Early Modern Studies. Beyond Indulgences : : Luther’s Reform of Late Medieval Piety, 1518–1520 / / Anna Marie Johnson.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package 2017
• VerfasserIn: Johnson, Anna Marie,
• Place / Publishing House: University Park, PA : : Penn State University Press, , [2017]; ©2017
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English
• Series: Early Modern Studies ; 21
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (240 p.)

Between Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 and his excommunication from the church in 1520, he issued twenty-five sermons and treatises on Christian piety, most of them in German. These pastoral writings extended his criticisms of the church beyond indulgences to the practices of confession, prayer, clerical celibacy, the sacraments, suffering, and death. These were the issues that mattered most to Luther because they affected the faith of believers and the health of society. Luther’s conflict with Rome forced him to address the issue of papal authority, but on his own time, he focused on encouraging lay Christians to embrace a simpler, self-sacrificing faith. In these pastoral writings, he criticized theologians and church officials for leading people astray with a reliance on religious works, and he began to lay the foundation for a reformed Christian piety.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: The Pastoral Writings of 1518 to 1520 -- Chapter One: The Practical Early Luther -- Chapter Two: Scholasticism, Indulgences, and Christian Life: 1516–1517 -- Chapter Three: Reshaping Confession, Reorienting Piety: Lent 1518 -- Chapter Four: Piety in the Shadow of Conflict: Summer 1518 -- Chapter Five: Reforming Prayer and Good Works: Early 1519 -- Chapter Six: Reinterpreting Sacraments and Saints: Fall 1519 to Summer 1520 -- Conclusion: Piety and Luther’s Protest -- Appendix -- Works Cited -- Index -- About the Author