This engrossing book demonstrates that the "cradle" (James Barr) of biblical criticism really lay in the English-speaking world and that subsequent problems actually began in England in the period between the Reformation and the Enlightenment. During this time, attempts were still being made on a regular basis to reconcile the content of the Bible with the questioning of it which was evolving as the result of new scientific discoveries and the development of new moral criteria. In this interdisciplinary study, Professor Reventlow leads the reader into the total context of the life and thought in which new ideas about the Bible came to birth. Beginning with the insights of early humanism and the spiritualist movements of the Reformation, and moving through the Puritans to a climax with the Deists, Reventlow traces the fascinating and complex history of biblical criticism, always emphasizing the close connection between theology, philosophical systems, and church politics. He illuminates the significance of the intellectual and constitutional development in England for the modern understanding of the Bible, and conversely, he highlights the role of the Bible in that development. The importance of this book is threefold. It is historical. It gives us insight into the way biblical understanding is achieved. And it helps us "understand how we ourselves work and think" (James Barr). If we are to answer the theological questions of our time, it is Reventlow's contention that the reply must "pioneer its way out of its past." For "only a careful survey of the way we have come so far can clarify existing intrinsic presuppositions and help us to overcome them by making us aware of them." -- from back cover.

This 15 volume, second edition features revised and new articles. Among the 12,000 entries in the encyclopedia are articles on theology, philosophy, history, literary figures, saints, musicians and much more.

This 15 volume, second edition features revised and new articles. Among the 12,000 entries in the encyclopedia are articles on theology, philosophy, history, literary figures, saints, musicians and much more.

Twenty years ago, historians thought they understood the Reformation in England. Professor A. G. Dickens's elegant The English Reformation was then new, and highly influential: it seemed to show how national policy and developing reformist allegiance interacted to produce an acceptable and successful Protestant Reformation. But, since then, the evidence of the statute book, of Protestant propagandists and of heresy trials has come to seem less convincing, Neglected documents, especially the records of diocesan administration and parish life, have been explored, new questions have been asked - and many of the answers have been surprising. Some of the old certainties have been demolished, and many of the assumptions of the old interpretation of the Reformation have been undermined, in a wide-ranging process of revision. But the fruits of the new 'revisionism' are still buried in technical academic journals, difficult for students and teachers to find and to use. There is no up-to-date textbook, no comprehensive new survey, to challenge the orthodoxies enshrined in older works. This volume seeks to fulfill two crucial needs for students of Tudor England. First, it brings together some of the most readable of the recent innovative essays and articles into a single book. Second, it seeks to show how a new 'revisionist' interpretation of the English Reformation can be constructed, and examines its strengths and weaknesses. In short, it is an alternative to a new textbook survey - until someone has time (and courage) to write one. The new Introduction sets out the framework for a new understanding of the Reformation, and shows how already published work can be fitted into it. The nine essays (one printed here for the first time) provide detailed studies of particular problems in Reformation history, and general surveys of the progress of religious change. The new Conclusion tries to plug some of the remaining gaps, and suggests how the Reformation came to divide the English nation. It is a deliberately controversial collection, to be used alongside existing textbooks and to promote rethinking and debate.

Dom David Knowles surveys the monastic life and activities in the early Tudor period. He examines different abbots, bishops and others that shed new light on the fortunes of the Cistercian abbeys and on the influence upon the monks of the new humanist education.