Reading Questions for
Alister E. McGrath, Reformation Thought: An Introduction
Although it is not a part of the syllabus, this is extremely important. Even though both of the textbooks for this course give you historical and theological information, González tends more to emphasize the Reformation’s history. McGrath’s book, as the title suggests, focuses more on the thought and the theological contributions of the reformers. Both aspects are important and that’s the reason for using these two books.
You will probably find the González text a little easier to read and so I suggest that you read it first. Note that I am only asking you to read Parts I and II of this book. Most of you will have (or may at some point) take COS 212 at Emory where you use the first volume of this set, and where many of you said that it is an excellent resource. Parts III and IV of this book will doubtless be of use to you at some point even if you don’t use them in this course.
As to McGrath’s book, it’s not that it is hard to read, although most of you may find it a little more of a challenge than González. I am fully aware that a common complaint among Course of Study students is that some textbooks are “over our heads.” One of the reasons I chose this book is McGrath’s statement that it “assumes that the reader knows nothing about the Christian theology which underlies the Reformation, and explains what [all of the] terms. . . mean, and why they are of religious and social relevance” (McGrath, xii). The author makes good on that promise, and I think you should be able to get through the book without undue difficulty.
Still, because this book is very detailed, I decided to prepare a reading guide for you to use with it. Some of you will not need this guide. If you believe that you don’t need it, use it to line your parakeet cage. But if it’s been a long time since you were in school, or if this is one of your first Course of Study School courses, you might want to use some or all of it. The questions are intended to help you identify the main ideas in each section.
Be very clear about the following: NO ONE IS EXPECTED TO WRITE OUT THE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS IN THIS READING GUIDE OR TO TURN IN SUCH A THING. DO NOT DO IT! Simply use it as a way of determining if you’ve understood the important material in each section.
CHAPTER 1 -- INTRODUCTION
1. What aspects of the church were generally thought to be in desperate need of reform early in the 16th
century? (2-3)
2. Why could the Pope not accomplish these reforms? (4)
3. What is the meaning of the term magisterial Reformation? (5)
4. What is the origin of the word protestant? (6)
5 The Lutheran and Reformed movements began in different ways and had different goals; what were those
differences? (7-8)
6. What is the origin of the term Calvinist? Why does your author prefer the term Reformed? (8-9)
7. What is the meaning of the term Anabaptist? Why did the Anabaptists insist on rebaptism?
8. What was the significance of the Council of Trent? (11)
9. What was the fundamental conviction of the magisterial reformers? (20)
10. What were the main differences between the Lutheran and English reform movements? Why was there a
“playing down” of doctrine in the English reformation? (22-23)
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CHAPTER 2 – LATE MEDIEVAL RELIGION
1. What reasons were there for anti-clericalism in Europe? Where was anti-papalism most
concentrated? (27-29)
2. The textbook describes an “unofficial theology” of popular religion; how did this kind of thought make
reform both necessary and difficult at the same time? (29-30)
3. This section describes a two-fold crisis in authority in the late medieval period; what were the elements
of this crisis and what were their origins? (33-35)
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CHAPTER 3 – HUMANISM AND THE REFORMATION
1. How is the modern meaning of the term Humanism different from that of the 15th century? (39)
2. What is the point of the comparison of Humanism to Marxism? (41)
3. What was the central concern of Humanism? (44)
4. What is the literal meaning of the phrase ad fontes? The author also explains that this concept involved a
specific attitude about ancient texts; what was that attitude? (44-45)
5. What was the central concern (the text calls it the “ethos”) of Humanism in Switzerland? Why does your
author think this ethos was important? (48)
6. What was the thesis of Erasmus’ Handbook of the Christian Soldier? Give two reasons this thesis was
important. (52-53)
7. How did Erasmus’ translation of the New Testament affect the theology of his day? (54-55)
8. To what extent did Erasmus’ Humanism affect the work of Zwingli? (57-59)
9. How does the text contrast Luther and Zwingli? Did Humanism play any role in Luther’s reforms? (59)
10. What were the areas of tension between the Reformation and Humanism? Why was Luther originally
seen as a Humanist? When did it become clear that he was not? (60-63)
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CHAPTER 4 – SCHOLASTICISM AND THE REFORMATION
1. What is the origin of our terms Middle Ages and Scholastic? What definition does the text give for
Scholasticism? (67)
2. The text warns that this section is complicated. Try to state in your own words the difference between
Realism and Nominalism. (70)
Here’s an explanation that I sometimes use that might help: imagine a contest like a dog show – maybe a poodle show. The judges compare each individual animal with an idealized concept of “the perfect
poodle.” The distinction between Realism and Nominalism is simply a way of asking whether that idealized concept (it’s called a Universal) actually exists or whether it’s just a human invention. If it does exist, then human beings are presumably capable of recognizing it when they see it, and it is something that shows up in each individual dog. In fact, the dogs can be described as attempts to copy that ideal or Universal pattern. On the other hand, if it’s only something human beings have invented then who’s to say what the “ideal poodle” actually looks like? It’s pretty much my opinion over against yours. The whole contest seems almost arbitrary in a way.
