Reformation in the Western World

An Introduction

Paul Silas Peterson

• Publisher: Baylor University Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781481305525, 9781481315074
• eBook ISBN: 9781481308311
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

The Reformation was the single most important event of the early modern period of Western civilization. What started out as a pastoral conflict about the sale of grace for money ultimately became a catalyst for the transformation of Western culture. In Reformation in the Western World, Paul Silas Peterson shows how the retrieval of the ancient Christian teachings about God's grace and the authority of Scripture influenced culture, society, and the political order. The emphasis on an egalitarian church--the "priesthood of all believers"--led to a more egalitarian society. In the long run, the Reformation encouraged the emergence of modern freedoms, religious tolerance, capitalism, democracy, the natural sciences, and the disenchantment of the papacy and worldly means of grace. Yet the egalitarian fruit of the Reformation was not uniform, as is seen in the persecution of detractors and Jews, and in the marginalization of women. In all its triumphs and innovations, evils and errors, the Reformation left a lasting double legacy--a divided church in need of unity and the possibilities of a liberated world.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction: The Good and the Bad of the Reformation
• Chapter 1. The Western World and the Reformation
• Chapter 2. The Evils and Errors of the Reformers
• Chapter 3. Prehistory, Division, and Authority
• Chapter 4. Political Power and Tolerance
• Chapter 5. Modernity, Democracy, Capitalism, and Secularism
• Chapter 6. The Western World Today
• Chapter 7. The Reformation and Ecumenism
• Conclusion: The Future of Reformation
• Notes
• Further Reading
• Name and Subject Index