HSTEU402 INSTRUCTIONS FOR SECOND PAPER Reformation
DUE DATE: Tuesday Dec. 5 (Papers received by this date will be handed back at final exam.)
FORMAT: 6-8 pages, typed, double spaced. Use a title page with name & date, no covers.
CONSULTATION: Prof. O'Neil's office hours: Weds 1-3pm, after class on T& Th & by appointment
You may choose your own topic, so long as it includes primary documents and secondary sources from the Reformation.
TOPICS: Questions drawing on the writings for class reading are suggested below. Here are suggested topics from the syllabus
1.. Drawing on the Schleitheim Confession of Faith (Hillerbrand, pp. 172-181), compare the Anabaptist approach to the
relation of
spiritual and temporal realms with that set forth by Luther in On Governmental Authority (Hillerbrand, p. 73-92)
2. Why did Luther turn against the Peasants' Revolt of 1525? Compare the Twelve Articles of the Peasants (in Hillerbrand,
pp. 93-97,
annotated version with full Biblical reference is posted as linkt) with Luther's response, The Friendly Admonition to Peace. How did the
demands of the peasantry conflict with Luther's sense of the correct ordering of society? How did his response escalate in the
second treatise Against the Robbing Murdering Hordes ?
MORE TOPICS:
3. In the Age of Reform (pp.
372-380; on OUGL reserve, BR270/O9), Steven Ozment questions "whether
Calvinists were really Protestant."
His doubts arise from Calvin's
emphasis on Christian discipline and good works, which, to Ozment, seems to
move away from Luther's stress
on justification by faith. Evaluate
Ozment's argument by discussing the role assigned to good works in Luther's
Freedom of a Christian and Calvin's
Institutes (selections in Hillerbrand
volume). Is Ozment's argument valid?
4. What was the social program
of the Reformation, and how did this program differ among two or three of the
following groups: Lutherans, Calvinists
and Anabaptists? Your discussion
of this topic should draw on course readings, including both primary sources
(such as Luther's reply to peasants or
Calvin's writings), and secondary
sources such as Ozment text other articles.
5. Robert Kingdon asks whether
the Protestant Reformation was a revolution and argues that it was, in the case
of
sharply with the conservatism of Luther's attitude to the
Peasants' War. Can Kingdon's argument about
whole? (Kingdon's article is in link from webpaget.)
6. The relationship between
church and state was an issue of fundamental social and political importance in
the various Reformation denominations.
Making reference to specific
treatises by Luther, Calvin and the Anabaptists, discuss their respective
attitudes to the relationship between church and
state, showing how their
positions on this issue relate to their fundamental theological assumptions.
7. Why did Luther turn against
the Peasants' Revolt of 1525? Compare the Twelve Articles of the Peasants
with Luther's Friendly Admonition to Peace.
What did Luther object to in
the peasants' demands? Connect this to his own concept
of the relationship between religion and social order?
8. The Autobiography of St.
Ignatius Loyola describes the career of a major figure in the Caholic
reform. What kind of spiritual values does he represent
and
advocate? How do they differ from the spiritual approach of the
Reformation? (Use the Reormation as a point of comparison, but the
emphasis here
should be on understanding Loyola's religious experience.
9) Women topic: The “Reformation
debate over women” described by Natalie David in “City Women” includes
reciprocal charges by Catholics and
Calvinists about the moral status of women
on each side. How did each of the two religions view the role of women, family
and sexual purity, and
what did each religion offer to women? (Optional:
Include a comparison of the situation of women in the radical Anabaptist
setting of
using Ronnie Hsia in “
Sources: NZ Davis, “City Women
& Religious Change” Society & Culture in Early Mod France
Jeanne de Jussie, nun’s diary of
Other sources available from Prof O’Neil: Merry Weisner, “Luther & the death of the Two Marys”