Brad S. Gregory is Dorothy G. Griffin Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Notre Dame.
A strikingly brave and wide-ranging work, in which a distinguished
historian of early modern Europe interprets the contemporary world.
The precision and clarity with which Gregory lays out his evidence
and the accuracy with which he handles materials in many different
languages and of many different kinds give this original book
extraordinary credibility. It's rare for a book to attain this
level of scholarship nowadays. An astonishing achievement.
*Anthony Grafton, author of Worlds Made by Words*
A work of deep moral seriousness. Gregory's greatest contribution
is his portrayal of the Reformation of Christianity as a central
moment of disturbance and creativity in the modern Western world.
In this endeavor, he has no equal among living authors. The
Unintended Reformation is simply the most intelligent treatment of
the subject by a contemporary author. It is also the most
unconventional and most stirring engagement I know with the problem
of how the West has dealt with its heritage of plural religions and
concepts of values and happiness.
*Thomas A. Brady, Jr., author of German Histories in the Age of
Reformations, 1400-1650*
Gregory's insightful and compelling narrative invites us to
recognize the surprising extent to which we are still what the
Protestant Reformation and its heirs made us, a society of
conflicting and contested truth claims. As he spells out the
consequences—and the interest is in the detail—we become more
sharply aware of sometimes unrecognized aspects of our present
condition.
*Alasdair MacIntyre, author of God, Philosophy,
Universities*
A revisionist manifesto, sharp-edged and provocative, The
Unintended Reformation analyzes the legacy of the Protestant
Reformation with an eye firmly fixed on the present. Gregory
challenges many revered assumptions and does so with verve and
brilliance. Bound to stir debate for years to come, this
magisterial history of the early modern era belongs on the shelf
right next to Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism and Charles Taylor's A Secular Age.
*Carlos Eire, author of A Very Brief History of
Eternity*
The Protestant Reformation is considered by many to be one of the
pivotal events in the history of the Western world. No one can
doubt the central role that Luther, Calvin, and other reformers
have played in the lives of Christians through the
years...[Gregory] approaches the continuing impact of the
Reformation in what he terms a "genealogical" approach—one that
sees the Reformation as the root of a tree whose branches reach
into every aspect of modern life. Rejecting the "supersessionist"
view, that contemporary Christendom constitutes a radically new
understanding of God and of the world itself, Gregory insists that
our views, even our presuppositions, must be reimagined and
re-evaluated in ways that demonstrate how the Reformation continues
to reach into our theologies, our laws, our lives...[A] rewarding
look at the long reach of history, and how we are the poorer for
ignoring it.
*Publishers Weekly*
[An] extraordinary new book...But however brilliant is Gregory's
historical presentation (and it is brilliant), what ultimately
distinguishes The Unintended Reformation is the sheer forcefulness
of the narrative, which he pursues by examining the shift in
perspectives on six distinct but interrelated themes since the
sixteenth century: God, truth, institution, ethics, consumption and
knowledge. The effect of this approach is to give the book an
uncommon clarity: by going over what is essentially the single
narrative in six different ways, each slight turn of the story
illuminates the whole, and each new element comes across as both
surprising and yet strangely familiar. The Unintended Reformation
is unquestionably the most important contribution to the way we
understand our present condition since Charles Taylor's A Secular
Age. But it is also as a stinging rebuke to all those well-nigh
fictitious accounts of the emergence of the enlightened West out of
the intellectual darkness and decrepitude of the Middle Ages that
now distort our collective self-perception. Let's hope Gregory's
book wreaks havoc on some of these myths that we persist in telling
ourselves.
*Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Religion and Ethics
blog*
There could not be a more propitious moment for a book on greed and
the historical roots of capitalism. Brad Gregory shows that
historians have as much to contribute to contemporary debates about
business and social ethics as most philosophers or
economists...What is bold and unusual about The Unintended
Reformation is that it comes from an explicitly Christian
perspective and ends by arguing that only religion—properly
understood as a doctrine of solidarity—can allow humanity to escape
from the predicament of the modern, the material curse of poverty
and the mental afflictions of prosperity. Gregory not only offers
what is today a highly original combination of history and morality
but also cogently explains why that combination is needed
today.
*Financial Times*
This book is truly breathtaking in its scope, erudition and sheer
nerve. There is no faulting Gregory's grasp of Reformation history,
but to his analysis of what has happened since there could be many
objections raised. This is relatively unimportant, however. Max
Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism was not
completely right either, but it was brilliant nevertheless.
Gregory's is a work not just of genuine scholarship but also of
sincere moral purpose, which, even if it annoys, frustrates or
fails to convince, has opened up an immensely important debate.
There may yet be time to fix some of what went wrong in the
Reformation.
*Times Higher Education*
Restrained and erudite...Apart from furnishing an interesting and
well written account of the Reformation, the book is perhaps most
interesting when [Gregory] grapples with his opponents...[A]
thought-provoking book.
*Financial World*
A lucidly written and far-reaching analysis that shows how the
contemporary Western world continues to be influenced by the
complex transformations that occurred in the 16th and 17th
centuries.
*Choice*
Charts how the godly Reformation led inexorably to the
secularization of western society.
*The Spectator*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
