DESCRIPTION:

This seminar is designed to furnish students with the opportunity to acquire a stronger background in Reformation studies and in the roots of Protestant theology. Texts, themes, and topics will vary from year to year. For 2001, the seminar will explore the roots of the Anabaptist tradition in the early sixteenth century, seeking especially to understand the interaction and conflicts between advocates of the so-called "radical" Reformation and the various Protestant groups and figures who were potentially allies but more usually adversaries. The course will be organized around four major topics (two sessions each) that will address 1) martyrdom, 2) origins and confessions, 3) church-state relations and nonviolence, and 4) issues of Christology, ecclesiology, and authority.

Descendants of the various sixteenth-century Reformers continue to this day to debate not only the merits and demerits of their ecclesiastical ancestors, but also the lessons to be drawn from the conflicts between the "radical" and "magisterial" Reformations. Revisiting such debates over Christian and ecclesiastical identity can be constructive, but only if informed as fully as possible by the diversity of perspectives on the issues at stake. This course will attempt to model mutuality of dialogue by juxtaposing the partners and texts of the sixteenth-century debates, along with contemporary scholarly analysis.

Seminar format, meets for three hours weekly to discuss readings and issues.

Balke, Willem. Calvin and the Anabaptist Radicals. Eerdmans, 1981. Reprint ed. Eugene: Wipf & Stock.

Estes, James M. Whether Secular Government Has the Right to Wield the Sword in Matters of Faith: A Controversy in Nürnberg in 1530: . . . Five Documents. Toronto: Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, 1994.

Friesen, Abraham. Erasmus, the Anabaptists, and the Great Commission. Eerdmans, 1998.

Gregory, Brad S. Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe. Harvard, 1999.

Stayer, James M. Anabaptists and the Sword. 2d ed. Lawrence, Kan.: Coronado Press, 1976.

Williams, George Huntston. Spiritual and Anabaptist Writers. LCC 25. Westminster, 1957.

Yoder, John H. The Legacy of Michael Sattler. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1973.

Other texts, including articles from the Mennonite Quarterly Review, will be furnished as photocopies.

Deppermann, Klaus. Melchior Hoffman: Social Unrest and Apocalyptic Visions in the Age of Reformation. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1987.

Farley, Benjamin, tr. John Calvin: Treatises against the Anabaptists and Libertines. Baker, 1985.

Liechty, Daniel, ed. Early Anabaptist Spirituality: Selected Writings. New York: Paulist, 1994.

Williams, George. The Radical Reformation. 3d ed. Kirksville, Mo.: Truman State University Press, 1992.

1) Divinity students (539): 1500 pages of assigned reading. 2) Graduate students (839): 2000 pages of assigned reading. 3) Weekly written response to readings, to be completed before each class. 4) Final examination, essay format (take-home). 5) Original research paper (grad students only), instructor-approved topic, proposal due by eighth week. 6) Original research paper (graduate students only), topic approved by instructor, outline due by ninth week.