Overview

The 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 focuses the mind on the history and significance of Protestant forms of Christianity. It also prompts the question of how the Reformation has been commemorated on past anniversary occasions. In an effort to examine various meanings attributed to Protestantism, this book recounts and analyzes major commemorative occasions, including the famous posting of the 95 Theses in 1517 or the birth and death dates of Martin Luther, respectively 1483 and 1546. Beginning with the first centennial jubilee in 1617, Remembering the Reformation: An Inquiry into the Meanings of Protestantism makes its way to the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's birth, internationally marked in 1983. While the book focuses on German-speaking lands, Thomas Albert Howard also looks at Reformation commemorations in other countries, notably in the United States. The central argument is that past commemorations have been heavily shaped by their historical moment, exhibiting confessional, liberal, nationalist, militaristic, Marxist, and ecumenical motifs, among others.

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9780198754190

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Remembering the Reformation is a thoughtful and rewarding book. At one level, it tells the story of how successive generations have recast that pivotal event according to the changing needs and obsessions of each new era. Through the process, though, we also learn much about the changing role of religion in Western society, and (centrally) about the nature of Protestantism itself. As we commemorate the 500th anniversary of Luther's Reformation, it will be very useful to have this elegant and well-written historical guide to hand. Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History, Baylor University

Remembering the Reformation is a thoughtful and rewarding book. At one level, it tells the story of how successive generations have recast that pivotal event according to the changing needs and obsessions of each new era. Through the process, though, we also learn much about the changing role of religion in Western society, and (centrally) about the nature of Protestantism itself. As we commemorate the 500th anniversary of Luther's Reformation, it will be very useful to have this elegant and well-written historical guide to hand. Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History, Baylor University In this highly readable and wide-ranging historical survey, Howard deftly shows how politics, the church, and theology worked together to create accounts of the Reformation suited to the needs of the time. From the emphasis on Lutheran confessional identity in 1617 through the competing national and ecumenical visions of 1817 to the Marxist version of Luther of 1983 this book reveals the ways in which every generation shapes the past in its own image. Mark Chapman, Professor of the History of Modern Theology at the University of Oxford and Vice-Principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon

Author Information

Thomas Albert Howard is Professor of History and the Humanities and holder of the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Christian Ethics at Valparaiso University. His publications include Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University (2006) and God and the Atlantic: America, Europe, and the Religious Divide (OUP, 2011).

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