Reformation Bibliography #1: Surveys & Introductions

1. REFORMATION HISTORY: SURVEYS & INTRODUCTIONS

The literature on the Reformation can be overwhelming to the newcomer. Perhaps only the French Revolution and the American Civil War have received so much and such careful attention. Few historical periods can boast of such a large number of high-quality surveys as those published by Reformation scholars. And in few areas of historical scholarship are sectarian biases more evident. This is especially true of works written before the Second Vatican. Studies after 1965 tend to be more balanced, but confessional concerns do continue to bias things, often in subtle ways.

Euan Cameron, The European Reformation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991). Cameron presents the Reformation in a fresh original way: not as a sequence of short biographies of leading reformers, but as a unified historical movement. He sees the Reformation as a temporary coalition of reform-minded churchmen with one another and with potent political forces. He is attuned not only to Reformation theology—both its sophisticated and its popular varieties—but also to the series of coincidences and subtle mis-hearings that led people to join forces in common cause. More a synthesis than a place to get the facts—but the synthesis is superb.

Carter Lindberg, The European Reformations (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996). Note the title: Lindberg’s accent is on the pluralism of the Reformation—that it is crucial to appreciate the diversity and localism of individual reformers and reform movements. This has become perhaps the most widely used textbook for courses on the Reformation—and for good reason.

Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History (New York: Viking Press, 2004). MacCulloch, best known for his monumental study of the English reformer Thomas Cranmer, attempts here a new comprehensive synthesis focusing less on the colorful personalities and more on the wider culture, politics and broad movements.

Thomas A. Brady Jr., Heiko A. Oberman, & James D. Tracy, eds., Handbook of European History, 1400-1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation, 2 vol. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans / Leiden: Brill, 1996).

Owen Chadwick, The Early Reformation on the Continent, Oxford History of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 20020.

C. Scott Dixon, The Reformation in Germany (Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002).

C. Scott Dixon, Protestants: A History from Wittenberg to Pennsylvania, 1517-1740 (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).

C. Scott Dixon, Contesting the Reformation (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012) paperback, $33. NEW.

G.R. Elton, ed., The Reformation, 1520-1559, Blackwell Classic Histories of Europe, 2nd ed. (1958; reprint: Cambridge: Blackwell, 2000).

Brad S. Gregory, The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized Society (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012) hardcover, $40. NEW.

Kaspar von Greyerz, Religion and Culture in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

Felicity Heal, Reformation in Britain and Ireland, Oxford History of the Christian Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).

Hans J. Hillerbrand, ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation, 4 vol. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).

Hans J. Hillerbrand, The Division of Christendom: Christianity in the Sixteenth Century (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2007).

R. Po-Chia Hsia, ed., Reform and Expansion, 1500-1600, Vol. 6 of The Cambridge History of Christianity, Vol. 6 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).

R. Po-Chia Hsia, ed., A Companion to the Reformation World, Blackwell Companions to European History (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003).

Peter Matheson, ed., Reformation Christianity, A People’s History of Christianity, vol. 5 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006).

Andrew Pettegrew, ed., The Early Reformation in Europe (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993).

Andrew Pettegrew, ed., The Reformation World (New York: Routledge, 2000).

Ulinka Rublack, Reformation Europe, New Approaches to European History 28 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).

Bob Scribner, Roy Porter, and Mikulas Teich, The Reformation in National Context (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994).

R.W. Scribner & C. Scott Dixon, The German Reformation, 2nd ed. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).

James D. Tracy, Europe’s Reformations, 1450-1650: Doctrine, Politics, and Community, 2nd ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Little, 2006).

Bard Thompson, Humanists and Reformers: A History of the Renaissance and Reformation (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996).

Lee Palmer Wandel, The Reformation: Towards a New History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

George H. Williams, Radical Reformation, 3rd edition (Truman State University Press, 2000).

2. REFORMATION THEOLOGY: SURVEYS & INTRODUCTIONS

Alister E. McGrath, Reformation Thought: An Introduction, 3rd edition (Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1999). McGrath surveys Reformation views on justification, predestination, scripture, sacraments, church. In other words, the focus is not on individuals but on theological themes. He prefaces this analysis with a sizable and excellent study of the roots of the Reformation. Simple, clear.

Carter Lindberg, The Reformation Theologians: An Introduction to the Theology of the Early Modern Period, The Great Theologians (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002). An excellent collection of brief essays surveying the key Reformation theologians and Reformation theologies. This is a good complement to McGrath’s study since it focuses more on individuals than themes.

David Bagchi & David Steinmetz, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).

Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth, The Devil’s Whore: Reason and Philosophy in Lutheran Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011).

Timothy George, Theology of the Reformers (B&H Publishing, 1999).

Alister E. McGrath & Darren C. Marks, eds. The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism, Blackwell Companions to Religion (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).

Alister E. McGrath, Iustitia Dei: A History of the Doctrine of Justification, 2nd ed. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998).

Donald K. McKim, ed., The Westminster Handbook to Reformed Theology (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2005).

Mark Noll, Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011)

Heiko Oberman, The Impact of the Reformation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994).

Jaroslav Pelikan, Reformation of Church and Dogma (1300-1700) vol. 4 of The Christian Tradition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983).

Jill Raitt, ed., Christian Spirituality II: High Middle Ages and Reformation (New York: Crossroad, 1987).

Bernard M.G. Reardon, Religious Thought in the Reformation, 2nd ed. (Addison Wesley, 1995).

3. PRIMARY SOURCES: TRANSLATIONS & ANTHOLOGIES

Carter Lindberg, The European Reformations Sourcebook (New York: Blackwell, 1999). A companion volume to Lindberg’s European Reformations. Brief excerpts from a variety of source documents. It does much to bring alive the world of the Reformation.

Gerald Bray, ed., Documents of the English Reformation (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994).

Scott H. Hendrix, ed. and trans., Early Protestant Spirituality, Classics of Western Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 2009).

Hans Hillerbrand, ed., The Reformation: A Narrative History Related by Contemporary Observers and Participants (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978).

Denis R. Janz & Shirley E. Jordan, ed., A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts with Introductions (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999).

Eric Lund, Documents from the History of Lutheranism, 1517-1750 (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002).

Robert S. Miola, ed., Early Modern Catholicism: An Anthology of Primary Sources (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).

John Baillie, John T. McNeill, and Henry P. Van Dusen, eds., Library of Christian Classics (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1950s). An older series; volumes go in and out of print:

G.W. Bromiley, ed., Zwingli and Bullinger
Joseph Haroutunian, ed., Calvin: Commentaries
John T. McNeill, ed., Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion
Wilhelm Pauck, ed., Luther: Lectures on Romans
Wilhelm Pauck, ed., Melanchthon and Bucer
E. Gordon Rupp & Philip S. Watson, ed., Luther and Erasmus: Free Will and Salvation
George H. Williams & Angel M. Mergal, ed., Spiritual and Anabaptist Writers