German and Scandinavian Protestantism 1700-1918: (Oxford History of the Christian Church)

This book is the first history in English of the Lutheran Church in Germany and Scandinavia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A period of fundamental and lasting change in the political landscape--with the separation of the old twin monarchies of Sweden-Finland and Denmark-Norway in Scandinavia (1809, 1814), and the unification of Germany (1866-71), this was also a time of particular unease and upheaval for the Church. Attempts to emulate the spiritual community of the early church, reform of the church establishment, and steps taken to enlighten parishioners were almost held back by the anomalous structural legacy of the Reformation, tradition, and parish habit, sacred and profane. However, the birth of the modern nation-state and its market economy posed a fundamental challenge to the structure and ethos of the Reformation churches, as it did to the Catholic Church. The First World War deepened the crisis further: German Protestants (and the Scandinavians were not immune either, although they remained neutral), who bracketed modernity with crisis and religious with national renewal, and who saw national loyalty as a higher value than the faith, fellowship, and moral order of the Church, were swept up into the maw of a modern national war machine which threatened to wipe out Protestantism altogether.

Review :
`the book offers many insights ... a wealth of information which is otherwise not readily available - notably on the Baltic Churches and on Lutheran worship - and an invaluable 57-page bibliography. For all of this, as for its charming examples of the idiosyncrasies of the fragmented "churchscape" of German Protestantism, mostly now rationalised away, I shall turn to it again and again.' Colin Podmore, Church Times `unique in providing an accessible account of Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. Dr Hope's survey is impressive both in range and detail ... this book is indispensable.' The Expository Times `there is passion beneath the surface of this massive and often austere book ... Beneath the meticulous scholarship, and the sometimes overwhelming weight of detail, this is a book ultimately rooted in a love of, and a fascination with, Lutheran Christianity ... Each section is written with authority, grounded in a thorough knowledge of the literature, mastery of the often baffling intricacies of the administrative, legal and political dimensions of the subject, and a level-handed approach to questions of interpretation. Where Hope must be unique is in the range of his expertise within the field of north European Protestantism.' Hugh McLeod, University of Birmingham, Reviews in Religion and Theology, 1997/2 May `the book offers many insights ... a wealth of information which is otherwise not readily available ... and an invaluable 57-page bibliography' Colin Podmore, Church Times `Hope's multilingual erudition is formidably impressive, as is his judicious impartiality on topics which have aroused fiercely sectarian strife. The work can be highly commended as an informative work of reference and a thoughtful analysis of the Protestant place in modern European history.' John S Conway, German Studies Review `This latest volume in the Oxford History of the Christian Church is a long book, covering a massive area over an extensive period and touching on nearly all the numerous aspects of the subject ... this is an important and authoritative work, the first study of later Lutheranism in English, by a scholar with an enviable command of the Baltic languages and a commendable sympathy for his material. It is a survey that will be of use to all students of the subject, whatever their nationality, and is likely to remain unsurpassed for a long time to come.' Times Literary Supplement `a quite splendid book which gives one fresh hope for a British historiography which has gone too far down the roads of both insularity and secularity' EHR Nov. 97 `Nicholas Hope is to be commended for having undertaken such a mammoth task. He has produced a highly readable account of these churches ... It is a highly informative book and clearly written by someone who knows this period's Scandinavian and German church history incredibly well ... the author has produced a book which will be of great use to future scholars.' German History `The author weaves a story of the myriad German states and Scandinavian countries that is both skillful and enlightening.' Church History `This is a work of a very special character...a work of fine nuances, a study in which the complicated network of the pos-Reformation ecclesiastical situation in Germany and Scandinavia is explored by means of apporaching it from various different angles ... This is a rich book; all the more interesting because of its idiosyncratic structure. It is not a manual in the traditional sense ... a work which, just because of its originality, may be considered a valuable addition to the steadily expanding Oxford History of the Christian Church.' Journal of Theological Studies `Although the text is crowded with informative portraits of scholars, church leaders, devotional authors, architects, and musicians, it also offers important interpretive insights ... Hope deserves praise for his pioneering work, which contributes much both to comparative church history and to our understanding of a neglected aspect of the modernization process in Central and Northern Europe.' American Historical Review