Lay Prophets In Lutheran Europe C 1550 1700

In Lay prophets in Lutheran Europe (c. 1550–1700), Jürgen Beyer provides the first study to investigate angelic apparitions in all Lutheran countries.

"This book documents the political and religious turmoil of seventeenth century Europe by exploring the life and doctrines of the German barber surgeon turned prophet, Ludwig Friedrich Gifftheil (1595-1661). Inspired by family tragedy and theosophical religious writings, between 1624 and 1661 Gifftheil stalked Europe's battlefields, petitioning kings, princes, and emperors to end the warfare endemic on the continent. Convinced that all conflict was prompted by 'false prophets'-by which Gifftheil meant the clergy of Europe's Christian confessions-he pleaded with rulers to abjure the counsel of their advisors and institute instead a godly peace. When this approach proved fruitless, Gifftheil reinvented himself by taking up his sword as 'God's warrior.' Thereby he embarked on a quest to recruit an army of the righteous to wage holy war, and establish peace with the blade of his sword. This work examines the growth and fallout of Gifftheil's mission and its reception among Europe's religious dissenters-including figures such as Abraham von Franckenberg and Quirinus Kuhlmann-as well as the results of his strivings in European political circles. Gifftheil's story reveals an alternative transnational history of religious and political dissent in the seventeenth century. It casts new light on the place of prophecy and madness in the negotiation of religious authority, the origins of the theosophical current, and the stranger apocalyptic impulses at the roots of Pietism and missionary Christianity"--

Susan Schreiner’s students and colleagues explore the themes of Scriptural exegesis, authority, and the certainty or doubt of salvation in the early modern era and beyond.

Studies the thought and actions of the Reformation's central figures - reformers, counter-reformers, and their supporters - in the light of ordinary people.

This book discusses the early modern engagement with books that survived intentional or accidental fire in Lutheran Germany. From the 1620s until the middle of the eighteenth century, unburnt books became an attraction for princes, publishers, clergymen, and some laymen. To cope with an event that seemed counter-intuitive and possibly supernatural, contemporaries preserved these books, narrated their survival, and discussed their significance. This book demonstrates how early modern Europeans, no longer bound to traditional medieval religion, yet not accustomed to modern scientific ways of thinking, engaged with a natural phenomenon that was not uncommon and yet seemed to defy common sense.

Eschatology played a central role in both politics and society throughout the early modern period. It inspired people to strive for social and political change, including sometimes by violent means, and prompted in return strong reactions against their religious activism. From the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, numerous apocalyptical and messianic movements came to the fore across Eurasia and North Africa, raising questions about possible interconnections. Why were eschatological movements so pervasive in early modern times? This volume provides some answers to this question by exploring the interconnected histories of confessions and religions from Moscow to Cusco. It offers a broad picture of Christian and, to a lesser extent, Jewish and Islamic eschatological movements from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, thereby bridging important and long-standing gaps in the historiography. Apocalypse Now will appeal to both researchers and students of the history of early modern religion and politics in the Christian, Jewish and Islamic worlds. By exploring connections between numerous eschatological movements, it gives a fresh insight into one of the most promising fields of European and global history.

This volume deepens our understanding of Jacob Böhme’s texts and contexts and facilitates future research. It encompasses sections on the text-centered approach to Böhme, facets of his environment, and aspects of his influence which bring latent features of his writings to light.

Lament is essential to human thriving. It allows us to cope with significant loss, an inescapable feature of our mortal existence. Lament is the passionate outpouring of deep sorrow and grief over such loss, which helps us avoid being completely overcome by the strong emotions that come with it. Lament is cathartic and constructive. It is a necessary step in coming to terms with great loss and moving forward in life. Not to lament is not to live--or at least not to live very fully, deeply, or well. This book deals with one instance of Christian lament in the late Reformation by exploring the efforts of a talented yet little-known layman to cope with the death of his beloved wife. For the first time, it provides full access to the remarkable work of private devotion that he authored to express his lament. A work of haunting candor, impressive artistry, and searching faith, The Pious Meditations is an extraordinarily rare and valuable source that has received very little scholarly attention. It furnishes both fresh insight into life in the past and important resources for life in the present. Written in a period that knew no radical separation between the academy and the church, it was informed by the author's experience in both, and can continue to speak to both today.