Remembering the Reformation

Reviews / Votes

In Remembering the Reformation, Thomas Albert Howard reminds us that commemorating the event has a long history in itself... [He] provides an excellent resume of European history; he is obviously at home on the intellectual front. * J. Kinlaw, The Kirk Center * Remembering the Reformation is a thoughtful and rewarding book. At one level, it tells the story of how successive generations have recast that pivotal event according to the changing needs and obsessions of each new era. Through the process, though, we also learn much about the changing role of religion in Western society, and (centrally) about the nature of Protestantism itself. As we commemorate the 500th anniversary of Luther's Reformation, it will be
very useful to have this elegant and well-written historical guide to hand. * Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History, Baylor University * In this highly readable and wide-ranging historical survey, Howard deftly shows how politics, the church, and theology worked together to create accounts of the Reformation suited to the needs of the time. From the emphasis on Lutheran confessional identity in 1617 through the competing national and ecumenical visions of 1817 to the Marxist version of Luther of 1983 this book reveals the ways in which every generation shapes the past in its own image. * Mark Chapman, Professor of the History of Modern Theology at the University of Oxford and Vice-Principal of Ripon College,Cuddesdon *