All Things Made New: The Reformation and Its Legacy by Diarmaid MacCulloch (PDF)

Description

The most profound characteristic of Western Europe in the Middle Ages was its cultural and religious unity, a unity secured by a common alignment with the Pope in Rome, and a common language – Latin – for worship and scholarship. The Reformation shattered that unity, and the consequences are still with us today. In All Things Made New, Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of the New York Times bestseller Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, examines not only the Reformation’s impact across Europe, but also the Catholic Counter-Reformation and the special evolution of religion in England, revealing how one of the most turbulent, bloody, and transformational events in Western history has shaped modern society.The Reformation may have launched a social revolution, MacCulloch argues, but it was not caused by social and economic forces, or even by a secular idea like nationalism; it sprang from a big idea about death, salvation, and the afterlife. This idea – that salvation was entirely in God’s hands and there was nothing humans could do to alter his decision – ended the Catholic Church’s monopoly in Europe and altered the trajectory of the entire future of the West.By turns passionate, funny, meditative, and subversive, All Things Made New takes readers onto fascinating new ground, exploring the original conflicts of the Reformation and cutting through prejudices that continue to distort popular conceptions of a religious divide still with us after five centuries. This monumental work, from one of the most distinguished scholars of Christianity writing today, explores the ways in which historians have told the tale of the Reformation, why their interpretations have changed so dramatically over time, and ultimately, how the contested legacy of this revolution continues to impact the world today.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book is actually a collection of articles written by Prof. MacCulloch over the years, all dealing with the English Reformation, which is his specialty. It contains many useful insights and, for those of us in the field of Reformation studies generally, a number of very helpful references. The thesis that emerges from many of the articles is that the Church of England was part of the wider community of Reformed (although not necessarily Calvinist) churches until after the Civil War, when what we today we call Anglicanism was, for lack of a better term, invented. In several essays, he points out the rewriting of English church history by the nineteenth-century Tractarians, who wanted to argue that Anglicanism was always a “middle way.” Prof MacCulloch is himself a liberal Anglican, and he does not keep his views hidden. In part, this is helpful, because he has no personal attachment to either the Puritans or the Tractarians, and is therefore able to discuss the theological vagaries of the Church of England in the Reformation period without animus. On the other hand, his comments about contemporary religion–he wishes that Pope Francis might bring the Roman Catholic Church into conformity with modern ideas about sexuality–can be a bit annoying. Because they are largely irrelevant to the history he is discussing, the reader can ignore them with impunity.

⭐I have become a fan of Diarmaid MacCulloch’s books over the years. Although I am not an expert in the field, I find them engaging and digestable without being so watered down as to be condescending (a problem with some academic writers who want to reach a wider audience). Don’t get me wrong, the book is demanding, not a page-turner, and I struggle with more than a chapter at a time–so much information. However, the density is worth the knowledge that is gained from reading this book.

⭐The foremost British scholar of the Reformation has done it again in this series of reflections on the English Reformation. Anyone who enjoys Reformation history will love this book, even if one does not always agree with the author’s viewpoints. The book makes an easy introduction to Reformation history, laying out clearly the issues at stake and the personalities involved.

⭐Published September 2016, this is a collection of essays and reviews that have been published separately. Here is MacCulloch at his best: erudition softened by wit and an appreciation of the theological enterprise as necessary, yet always inadequate, frequently corrupt, and sometimes deadly.

⭐Diarmaid MacCulloch’s latest is as good as his three previous books. He writes exceedingly well, and his scholarship is excellent, as always. MacCulloch’s occasional wit and irony in the essays makes for enjoyable reading.

⭐well written with a good flow, most of the time

⭐If at times a little tedious, the book never failed to be rewarding with insight and wit. If you have enjoyed MacCulloch’s writing you will enjoy these essays.

⭐Excellent series of articles on the Reformation.

⭐well written. It’s a good read.

⭐Very interesting book

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