias Galthen (1784, 2nd ed., 1793) was used at the grammar school in Aarhus, which Grundtvig attended during the years 1798-1800. Concerning creation Galthen underscores that the world cannot have created itself, and that “sound reason” convinces us that the world cannot have emerged by coincidence. On the theme of the fall of man he first reiterates the argument forwarded by Johan Grundtvig: That Adam and Eve could not have procreated children that were less sinful than themselves. He then continues: “Experience and Holy Scripture confirms that all men are imperfect”. Notable are here not only the smooth continuation from reason to scripture, but also the order of priority. Everyday experience and “sound reason” provide the intellectual basis necessary for understanding the biblical message.Arguments such as these were inculcated by merciless rote and were, therefore, firmly lodged in the minds of Grundtvig's readers. On this background he could safely assume that the ideas of creation and fall were readily at hand as preconditions for an understanding of what he had to say. The ideas were imprinted in the minds of his readers as self-evident truths based on experience and common sense and were, therefore, independent of any particular religious conviction. In this way a study of the books used in the Christian Education of his time provide a useful and hitherto unheeded tool for understanding Grundtvig's argumentation.

Paracelsianism and the orthodox lutheran rejection of vital philosophy in early seventeenth-century Denmark.

Paracelsian medicine and natural philosophy was formed during the Radical Reformation and incorporated metaphysical propositions that were incompatible with the Lutheran confession as codified in the Confessio Augustana and elaborated in the ultra-orthodox Formula of Concord. Although Paracelsian ideas and practices were endorsed by important philosophers and physicians in late-sixteenth century Denmark without raising serious alarm, the imposition of strict Lutheran orthodoxy in the Danish Church and a concomitant resurgence of Aristotelian philosophy drew attention to the religious heterodoxies inherent in Paracelsianism. Unacceptable theological and religious propositions, which reached Denmark in Rosicrucian texts and were implicit in certain medical and philosophical treatises, were in many cases inseparable from core Paracelsian concepts, with the result that Danish academic philosophers, physicians, and theologians rejected Paracelsian ideas except where they could be accommodated to acceptable Galenic and Aristotelian interpretations. When this was done, such ideas are arguably no longer Paracelsian in any meaningful way.

Heretics or Nonconformists? State Policies toward Anabaptists in Sixteenth-Century Hesse

Although much research has been accomplished in the field ofAnabaptist history, experts' primary interest has focused on the period from the 1520s to 1540s. Comparatively little has been written about the changing nature of the relationship between Anabaptists and local authorities across the sixteenth century. An illuminating series of events during the 1570s in the landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg, however, offers an excellent case study and opportunity for comparison. As the 1570s witnessed the renewal of orthodox Lutheranism, it is no surprise that part of this renewal called for a firm and well-defined stance against Anabaptism. Landgrave Ludwig IV engaged himself and his state in Lutheran confessionalism and, in 1578, utilized available means to remove Anabaptists from Hesse-Marburg. His action served primarily as a political statement motivated by confessional considerations and became one of many steps taken by Ludwig to convert his territory to Lutheran orthodoxy.

Popular Astrology and Lutheran Propaganda in Reformation Germany

Lutheran orthodoxy of the later sixteenth century was marked by a sense of pessimism and anxiety. This was due in part to the apocalypticism at the heart of Luther's theology, but it was also the heritage of failed expectations. At the century's end, Lutheran clergymen doubted whether the movement had succeeded in its essential task, that of winning hearts and minds to the new faith. In the face of this perceived failure, and inspired by the urgency of their moral crusade, the clergy turned to other media in order to preach the faith. One such forum was popular astrology. Lutheran clergymen and almanac writers used almanacs and prognostications to relate the essentials of Luther's moral message. This ‘preaching of the stars' projected an image of the natural world ordered and affected by human conduct, and it detailed in signs and wonders a divine anger which could only be overcome through a turn to improved moral conduct and intense faith. The logic of Lutheran theology was writ in the stars. Far from the desacralized universe of popular perception, the Protestant world was infused with its own forms of sacrality.

