Course Summary

The Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Response: causes, events, distinctive theology, and personalities

The course is organized in three modules: (1) Historical Survey, (2) Insights into the Reformation, and (3) Consequences of the Reformation. 3 semester hours of graduate credit.

Objectives

• Analyze the factors that led to the Protestant Reformation

• Recognize distinctive marks of the various reform movements

• Appraise the effect of the Protestant Reformation

Credit.  Credit for the course requires a score of 70% or greater on three multiple choice examinations and two essays. A sample exam problem is given below.

The most important technological advance that enabled the Reformation to spread: (A) Advanced ship-building technology that allowed distant colonial expansion (B) The printing press (C) The telegraph (D) Development of English as a universal language.

Resources 

Ample e-books are available in the Electronic Collection without cost to the student.  If hard copy substitutes are preferred, the following are recommended:

Bainton, Roland H. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. Reprint ed. Abingdon Press, 2013. 424 pages. $13.04 ISBN: 978-1426754432 [To access a free e-book, click on the title.]

Bagchi, David and David C. Steinmetz (eds.). The Cambridge Companion to Reformation Theology. Cambridge University Press, 2004. 300 pages. $34.99 ISBN: 978-0521776622

Bireley, Robert. The Refashioning of Catholicism 1450-1700: A Reassessment of the Counter Reformation. The Catholic University of America Press, 1999. 231 pages. $19.95 ISBN: 978-0813209517

Chadwick, Owen. The Reformation. Vol. 3 of The Pelican History of the Church. Ed. by Owen Chadwick. Penguin Books, 1990. 464 pages. $12.17 ISBN: 978-0140137576

McGrath, Alister E. Reformation Thought: An Introduction. 4th ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. 326 pages. $49.95 ISBN: 978-0470672815