Synopses & Reviews
This book is a survey and analysis of the European Reformation of the sixteenth century. During this period western Christianity underwent the most dramatic changes in its entire history. From Iceland to Transylvania, from the Baltic to the Pyrenees, the Reformation divided churches and communities into 'Catholic' and 'Protestant', and created varying regional and national traditions. The new Protestant creed rejected traditional measures of piety--vows, penances, pardons, and masses--in favor of sermons and catechisms, and an everyday morality of diligence, neighborly charity, and prayer. In the process, it involved many of Europe's people for the first time in a political movement inspired by an ideology and nourished by mass communication. Using the most recent research, Cameron provides a thematic and narrative synthesis of the events and ideas of the Reformation. He examines its social and religious background, its teachers and their message, and explores its impact on contemporary society.
Review
"A remarkably rich and successful survey textbook of the Reformation period....He has quite literally broken the mold of the traditional textbook layout for this topic; it deserves serious consideration by anyone interested in focusing a course on the religious issues of the Reformation....It is stimulating and suggestive, and is based on a truly amazing range of scholarship."--Sixteenth Century Journal
"This is the first comprehensive textbook on the Reformation to take popular religion seriously. Moreover, it is not dominated by Luther and Calvin, as the radical groups and smaller sects get equal treatment. Above all, it is refreshing to find a text that does not start from the premise that protestantism was inevitable or even desired by the laity."--Mack P. Holt, George Mason University
"First impressions of this book are very good. It seems to combine a thorough grounding in both traditional and modern approaches to the Reformation. The writing is clear and straightforward....I predict that this book...will be around for a long time."--Mark Noll, Wheaton College
"A thorough, well-researched text. It should prove to be highly valuable as a required text in junior colleges and universities. One of the best available works."--Rev. Dr. Michael B. Simmons, Auburn University at Montgomery
"Clear, decisive, scholarly, readable--this is a splendid summary of recent scholarship about the Reformation. Cameron warns that he will deal with the Reformation movements, not Europe in the age of Reform, and he does exceptionally well what he has indicated."--Philip L. Kintner, Grinell College
Synopsis
This study lays the foundation for a major reinterpretation of religion and society in India. By extensively using post-structuralist theory, Oberoi suggests an alternative to earlier scholarly narratives that saw Sikhism, Hindism, and Islam as historically given categories encompassing
well-demarcated and self-conscious units of religious identity. The theoretical advances are made through a searching examination of Sikh historical materials.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [428]-536) and index.