Grundtvig og den lutherske tradition

Grundtvig and the Lutheran TraditionBy Theodor JørgensenThe essay analyses the relation of Grundtvig to the Lutheran tradition in the form it took in Orthodoxy and early Protestantism, primarily on the basis of Grundtvig’s essay from 1830: »Should the Lutheran Reformation Really Be Continued?«. Grundtvig gives an affirmative answer to this question. In elaboration the present writer points out that in his dispute with Lutheran orthodoxy as well as modem Protestantism Gmndtvig upholds the main concern of the Reformation, but in the context of Modernity.This finds its most significant expression in Gmndtvig’s rejection of the ’sola scriptura’ of the Reformation, the Scriptures as the foundation of Christian Faith. The foundation of Faith is the living Christ, present in the word of Faith, Baptism and Eucharist amidst the congregation celebrating the divine service. On the other hand the Holy Scripture retains its authority as the best book of enlightenment for Faith. Grundtvig is convinced that with this view of the Scriptures he legitimizes the freedom for Bible research and theology which they rightly demand.

The Transformation of Natural Philosophy: The Case of Philip Melanchthon.

This book proposes that Philip Melanchthon was responsible for transforming traditional university natural philosophy into a specifically Lutheran one. Motivated by desire to check civil disobedience and promote a Lutheran orthodoxy, he created a natural philosophy based on Aristotle, Galen and Plato, incorporating contemporary findings of Copernicus and Vesalius. The fields of astrology, anatomy, botany and mathematics all constituted a natural philosophy in which Melanchthon wished to demonstrate God's Providential design in the physical world. Rather than dichotomizing or synthesizing the two distinct areas of 'science' and 'religion', Kusukawa advocates the need to look at 'Natural philosophy' as a discipline quite different from either 'modern science' or 'religion': a contextual assessment of the implication of the Lutheran Reformation on university education, particularly on natural philosophy.

The Time of the Sign: "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" in Bach's St. Matthew Passion

Research Article| October 01 1996 The Time of the Sign: "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" in Bach's St. Matthew Passion David Hill David Hill Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Musicology (1996) 14 (4): 514–543. https://doi.org/10.2307/764071 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation David Hill; The Time of the Sign: "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" in Bach's St. Matthew Passion. Journal of Musicology 1 October 1996; 14 (4): 514–543. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/764071 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentJournal of Musicology Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1996 Regents of the University of California Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Rosicrucianism, Lutheran orthodoxy, and the rejection of Paracelsianism in early seventeenth-century Denmark.

