Reformation Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Modern Period, The

Anglican Theological Review, Winter 2004 by Jensen, Gordon A

The Reformation Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Modern Period. Edited by Carter Lindberg. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002. xiv 396 pp. $76.95 (cloth); $38.95 (paper).

The European Reformations. By Carter Lindberg. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1996. xvi 446 pp. $39.95 (paper).

The Reformation Theologians is a delightful collection of brief glimpses ol reformers during the Reformation era. Edited by Carter Lindberg, this hook is replete with introductions to the reformers and their theologies. What is most fascinating about this collection, however, is that the articles cover not only the "big name" theologians, but the theology of many other personalities in each of the theological traditions of this period in history. Thus, for example, the section on Lutheran reformers includes not only chapters on Luther and Melanchthon, but also on Flacius, von Grumbach, Rhegius, Brenz, and Chemnitz. Among the reformed tradition scholars covered are Zwingli, Bullinger, Calvin, Vermigli, Beza Schutz Zell, Cranmer, and Hooker. There are also sections on humanist theologians d'Etaples and Erasmus; Roman Catholic theologians Cajetan, More, Ignatius of Loyola, and Teresa of Avila; and radical theologians von Karlstadt, Muntzer, Schwenfeld, and Menno Simons. As Lindberg notes, the plan was to also include chapters on Bucer and Fisher, but they were not submitted in time for publication (p. vii).

This collection of essays on the various theologians is generally very good. It does suffer from some inconsistencies, however, primarily because each theologian was covered by a different author with a distinct writing style. Some of the chapters also attempt too much; while trying to describe the complexities of the theologian in question, the authors lose the main focus. Thus, it is left to the reader to discover the overriding concerns of the theologians themselves.

One of the delights of this book, however, is the inclusion of a few chapters on women theologians of the period. Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schutz Zell, and Teresa of Avila help the reader to get a glimpse into women's writings during the Reformation era, writings that have been forgotten for far too long.

This fine collection of essays, The Reformation Theology, provides a wonderful counterpart to Lindberg's The European Reformation. While the newer book focuses on the reformers themselves, the earlier book docs a very good job of introducing readers to the Reformation movements in sixteenth-century continental Europe and England. The Reformation Theologians deals with the personalities, and The European Reformations covers the movements in their historical contexts. Many of the same issues are covered in the older book, simply because of the Reformation concerns that were prevalent in the era, but the two books nicely balance each other rather than compete with each other.

The chapters "History, Historiography, and Interpretations of the Reformations," "The Late Middle Ages: Threshold and Foothold of the Reformations," and "Legacies of the Reformation" set The European Reformations apart. In the last chapter, for example, Lindberg questions whether, for all the rhetoric, women actually gained some semblance of equality as a result of the Reformation. Other legacies of the Reformation that are noted include confessionalization, religious, social, and cultural pluralism, and the development, in some areas, of a "chosen nation" syndrome (p. 359). The development of historiography and the Bible in the vernacular were also legacies of the Reformation.

Both of these books are very easy to read introductory texts for the Reformation era. They provide balanced and comprehensive overviews of the period, and they complement each other very well. They capture the complexity of the theological thought of the theologians and the complexity of the history of the era in ways that are easy to follow and captivating to the reader.

GORDON A. JENSEN

Lutheran Theological Seminary

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan