Historical Method and Confessional Identity in the Era of the Reformation (1378-1615): (94 Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions)

This volume deals with the basic problem of how theologians of all confessions handled ancient, mainly Christian, history in the Reformation era. The author argues that far from being a mere tool of religious controversy, history was used throughout the 16th century to express profound religious and theological convictions and that historians and theologians of different confessions sought to define their religious identity by recourse to a particular historical method. By carefully comparing the types of historical documents produced by Calvinist, Lutheran and Roman Catholic circles, she throws a new light on patristic editions and manuals, the Centuries of Magdeburg, the Ecclesiastical Annals of Caesar Baronius and various collections of New Testament Apocrypha. Much of this material is examined here for the first time. The book substantially revises existing preconceptions about Reformation historiography and view of the past.

About the Author :
Irena Backus, D.Phil.(1976), Oxford University, Dr. theol. hab. (1988), University of Berne, Hon. D.D. (2001), University of Edinburgh, is Professor of Reformation History at the University of Geneva. She has published extensively on history of Biblical Exegesis and on the reception of the Church Fathers in the West. Her publications include The Reception of the Church Fathers in the West (Brill, 1997) and Reformation Readings of the Apocalypse (2001).

Review :
'Irena Backus has firmly established herself as an authority on the reception of the Church Fathers, during the Reformation era. Here she extends her scope to examine historical scholarship in a more general way, with the Fthers still playing a leading role.' James K. Farge, Theological Studies, 2005. '...Backus provides an exhaustive and differentiated examination of the role of history in the different theological millieus of the Reformation era. As a consequence, the book serves as a valuable contribution to the development of historical method itself as well as to the origins of historical sciences, whose roots go further back than the nineteenth century.' Susanne Rau, H-German, 2005. '...remarkably erudite book...In clearing away previous scholarly assumptions, Backus has made a path-breaking contribution ro Reformation scholarship. She has shown that for both Protestant reformers and Catholic apologists historical inquiry into the texts and contexts of patristic theology proved essential.' Charles L. Stinger, Erasmus of Rotterdam Society, Yearbook Twenty Five, 2005.