Faith And Reason In The Reformations

The five-hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation reawakened a long-standing and spirited conversation between philosophic science and religious faith, a conversation which continues to have consequences on how we understand both science and faith. This book brings scholars together to reflect on the topic of the Protestant Reformation, as well as the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation, the nature of science, and the unity of the Church. Five chapters in this collection represent five distinct theological formulations within Christianity; the other seven chapters are from a variety of historic, philosophic, and theological starting points on the topic. These twelve accounts range from theologies informed by the Classical Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle; medieval Jewish and Roman Catholic writers; Moses Maimonides and Thomas More; writers of the Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther, John Calvin, Richard Hooker, and William Shakespeare); the founders of modern science (Francis Bacon and T. H. Huxley), and the modern day theologies of Abraham Kuyper, Flannery O’Connor, H. R. Niebuhr, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The contemporary theologian Hans Küng has asked if the "death of God," proclaimed by Nietzsche as the event of modernity, was inevitable. Did the empowering of new forms of rationality in Western culture beginning around 1500 lead necessarily to the reduction or privatization of faith? In Dialogues between Faith and Reason, John H. Smith traces a major line in the history of theology and the philosophy of religion down the "slippery slope" of secularization—from Luther and Erasmus, through Idealism, to Nietzsche, Heidegger, and contemporary theory such as that of Derrida, Habermas, Vattimo, and Asad. At the same time, Smith points to the persistence of a tradition that grew out of the Reformation and continues in the mostly Protestant philosophical reflection on whether and how faith can be justified by reason. In this accessible and vigorously argued book, Smith posits that faith and reason have long been locked in mutual engagement in which they productively challenge each other as partners in an ongoing "dialogue." Smith is struck by the fact that although in the secularized West the death of God is said to be fundamental to the modern condition, our current post-modernity is often characterized as a "postsecular" time. For Smith, this means not only that we are experiencing a broad-based "return of religion" but also, and more important for his argument, that we are now able to recognize the role of religion within the history of modernity. Emphasizing that, thanks to the logos located "in the beginning," the death of God is part of the inner logic of the Christian tradition, he argues that this same strand of reasoning also ensures that God will always "return" (often in new forms). In Smith's view, rational reflection on God has both undermined and justified faith, while faith has rejected and relied on rational argument. Neither a defense of atheism nor a call to belief, his book explores the long history of their interaction in modern religious and philosophical thought.

A treatment of the evolution of Christian thought from the birth of Christ, to the Apostles, to the early church, to the great flowering of Christianity across the world. The final volume begins with the towering theological leaders of the Protestant Reformation and traces the development of Christian thought through its encounter with modernity. Volume #2 9781426721915 Volume #1 9781426721892

The Reformation transformed Europe, and left an indelible mark on the modern world. It began as an argument about what Christians needed to do to be saved, but rapidly engulfed society in a series of fundamental changes. This Very Short Introduction provides a lively and up-to-date guide to the process. It explains doctrinal debates in a clear and non-technical way, but is equally concerned to demonstrate the effects the Reformation had on politics, society, art, and minorities. Peter Marshall argues that the Reformation was not a solely European phenomenon, but that varieties of faith exported from Europe transformed Christianity into a truly world religion. The complex legacy of the Reformation is also assessed; its religious fervour produced remarkable stories of sanctity and heroism, and some extraordinary artistic achievements, but violence, holy war, and martyrdom were equally its products. A paradox of the Reformation - that it intensified intolerance while establishing pluralism - is one we still wrestle with today. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

We live in a society full of confusion; a confusion forged in relativism, immorality, and a repulsion toward religion. The antidote is truth; a truth forged in objectivity, morality, and a gravitation toward God. This collection of essays confronts the confusion of our society with the truth of faith and reason, and focuses on these fundamental questions: What is the relationship between natural science, philosophy, and faith? How do we determine what is right and wrong? What is true freedom? What is man's ultimate end? What is the truth about contraception, abortion, and transgenderism? Who is Jesus and what is the proof for his Resurrection? Was there a Protestant Reformation or was it a Revolt? Is there a call for all people to come into the Catholic Church? These are deep questions that require deep answers. Are you ready to dive into the deep?

The period 1517-1625 was crucial for the development of political thought. During this time of expanding empires, religious upheaval, and social change, new ideas about the organisation and purpose of human communities began to be debated. In particular, there was a concern to understand the political or civil community as bounded, limited in geographical terms and with its own particular structures, characteristics and history. There was also a growing focus, in the wake of the Reformation, on civil or political authority as distinct from the church or religious authority. The concept of sovereignty began to be used, alongside a new language of reason of state—in response, political theories based upon religion gained traction, especially arguments for the divine right of kings. In this volume Sarah Mortimer highlights how, in the midst of these developments, the language of natural law became increasingly important as a means of legitimising political power, opening up scope for religious toleration. Drawing on a wide range of sources from Europe and beyond, Sarah Mortimer offers a new reading of early modern political thought. She makes connections between Christian Europe and the Muslim societies that lay to its south and east, showing the extent to which concerns about the legitimacy of political power were shared. Mortimer demonstrates that the history of political thought can both benefit from, and remain distinctive within, the wider field of intellectual history. The books in The Oxford History of Political Thought series provide an authoritative overview of the political thought of a particular era. They synthesize and expand major developments in scholarship, covering canonical thinkers while placing them in a context of broader traditions, movements, and debates. The history of political thought has been transformed over the last thirty to forty years. Historians still return to the constant landmarks of writers such as Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Marx; but they have roamed more widely and often thereby cast new light on these authors. They increasingly recognize the importance of archival research, a breadth of sources, contextualization, and historiographical debate. Much of the resulting scholarship has appeared in specialist journals and monographs. The Oxford History of Political Thought makes its profound insights available to a wider audience. Series Editor: Mark Bevir, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for British Studies, University of California, Berkeley.

This excellent addition to the Lion Histories series explores one of the most interesting periods of history - the Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The book begins by describing how the Middle Ages came to an end with the Renaissance and the Reformation, setting the scene for the Enlightenment. Jonathan Hill then takes the reader on a fascinating tour of the central themes and characters of this turbulent period.