Reformations Old and New

Reformations Old and New
Author: Beat Kümin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 251
Release: 2016-12-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351905775

This collection of essays examines the practical impact of religious change in Central and North Western Europe from the 15th to the 17th century. It focuses on the effects of reform on clergy, church resources, ecclesiastical patronage, education and poor relief. The title reflects the elementary conclusion that there was no one monolithic experience of ’Reformation’, that initiatives were taken for very different reasons, and that they displayed innovative as well as conservative features. While offering a great breadth of original research and subject matter, all authors devote particular attention to three main themes: the blend between continuity and change, the share of religious factors in socio-economic developments, and the identification of winners and losers. Taken together, the essays illustrate the scarcity of unambiguous trends, the tenacity of socio-economic structures, the modification of religious dogma by the ’real’ world, and the conspicuous benefits of religious change for the social élites.

The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law

The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Law
Author: John Witte, Jr.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 921
Release: 2023
Genre: Education
ISBN: 019760675X

This volume tells the story of the interaction between Christianity and law-historically and today, in the traditional heartlands of Christianity and around the globe. Sixty new chapters by leading scholars provide authoritative and accessible accounts of foundational Christian teachings on law and legal thought over the past two millennia; the current interaction and contestation of law and Christianity on all continents; how Christianity shaped and was shaped by core public, private, penal, and procedural laws; various old and new forms of Christian canon law, natural law theory, and religious freedom norms; Christian teachings on fundamental principles of law and legal order; and Christian contributions to controversial legal issues. Together, the chapters make clear that Christianity and law have had a perennial and permanent influence on each other over time and across cultures, albeit with varying levels of intensity and effectiveness. This volume defines "Christianity" broadly to include Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions and various denominations and schools of thought within them. It draws on Christian ideas and institutions, norms and practices, texts and titans to tell the story of Christianity's engagement with the world of law over the past two millennia. The volume also defines "law" broadly as the normative order of justice, power, and freedom. The chapters address natural laws of conscience, reason, and the Bible and positive laws enacted by states, churches, and voluntary associations. Several chapters focus on Christian engagement with specific types of law: canon law, family law, education law, constitutional law, criminal law, procedural law, and laws governing labor, tax, contracts, torts, property, and beyond. Other chapters take up cutting edge legal issues of racial justice, environmental care, migration, euthanasia, and (bio)technology as well as fundamental legal principles of liberty, dignity, equality, justice, equity, judgment, and solidarity.

Poverty in the Theology of John Calvin

Poverty in the Theology of John Calvin
Author: Bonnie L. Pattison
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 445
Release: 2006-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1630879908

It is the thesis of this study that in Calvin's theology, poverty and affliction--not splendor and glory--mark and manifest the kingdom of God on earth. Poverty makes the kingdom visible to the eyes and therefore recognizable as divine. Poverty acts to reveal or disclose that which is spiritual, or that which is "of God" in the Christian faith. This does not mean that Calvin sees the condition of physical poverty as revelatory in and of itself. Rather, poverty and affliction function as agents of divine revelation. They are a condition or a chosen instrument God uses to disclose to humanity the nature of true spirituality, godliness, and poverty of spirit. How this is demonstrated in Calvin's thought depends upon the specific doctrine under examination. This study explores three particular areas in Calvin's theology where his theological understanding of spiritual poverty and physical poverty (or affliction) intersect--his Christology, his doctrine of the Christian life, and his ecclesiology.