Debating the Sacraments: Print and Authority in the Early Reformation
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Debating the Sacraments: Print and Authority in the Early Reformation  -     By: Amy Nelson Burnett

Debating the Sacraments: Print and Authority in the Early Reformation

Oxford University Press / 2019 / Hardcover

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Stock No: WW921187

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In Debating the Sacraments, Amy Nelson Burnett brings together the foundational disputes regarding the baptism and the Lord's Supper that laid the groundwork for the development of two Protestant traditions-Lutheran and Reformed-as well as of dissenting Anabaptist movements. Burnett places these disputes in the context of early print culture, tracing their development in a range of publications and their impact on the wider public. Burnett examines not only the writings of the major reformers, but also the reception of their ideas in the pamphlets of lesser known figures, as well as the role of translators, editors, and printers in exacerbating the conflict among both literate and illiterate audiences.

Following the chronological unfolding of the debates, Burnett observes how specific arguments were formed in the crucible of written critique and pierces several myths that have governed our understanding of the sacramental controversies. She traces the influence of Erasmus on Luther's followers outside of Wittenberg and highlights the critical question of authority, particularly in interpreting the Bible. Erasmus and Luther disagreed not only about the relationship between the material world and spiritual reality but also on biblical hermeneutics and scriptural exegesis. Their disagreements underlay the public debates over baptism and the Lord's Supper that broke out in 1525 and divided the evangelical movement. Erasmus's position would be reflected not only in the views of Ulrich Zwingli and others who shared his orientation toward the sacraments but also in the developing theologies of the Anabaptist movement of the 1520s.

The neglected period of 1525-1529 emerges as a crucial phase of the early Reformation, when evangelical theologies were still developing, and which paved the way for the codification of theological differences in church ordinances, catechisms, and confessions of subsequent decades.

Product Information

Title: Debating the Sacraments: Print and Authority in the Early Reformation
By: Amy Nelson Burnett
Format: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 520
Vendor: Oxford University Press
Publication Date: 2019
Weight: 2 pounds
ISBN: 0190921188
ISBN-13: 9780190921187
Stock No: WW921187

Publisher's Description

Amy Nelson Burnett's Debating the Sacraments brings together the foundational disputes regarding the sacraments that laid the groundwork for the development of two Protestant traditions--Lutheran and Reformed--along with the critical question of authority, particularly biblical authority. She then places these disputes in the context of early print culture, showing how the ideas of the major reformers was filtered through the pamphlets of lesser known figures and translators, editors, and printers.

Author Bio

Amy Nelson Burnett is Paula and D.B. Varner University Professor of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is the author of Karlstadt and the Origins of the Eucharistic Controversy, and she has written extensively on the Swiss and South German Reformation. Her book Teaching the Reformation won the Gerald Strauss prize from the Sixteenth Century Studies and Conference.

Editorial Reviews

"This book is an impressive accomplishment and seems destined to become the new standard reference for scholars looking to engage debates over the sacraments in the early Reformation. Burnett's profound facility with the primary sources is richly on display throughout the monograph. Her sophisticated analysis yields fresh insights about the subject matter which will inform future studies for many years to come ... Debating the Sacraments belongs on the shelf of every student of the Reformation, and every theologian interested in sacramental theology and the nature of ecclesial authority." -- David Luy, International Journal of Systematic Theology

"Burnett's focus is on the period when Protestant sacramental theology became hot topics in the 1520s. Her approach is chronological as well as wide-ranging ... This gives the book an authoritative, reference-like power that will make it the place to turn to for all future forays into this tangled topic. Her approach is also unique among other treatments of this topic since her net is wider and more nuanced than what we have had before." -- Donald K. McKim, Journal of Ecclesiastical History

"In the current volume, Amy Burnett has managed to tackle one of the theological debates most fraught with danger and to bring new clarity to the early stages of the intra-Protestant debate over the Lord's Supper. This is no mean feat...in the future no one should dare write anything on the role of Lord's Supper in the early Reformation without taking seriously this outstanding piece of research. It is remarkable scholarship and a fitting tribute to the other historian able to do this kind of work, her Doktorvater, the late Robert Kingdon." -- Timothy J. Wengert, United Lutheran Seminary, Comptes Rendus

"Amy Nelson Burnett is a foremost authority on the controversy over Christ's bodily presence in the Lord's Supper, which pulled apart the early Reformation in the 1520s. In this new book she successfully combines two distinct approaches, the cultural history of printed communication and the history of theological doctrines. With immense learning and superb clarity, she invites us to re-think the 'who', 'how' and 'why' behind this acrimonious debate." --Euan Cameron, author of the European Reformation and Enchanted Europe

"This study is an instant classic, a new standard for interpreting the Protestant sacramental controversies as a whole. Burnett's exemplary contextual analysis of the unfolding series of printed exchanges that made the controversy the hottest discussion in the mid-1520s provides a rich model for assessing how published treatises could take on authoritative voice in addressing central matters of piety and practice." --Robert Kolb, Professor of Systematic Theology Emeritus, Concordia Seminary

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