Review: Reading the Reformation

It's apt that I get to read a book about the Reformation during the month of October!

In fact, Reading the Reformation by Zachary Purvis offers an even broader appreciation for this anniversary beyond Reformation Day by highlighting the countless individuals involved in this significant Christian movement.

Many thanks to Baker Academic, Brazos Press, and NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Book Synopsis

During the Reformation, theologians wrote, colleagues annotated, scribes recorded, and printers toiled, bringing Protestant doctrine and practice to life and transforming European society. Demonstrating the benefit of integrating histories of culture and scholarship with historical theology, this book invites readers to view the Reformation and its writings with fresh eyes.

Instead of focusing solely on the printing press as an agent of change, Reading the Reformation recalls the forgotten methods of writing, annotating, publishing, and preserving texts by key Protestant reformers, from Martin Luther to John Calvin, from Martin Bucer to the Westminster Assembly. Zachary Purvis covers a broad range of topics, meticulously illuminating the physical and mental labor behind the texts that fostered the Reformation.

This book is an indispensable resource for students, scholars, history enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the transformative power of the written word during one of the most pivotal eras of European history.

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

This is a book that will make you appreciate all of the sacrifices that the Reformers made in a time of spiritual and political volatility, even leading to persecution and martyrdom. The fact that we can have a Bible in our hands and in our heart language has been no small feat throughout history, making me immensely indebted to the convictions of different Protestant believers dating many centuries back. Reading the Reformation peels back this corner of history by granting us an in-depth look at those who played pivotal roles in disseminating the Bible and biblical teachings to the masses, including the secretaries, scribes, scholars, and speakers who fulfilled the calling on their lives to spread the Gospel.

It's a volume that is dense with historical events, filled with careful research and direct quotes from the Reformers of the time. Anyone with a love for literature and literary activities will appreciate the rigour involved in being a secretary or a scribe where immense responsibility was placed on their shoulders to accurately and faithfully convey texts to others. Christianity has a rich tradition of following in the footsteps of past scribes, allowing Christians today to benefit from those practices. It's what makes this particular time in history quite riveting as it's easy to picture ourselves eagerly anticipating the documentation that the Reformers worked on. Readers with a penchant for history will find a lot of fascinating stories to get lost in as they discover just what was involved in bringing the Reformation about, along with the impact it continues to have on us today when we pick up a Bible or a Christian book.

Book Summary

• Format of book: 📱
• Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Recommendation: 👍

Book Quotes

In one corner is the village priest, who relies not on the New Testament but on the apocryphal second-century Acts of Peter for information. The priest comes to his source, moreover, indirectly through family and oral tradition and accepts its claims unthinkingly. In the other corner is Platter, a talented humanist equipped with critical faculties of reading and interpreting. Equally important, Platter is a Protestant, one who carries in his rucksack a freshly printed copy of the New Testament. He reads his Bible carefully for doctrine and life, but he is also attuned to membership puzzles in the early urban church in Rome.