Rosicrucianism, Lutheran Orthodoxy, and the Rejection of Paracelsianism in Early Seventeenth-Century Denmark Jole Shackelford (bio) There are many faces to the chemical philosophy that is associated with the German reformer Theophrastus Paracelsus: his ideas penetrated radical theology, internal medicine, surgery, mineralogy, pharmacology, and even political philosophy—inasmuch as Paracelsianism helped shape religious dissent in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Various aspects of this historical process have been examined in the large literature on Paracelsus and the Paracelsians, and on the Rosicrucian movement. Even so, the dynamics of the reception and rejection of Paracelsian ideas (as distinct from chemical drugs), and the effect that Paracelsian philosophy has had on early modern scientific writers, require further exploration and documentation. Specific instances—microhistorical studies—are needed in order to sustain or challenge the larger patterns that emerge. These studies need to be temporally and geographically diverse and contextually sensitive. The purpose of the present study is to examine the reception of Paracelsian natural philosophy in a specific setting—Copenhagen in the [End Page 181] late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries—and to illuminate the changing intellectual and religious context that ultimately made that doctrine publicly untenable. In particular, I will argue that the growing orthodoxy of the Lutheran church in Denmark created an environment in which Paracelsian ideas were a liability. Meanwhile, Paracelsian doctrines were being put forth in the literature of religious dissent that laid the foundations for the later development of radical Pietism. 1 One subset of this literature comprises the treatises and correspondence associated with the Rosicrucian calls for reform in the second decade of the seventeenth century. Other scholars have undertaken to link the “Rosicrucian furor” with Paracelsianism, and to connect both with the political and religious upheavals antecedent to the Thirty Years’ War. 2 The present study offers clear evidence of these connections by first establishing that an interest in Paracelsianism existed in Denmark; that it was explicitly rejected by one of Copenhagen’s leading academicians, Ole Worm (1588–1654), whose views are a fair indication of general academic sentiment; and that it was rejected because of its intimate connections to Rosicrucianism. Finally, this narrative is placed in the religious and political context of Counter-Reformation Denmark, and specific historical explanations for the rather abrupt change in attitude toward Paracelsianism are offered, with special attention given to Andreas Libavius’s criticism of Paracelsian and Rosicrucian doctrine. Ole Worm and the Medical Professors at Copenhagen Although Denmark is often regarded as a small country, out of the intellectual mainstream, in the early seventeenth century it was a chief player in the northern European politics of power. The continental dominions under the control of Christian IV—comprising what is today southern Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Schleswig-Holstein—lay adjacent to the Holy Roman Empire and controlled all traffic into the Baltic Sea. At the cultural and political center of this kingdom lay Copenhagen. The mid-seventeenth-century blossoming of the Scientific Revolution in Copenhagen produced scientists of international repute and enduring importance to the history of science—men such as Christian Sørensen [End Page 182] Longomontanus, Thomas Bartholin, Simon Pauli, Niels Stensen (Steno), Ole Rømer, and Ole Borch. The observational prowess, the synthesis of facts, and the generation of new scientific theories that have given these men enduring fame are credited in part to the development of a Danish empiricism at Copenhagen, an attitude toward methodology similar to that which in England was called Baconian. Ole Worm, professor of medicine and collector of natural oddities, has come to symbolize this no-nonsense skeptical empiricism—in part because he was central to the academic developments until his death in 1654, as a prominent member of the medical patriarchy that then ruled medicine, and in part because of the volumes of correspondence he has left to posterity. He was at one time or another in contact with every Danish figure of academic importance in the second quarter of the seventeenth century and he served as a clearinghouse for new ideas, information about books, and news of academic positions coming available. 3 Yet if we examine the early interests of this champion of diffidence, we find him intent on...

Konfession und internationales System. Die Außenpolitik Hessen-Kassels im konfessionellen Zeitalter by Holger Thomas Gräf

BOOK REVIEWS715 of". . . the one, cathoUc, apostolic, and above aU, holy center of the Church and the world" (p. 167). Right Thinking is a major contribution to our understanding of reUgious history in the post-Reformation period; precisely because of the manner in which preaching about the Church, papacy, and city was done, the words and deeds at the court of Peter resounded throughout the Christian world and changed the way CathoUcs beUeved and practiced. Larissa Taylor Colby College Konfession und internationales System. Die Außenpolitik Hessen-Kassels im konfessionellen Zeitalter. By Holger Thomas Graf. [QueUen und Forschungen zur hessischen Geschichte, 94.] (Darmstadt and Marburg: Selbstverlag der Hessischen Historischen Kommission Darmstadt und der Historischen Kommission für Hessen. 1993. Pp. xii, 422.) Hessen-Kassel c. 1555-c. 1648, in particular under landgraves William iy Maurice , and WUUamV, serves as a case study of territorial foreign poUcy under confessional conditions. The author of this Ph.D. thesis combines E. O. Czempiel's and S. C. Flanagan's theories of poUtical systems with the concept of confessionaUzation as developed by Heinz Schilling, the dUector of his thesis, and by this reviewer quite successfully into a new set of analytical tools. Dynastic policy and traditional regional options compete with confessional affUiation and the interest of the developing territorial state, which not quite unexpectedly turns out to be the winner Ui the end. The landgraves started from a mediating position Ui the Protestant camp, a poUcy to be continued after the partition of the country by WUUam IV of Hessen-Kassel, whereas first Hessen-Marburg and then Hessen-Darmstadt under the influence ofWuerttemberg joined the ranks of Lutheran orthodoxy. The consequences were first the breakdown of the common Protestant church of aU Hessian territories, next the conversion of Maurice of Kassel to Calvinism in 1605. This led to a severe conflict between the branches of the dynasty. Therefore, Darmstadt remained loyal to the emperor , whereas Kassel Ui contrast became involved with the aggressive poUcy of the Palatinate and so-caUed international Calvinism. Maurice's academy at Kassel and his court became a true center of migrating inteUectuals and professional poUticians of the reformed confession, as is demonstrated by a prosopographical appendix. The former ??f?ß Christianum of Europe became regrouped as a system of confessional alliances inside and outside the Emptfe. But confessional aUiances proved unstable and transitory; especially Ui the case of France very early on was the preponderance of reason of state evident. Because of Maurice's confessional poUcy reformed Hessen-Kassel had no choice but to enter into aUiances with Lutheran Sweden and Catholic France. But this proved the way of success. In the end Hessen-Kassel was on the side of the win- 716book reviews ners of the ThirtyYears'War. Graf's learned study explores aU this Ui detaU from archival sources, but his book is nevertheless weU organized and his arguments are convincing. Systems tiieories, however, Ui contrast to the rather useful confessionaUzation paradigm provide Uttle more than labels and categories for chapter headlines. Wolfgang Reinhard Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau Adultery and Divorce in Calvin's Geneva. By Robert Kingdon. [Harvard Historical Studies, 1 18.] (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 1995. Pp. x, 214. $29.95 hardback; $14.95 paperback.) This volume presents a fascinating series of case studies on Calvinistic Geneva's attitudes toward marital disorder drawn from one of the most important and (hitherto) neglected sources on Early Modern social control— Geneva's Consistorial minutes. The book is an indispensable entry into these records. However, as Kingdon admits, he has "not reaUy attempt[ed] to offer any extended or sophisticated analysis" of the Consistory's work. The first case (Ameaux v. Jacon) presents both a marriage's coUapse and the possibUity of a wife's emotional and mental breakdown after repeated psychological and feG?^?ß) physical abuse. The next case pits Calvin's brother, Antoine , against his wife,Anne Le Fert. Here, Kingdon teases out the compUcated entangling of Genevan politics and Calvin's (vindictive?) determination to rid his household of his sister-in-law. The final case, unlike the others, resulted in the state-enforced reconcUiation of the couple (Bietrix-Maisonneuve). These cases present many...

