Semester 2 unit: The World ‘Made New’: European ‘Reformations’ and the Re-Construction of Identity

The period of the European ‘Reformation/s’ is a highly conflicted space in European church history. In his introduction to the topic, Peter Marshall asks “was it a force for progress, liberty, and modernity, or for conflict, division and repression? Is it history’s premier example of religion’s ability to inspire selfless idealism and beneficent social change, or a cautionary tale of fanaticism and intolerance in the name of faith?”

This unit will explore the myths and conflicted narratives of the Church in early modern Europe as it splintered and re-formed into denominational and national identities. The unit will investigate the religious upheavals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the context of the philosophical, political, social, and economic changes. It will explore religious fracturing in the context of the way in which political and social structures shifted, economic change accelerated, and the concept of the world itself was ‘made new’ through the rise of national and confessional identities. This unit will therefore give students a richer and deeper understanding of the many ‘reformations’ which shaped the post-Reformation world and set the scene for the revolutions of the next three centuries.

St Francis College

St Francis College is the provider of theological education and formation for ordination for the Anglican Church Southern Queensland.

www.stfran.qld.edu.au/