Emancipating Calvin: Culture and Confessional Identity in Francophone Reformed Communities(76 Brill's Series in Church History)

The eleven essays in Emancipating Calvin: Culture and Confessional Identity in Francophone Reformed Communities demonstrate the vitality and variety of early modern Francophone Reformed communities by examining the ways that local contexts shaped the reception and implementation of reforming ideas emanating especially from John Calvin and the Reformed church of Geneva. The articles address three main themes important for understanding the development of Reformed communities: the roles of consistories in Reformed churches and communities, the development of various Reformed cultures, and the ways in which ritual and worship embodied the theology and cultural foundations of Francophone Reformed churches. This Festschrift honors the pioneering work of Raymond Mentzer and reflects his influence in modern Francophone Reformed studies.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Homage: Raymond.A.Mentzer@consistories.fr  Bernard Roussel  Translated by Jonathan Reid Acknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Contributors Map of Consistory Locations Introduction: Emancipating Calvin  Karen E. Spierling Part 1: Consistories 1 Rowdy Refugees and Mischievous Martyrs in Calvin’s Geneva  Jeffrey R. Watt 2 A “Catholic” Consistory? The Bipartisan Consistorial Court of Echallens in the Vaud (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries)  Christian Grosse  Translated by Christine Rhone 3 The Dancing Calvinists of Montauban: Testing the Boundaries of a Reformed Community in the 1590s in France  Graeme Murdock 4 On Consistorial Diversity  Philippe Chareyre  Translated by Karin Maag Part 2: Huguenot Culture and History 5 A Debated Office: Deacons in the Huguenot Church, 1560–1660  Karin Maag 6 Lay Leadership in the Reformed Communities during the Huguenot Revolution, 1559–1563  Jonathan A. Reid 7 The Last Wishes of the Orangeois  Françoise Moreil  Translated by Anne-Marie Libério 8 The Practice of Ecclesiastical Discipline in the Huguenot Refugee Church of Amsterdam, 1650–1700  Edwin Bezzina Part 3: Ritual and Worship 9 Reading the Bible in Sixteenth-century France  Mack P. Holt 10 Domesticating God: Reformed Homes and the Relocation of Sacred Space  Ezra Plank 11 The Huguenots and Marks of Honor and Distinction in the Parish Church and Reformed Temple  Andrew Spicer Bibliography of Raymond A. Mentzer’s Published Works to Date Volume Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Erik A. de Boer, Ph.D. (Université de Genève 1999), is Professor for Church History at Theological University Kampen and Extraordinary Professor for Reformation History at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has published on the Reformation including The Genevan School of the Prophets. The congrégations of the Company of Pastors and its Influence in 16th Century Europe [Travaux d’Humanisme et Renaissance, vol 513] (Genève: Librairie Droz, 2012). R. Ward Holder, Ph.D. (1998), Boston College, is Professor of Theology at Saint Anselm College. He has published on the Reformation, including John Calvin and the Grounding of Interpretation: Calvin’s First Commentaries (Brill, 2006), and Calvin in Context (Cambridge, 2019). Karen E. Spierling, Ph.D (2001), University of Wisconsin-Madion, is Associate Professor of History and Director of Global Commerce at Denison University. Her publications on the Genevan Reformation include Infant Baptism: The Shaping of a Community, 1536 – 1564 (Ashgate, 2005; Westminster John Knox, 2009) and the edited volume Calvin and the Book: The Evolution of the Printed Word in Reformed Protestantism (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015).

Review :
"Bien présenté, enrichi notamment d’illustrations en couleurs, cet ouvrage montre bien, à travers des cas précis, la complexité des relations entre Calvin et les communautés francophones." In: Istina, Volume LXV (2020/1). "To sum up: this volume is a worthy Festschrift for Raymond Mentzer and advances our insight into the ‘translation’ of the ideas of the Reformers into the local contexts on the congregational level. As such, it will serve to stimulate further research on the registers of consistories, classes, and synods in other geographical regions where the ideas of the leaders of the Reformation were adapted to specific contexts." Jan v.d. Kamp, VU University, Amsterdam, in: NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion, Volume 73.4 (2019). "(...)the articles demonstrate the various directions of research that scholars have taken over the past decade and brings them together in a useful volume supporting the argument in the introduction that the book represents “the most recent steps along this path toward understanding Francophone Reformed congregations--including Geneva--as autonomous communities grappling with particular circumstances” (...) all scholars with an interest in religion during the Reformation will find inspiration in this volume" - Silke Muylaert, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, in: H-France Review Vol. 19 (June 2019), No. 97. "Jeder der insgesamt elf Beiträge nimmt zwar in der einen oder anderen Form Bezug auf den Jubilar und seine Studien, doch bewirkt diese Referenz bzw. Reverenz alles andere als eine inhaltliche Verklammerung. Im Gegenteil: das dadurch abgedeckte Themenfeld ist zeitlich, räumlich und motivisch-methodisch extrem weit gesteckt, der Gegenstand der Artikel überwiegend partikular, häufig anekdotisch, eine sichtende Auswertung am Anfang oder Ende kaum erkennbar." - Volker Reinhardt, Fribourg, Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 4/2018, pp. 851-852.