Kierkegaard on the Transformation of the Individual in Conversion

From at least the time of the writing of The Philosophical Fragments, Søren Kierkegaard's work takes a special interest in both the transition from unbelief to faith and the character of the life of true faith. Trained in Lutheran dogma and convinced of the radical nature of human freedom, his work on this subject demonstrates a profound concern for and grasp of Lutheran orthodoxy, as well as a remarkable degree of subtlety. After all, it is no simple task to give an account of the central features of the Christian life that is faithful to both a libertarian conception of human freedom and the doctrines of the church founded by the author of The Bondage of the Will. This paper proposes to accomplish two things: first, to state a problem that lies on the surface of Kierkegaard's account of the transformation involved in Christian conversion and second to present a resolution of the problem that is faithful to Kierkegaard's intentions.

Caspar Cruciger Sr.'s 1546 “Enarratio” on John's Gospel: An Experiment in Ecclesiological Exegesis

Only months after Luther's death in 1546, a colleague, Caspar Cruciger, Sr., published his magnum opus, an 879-page commentary on the Gospel of John, In Evangelium Iohannis Apostoli Enarratio. Cruciger's Enarratio provides an excellent angle from which scholars may examine an important shift in Wittenberg's exegesis and theology during the crucial decade of the 1540s. To be sure, this work has few of the characteristics of other treatments of the fourth Gospel produced near the same time. The exposition of the four Gospels by Cologne's Franciscan theologian, von Konigstein, underwent far more printings. The works on John by Calvin and Bullinger have attracted more attention in our own day. However, when set into the context of continued sharp debate over ecclesiology, Cruciger's commentary on John provides a critical reshaping of Philip Melanchthon's exegetical method to meet the continuing challenge of defining the church in line with an emerging Lutheran orthodoxy and against Roman Catholicism. Unlike later Protestant commentaries, which often roll ponderously from one unrelated locus in theology to the next, Cruciger's work, though massive, focuses almost singlemindedly on the doctrine of the church. The commentary represents part of Wittenberg's response to failed discussions over the nature of the church and its authority which began in 1520, nearly halted in 1541 at the Colloquy of Regensburg which Cruciger attended, and collapsed with the outbreak of hostilities during the Smalcald War of 1547. It also demonstrates the farreaching effect of Philip Melanchthon's exegetical method in shaping that response among his own students.