The History of Christianity in the Reformation Era

By: Brad S. Gregory, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Brad S. Gregory

It still takes a major effort of historical imagination to enter the minds of those who lived during the Reformation Era, who were willing to suffer martyrdom or martyr others for what we would regard as minor doctrinal differences. These 36 lectures are designed to take you inside the minds of those who supported the Reformation and those who resisted it. They cover the three broad religious traditions that endured or arose during these years: Roman Catholicism, both as it existed on the cusp of the Reformation and as it changed to meet the Protestant challenge; Protestantism, meaning the forms approved by political authorities, such as Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism; and "radical" Protestantism, meaning the forms often at odds with political authorities, such as Anabaptism. The goal: to understand historically the theological and devotional aspects of each of these three broad traditions on its own terms and to grasp the overall ramifications of religious conflict for the subsequent course of modern Western history.

Along the way you'll encounter the era's many influential figures, including: Erasmus, Martin Luther, Charles V, Henry VIII, Ignatius Loyola, John Calvin, and Menno Simons. Professor Gregory also raises questions that any student of the period must ponder. Was the late medieval Church vigorous or, as Martin Luther and others came to insist, horribly corrupt? How do the events of the Reformation reveal the shifting balance between religious and secular authorities? Did the Reformation succeed or fail? Ultimately, the long-term payoff of these lecture series is a better understanding of the relationship between the world of early modern Europe - and the modern world to which it gave rise.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2001 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2001 The Great Courses

Scholarly and Balanced

This lecture series delivers everything it promises. The best summary of the Reformation I've ever heard. It allows you to see each tradition from within.

Comprehensive & Engaging Treatment

A thorough treatment of the material which helped set up a context for the Reformations.

All you could hope for!

An excellent series of lectures, equally informative and thought-provoking! Certainly one of the best titles in the Great Courses series. Every one of the lectures was superbly organized, and the whole series flowed logically and consistently. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the growth of Christianity in the late medieval and early modern periods.

Just shy of perfection.

This course is loaded with expertly presented material. The professor is gifted, very careful, and passionate. I thought the final chapters which sought to reflect back on the material were somewhat less tightly focused.

Overall, however, this course is brilliantly crafted and delivered.

Excellent course

Teacher has found a perfect level and range of details for this type of lecture. He tried (and in my opinion succeeded as much as it is possible - one can guess that he is probably catholic but there is only a slight bias) to be as objective by presenting three vastly different point of views on the topic. Highly recommended!

Freakin cool

This helped me understand Christianity and helped me understand my own experience in deciding the best way to express faith. Theological debates were picked up into political conflicts. Blew my mind

Excellent

This is an absolutely phenomenal course. I highly recommend it to any interested in learning more about reformation history and western culture.

Exceptional Balance; Riveting Details

The mark of a great historian is one who immerses the listener into the reality of the time and lets one see that reality through the eyes of those who lived in it. Dr. Gregory does that here. He plunges you into the life and times of the period and lets you see and hear what people then saw and heard.

Whether you are Catholic or Protestant, you will appreciate his meticulous concern for fairness in presenting the reasons why the figures and followers involved believed what they did and acted as they did. And you will also understand, and appreciate more, what you and I see -- and believe -- today in our own modern times.

Dr. Gregory is a masterful lecturer, a gifted and engaging speaker, who takes you from 30,000 feet and then drops you into the middle of the forest, and then back up again, so you always see where he has been, where he is going, and why he is going that way. One of the best series of lectures I have ever heard.

Easter reading

i loved it
read it during Easter, nicest thing I did today 2015 love it.

Very enjoyable in depth analysis

Brad S. Gregory gives a superbly well structured and ell balanced overview of the Reformation period. I enjoyed listening to him very much. Thank you!!