Books in the Oxford Studies in Historical Theology series

Dewey Wallace tells the story of several prominent English Calvinist actors and thinkers in the first generations after the beginning of the Restoration, illuminating the religious and intellectual history of the era between the Reformation and modernity.

The first full-length study of the impact of Bellarmine's potestas indirecta in early modern Europe, this book follows the reactions to Bellarmine's theory across national and confessional boundaries. It offers a fresh interpretation of some of the most crucial political and theological knots in the history of post-Reformation Europe and challenges our understanding of 'modern' notions of power and authority.

This book explains Martin Bucer's unique perspective on the doctrine of justification and demonstrates how this doctrine acted as a foundation for his entrance into discussions with Catholics between 1539 and 1541. The author argues that Bucer was consistent in his irenic endeavors, never sacrificing his theological convictions for ecclesial expediency.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) was regarded by sixteenth century Europe as one of the most contested religious and philosophical authorities. Through deep examination of the production, circulation and consumption of Augustine's works, Arnoud Visser reveals the wildly contrasting ways in which he was read and appropriated by publishers, humanist scholars, and individual readers.

This book examines the early development of the Reformation debate over the Lord's Supper. Going beyond Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli, it demonstrates the importance of late medieval heresy and the key role played by Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt in challenging traditional belief in Christ's corporeal presence in the sacrament.

Richard Snoddy offers a detailed study of the applied soteriology of the Irish reformer James Ussher (1581-1656).

In Calvin's Company of Pastors, Scott Manetsch examines the pastoral theology and practical ministry activities of Geneva's reformed ministers from the time of Calvin's arrival in Geneva until the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Hartford Puritanism argues for a new paradigm of New England Puritanism, one where Hartford's founding ministers, Thomas Hooker and Samuel Stone, both fully embraced and even harshened Calvin's double predestination.

By exploring how Martin Luther, Martin Bucer, and John Calvin interpreted a set of eight messianic psalms (Psalms 2, 8, 16, 22, 45, 72, 110, 188), Sujin Pak elucidates key debates about Christological exegesis during the era of the Protestant reformation. More particularly, Pak examines the exegeses of Luther, Bucer, and Calvin in order to (a) reveal their particular theological emphases and reading strategies, (b) identify their debates over the use of Jewishexegesis and the factors leading to charges of ''judaizing'' leveled against Calvin, and (c) demonstrate how Psalms reading and the accusation of judaizing serve distinctive purposes of confessional identity formation. In this way, she portrays the beginnings of those distinctive trends that separatedLutheran and Reformed exegetical principles.

An exploration of the representation of women in the Bible and how interpreters have wrestled with the texts. It traces and analyzes the interpretation of the stories of Hagar, Jephthah's daughter, the Levite's wife, and Lot's daughters from the earliest Church Fathers through to the Reformation.

Catholics and Protestants have held markedly different views about the Virgin Mary. This work examines the development of Lutheran views on this subject as expressed in 16th century Lutheran published sermons. It shows that from the beginning Lutherans rejected much of the theology and piety that surrounded Mary in Catholicism.

In this innovative study, Carol Thysell provides an in-depth examination of Marguerite de Navarre's Heptameron. While this collection of tales is traditionally considered to be secular in nature, Thysell argues that Marguerite de Navarre used it as a vehicle for a constructive theological programme.

Examines how and why death came to be perceived as such a firm boundary of salvation. Analyzing exceptions to this principle from ancient Christianity, this book states that the principle itself was slow to develop and not universally accepted in the Christian movement's first four hundred years.

Examines the disputes about the eucharist that were carried out in the popular press in 16th-century France. This book focuses on the way in which power is symbolized in eucharistic doctrine, and how representations of power in the context of theological discussion influenced understandings of power in other spheres of life.

This text traces the way in which Calvin's exegetical labours contributed to his understanding of faith. Through detailed analysis of Calvin's interpretation of selected biblical passages, the study shows how his views evolved.

God's Irishmen describes the theological debates that tore the Cromwellian movement apart and caused its eventual failure. An informed analysis of the texts that survive from the period, Gribben dissects the contentious theological issues and reflects on larger questions about the characteristics of the Protestant churches in Cromwellian Ireland.

Susan R. Holman examines the theme of poverty in the fourth-century sermons of Basil of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzen, and Gregory Nysson. These sermons are especially important for what they tell us about the history of poverty relief and the role of fourth century Christian theology in constructing the body of the redemptive, involuntary poor.

In the 1520s, a battle raged between Luther and Erasmus over the freedom of the will. This book demonstrates that Philip Melanchthon - hardly a silent observer in the fray - was actively involved, especially in his 1528 commentary on Colossians. He rejected Erasmus's position while developing an independent, but compatible stance to Luther's own.

This book is a wide-ranging study of Johannine exegesis in the sixteenth century, centered on the John commentary of Wolfgang Musculus (1497-1563), an influential leader of the Protestant Reformation. Farmer compares Musculus's exegesis of the Johannine miracle stories not only with that of other sixteenth-century commentators but also with ancient and medieval commentaries.

The middle decades of the 17th century saw the expansion of the Baptist sect, as well as the rise and growth of Quakerism. Hostility quickly came to characterize relations between two groups. In examining the Baptist-Quaker controversy, Underwood is able to identify a primary link between the two and at the same time to discover explanations for some of their dramatic differences.

In this sequel to Richard Muller's 'The Unaccommodated Calvine', Muller carries his approach forward, with the goal of overcoming a series of 19th- and 20th-century theological frameworks characteristic of much of the scholarship on Reformed orthodoxy, or what might be called 'Calvinism after Calvin'.

In this study, Irene Backus examines the fate of the Apocalypse at the hands of early Protestants in three centres of the Reformation: Geneva, Zurich, and Wittenberg. To do so, Backus systematically investigates sources and methods on the most important reformed and Lutheran commentaries of the Apocalypse from 1528-1584.

Much has been written about the influence of humanism on the Reformation. This study reverses the question, asking how the Reformation affected humanism. The author argues that humanism was co-opted, perhaps even exploited, in the religious debate by both Reformers and Catholic reactionaries.

Takes a look at St Francis of Assisi, and the idea of voluntary poverty as a basis for Christian perfection. The author finds that while Francis's conception of poverty as a spiritual discipline may have opened the door to salvation for wealthy Christians, it precluded the idea that the poor could use their poverty as a path to heaven.