Enlightenment's Reformation

How did we get from the religious core of the sixteenth-century Reformation to the notions of freedom popularised by Hegel and Ranke? Enlightenment's Reformation explores how two key cultural and intellectual achievements - the sixteenth-century Reformation and the late eighteenth-century birth of 'German' philosophy - became fused in public discussion over the course of the 'long' eighteenth century. Michael Printy argues that Protestant theologians and intellectuals recast the meaning of Protestantism as part of a wide-ranging cultural apology aimed at the twin threats of unbelief and deism on the one hand, and against Pietism and a nascent evangelical awakening on the other. The reimagining of the Reformation into a narrative of progress was powerful, becoming part of mainstream German intellectual culture in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Utilising Reformation history, Enlightenment history, and German philosophy, this book explores how the rich if unstable idea linking Protestantism and modern freedom came to dominate German intellectual culture until the First World War.

Auteur

Michael Printy is the Librarian for Western European Humanities at Yale University Library, covering French, German, Italian, and European and British history. He teaches courses on the Enlightenment and on the History of Information. Previous publications include Enlightenment and the Creation of German Catholicism (Cambridge, 2009).

Texte du rabat

Between 1750 and 1830, two key cultural achievements - the sixteenth-century Reformation and the late eighteenth-century birth of 'German' philosophy - became fused in public discussion. Enlightenment's Reformation explores how the Reformation was transformed into a narrative of progress, and why it has had such a long-standing impact.

Contenu

Introduction; Part I. Recasting German Protestantism, 1750-1790: 1. The determination of man: philosophy, apologetics and the new language of religion; 2. Transitions: the conservative enlightenment of Johann Lorenz Mosheim and Johann Georg Walch; 3. Enlightenment theology and the protestant public: 'neology,' Dogma and the perfection of Christianity, 1750-1790; Part II. Revolutions of the Spirit, 1780-1830: 4. Karl Leonhard Reinhold and the philosophy of Protestantism; 5. The reformation and modern freedom: the German past after revolution and Napoleon; 6. 'True sons of the reformation': philosophy, theology, and the protestant public 1817-1830; Epiloge: enlightenment's reformation, 1830-1929; Bibliography; Index.