Synopses & Reviews
Imbued with character and independence, strength and articulateness, humor and conviction, abundant biblical knowledge and intense compassion, Katharina Schand#252;tz Zell (1498and#8211;1562) was an outspoken religious reformer in sixteenth-century Germany who campaigned for the right of clergy to marry and the responsibility of lay peopleand#8212;women as well as menand#8212;to proclaim the Gospel. As one of the first and most daring models of the pastorand#8217;s wife in the Protestant Reformation, Schand#252;tz Zell demonstrated that she could be an equal partner in marriage; she was for many years a respected, if unofficial, mother of the established church of Strasbourg in an age when ecclesiastical leadership was dominated by men.
Though a commoner, Schand#252;tz Zell participated actively in public life and wrote prolifically, including letters of consolation, devotional writings, biblical meditations, catechetical instructions, a sermon, and lengthy polemical exchanges with male theologians. The complete translations of her extant publications, except for her longest, are collected here in Church Mother, offering modern readers a rare opportunity to understand the important work of women in the formation of the early Protestant church.
About the Author
Elsie McKee is professor of church history at Princeton Theological Seminary. She is the editor of the collected works of Katharina Schand#252;tz Zell in German and author of the companion biographical volume.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Series Editors' Introduction
Volume Editor's IntroductionVolume Editor's Bibliography
Note on Translation
I. The Lay Reformer, Teacher, and Pastor
Introduction
Letter to the Suffering Women of the Community of Kentzingen
Introduction
Translation
Katharina Schand#252;tz's Apologia for Master Matthew Zell, Her Husband
Introduction
Translation
Some Christian and Comforting Songs of Praise about Jesus Christ Our Savior
Introduction
Translation
Lament and Exhortation of Katharina Zell to the People at the Grave of Master Matthew Zell
Introduction
Translation
The Miserere Psalm Meditated, Prayed, and Paraphrased with King David by Katharina Zell . . . , Sent to the Christian Man Sir Felix Armbruster
Introduction
Translation
II. Autobiography and Polemic: A Lay Theologian Amid the Conflicts of Confessional Divisions
Introduction
To Sir Caspar Schwenckfeld
Introduction
Translation
A Letter to the Whole Citizenship of the City of Strasbourg from Katharina Zell, . . . concerning Mr. Ludwig Rabus
Introduction
Translation
Appendix: Letter of Ludwig Rabus to Katharina Schand#252;tz Zell (April 1557)
Series Editors' Bibliography
Index