Obviously this argument was about issues more serious than dog shows. When it comes to theology, it makes a big difference if abstract concepts like “human nature” can be said to exist. If there really is such a thing as human nature, then a concept like Original Sin becomes much easier to explain because there’s something for it to affect. Similarly, these philosophers were concerned about whether other ideas in our minds – like justice, righteousness, grace – actually reflect realities that really exist, or whether they’re just inventions of the human mind. It’s a fairly abstract argument, but it should be clear that it would have crucial implications for Christian theology.
Use this chart to keep the various players clear in your mind:
Realism (Universals actually exist) ----- Thomas Aquinas (Thomism) and Duns Scotus (Scotism)
Ockham -- Optimism
Nominalism & Via Moderna
(Universals are just inventions)
Rimini – Pessimism
schola Augustiniana moderna
4. Don’t get bogged down in this section (78-80). It’s a good example of how historians try to decide what
actually happened in the past, and McGrath is pointing out several places where our ideas about the past
have actually changed as a result of such study.
The main point in this section occurs on p. 78: Luther appears to have been well grounded in
Nominalism when he came to the University of Wittenberg – a view that had only recently been
permitted there. But his exposure seems to have been purely philosophical; McGrath does not believe
he had yet encountered the teachings of Rimini and the schola Augustiniana moderna.
5. What portion of society was most affected by Scholasticism? Why is that fact relevant for the
Reformation? (83-84)
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CHAPTER 5 – THE REFORMERS: A BIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION
1. What event first drew the Church’s attention to Luther? Why was he not summoned to Rome to answer
for what he had done? Who was Johann Eck? What occurred at the 1519 Leipzig Disputation? (88)
2. What was the Wartburg and what happened there? (90)
3. Would it be fair to call Zwingli a Biblical Humanist? Why? (92)
4. Briefly describe the reform Zwingli pursued in Zurich. What event secured official approval for
Zwingli’s reforms? (92-93)
5. What was Melanchthon’s role at the University of Wittenberg? (93)
6. What is the Loci Communes? What is its focus? (94)
7. Where did Martin Bucer conduct his reforming work? What major Reformation figure fell under his
influence? (95)
8. Why was Calvin forced to flee Paris in 1533? Where did he go? What did he do there? What brought
him to Geneva? (96-97)
9. What was the result of Calvin’s attempt to reform Geneva? Briefly describe his second stay
there. (97-98).
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CHAPTER 6 – THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH
1. What images are historically connected with the Christian concept of redemption? (101-102)
2. How does the text define justification and grace? (102-103)
3. What happened to the idea of grace during the Middle Ages? What images does the text use to explain
that change? (013)
4. What question became the focus of the doctrine of justification at the beginning of the 16th century?
Why could the church not answer that question? (104-105)
5. How did Luther describe justification in his first lectures on Psalms? (106)
6. How did he define the righteousness of God? What concern forced Luther to rethink that
definition? (107)
7. How did Luther change his definition of the righteousness of God? (108-109)
8. What seems to have been the original meaning of indulgence? Why would Luther’s views on
indulgence have had a huge economic impact? (116-117)
9. What problems does the concept of forensic justification address? How did Luther solve it? In what
way does his solution represent something new? (119-122)
10. Try to state in a sentence or two the positions of Zwingli, Luther, and Calvin on the relationship of
justification and regeneration. (122-125)
11. How did the Council of Trent disagree with the reformers on the nature of justification? Why should the
difference matter? (Focus on the section p. 127 about justification and the sacraments.) (125-127)
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CHAPTER 7 – THE DOCTRINE OF PREDESTINATION
1. How did the difference between Luther’s and Zwingli’s personal experiences shape their
respective theologies? (133)
2. What’s the difference between Luther’s and Zwingli’s understanding of Scripture? (134)
3. What shift occurs during 1520 in Zwingli’s understanding of the nature of reformation? (134)
4. What is the primary function of predestination in Calvin’s thought? (138)
5. What shift is responsible for making predestination central to later Calvinist thought? (141)
6. How was predestination linked with the covenantal theme of the via moderna? What development in
Puritanism strengthened that linkage? (142)
7. What became of Luther’s reflections on predestination? (142)
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CHAPTER 8 – THE RETURN TO SCRIPTURE
1. What two definitions of tradition are found in this section? (146-147)
2. What is the sola scriptura principle? What two important implications did the reformers draw
from it? (153)
3. What issue forced the reformers to rethink the belief that ordinary people can accurately interpret
scripture? How did the magisterial reformers solve this problem? What was the effect of the German Peasants Revolt on this same issue? (162-65)
4.What was the Roman Catholic position (as defined at the Council of Trent) on scripture? (165)
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CHAPTER 9 – THE DOCTRINE OF THE SACRAMENTS
1. What is the origin of the term sacrament? How is the word used in Christian theology? (169)
2. Why did the reformers attribute great importance to the sacraments? (171-172)
3. What does it mean to say that the sacraments are a form of accommodation? (171-172)
4. How, according to Luther, had the church taken the sacraments captive? (176-177)
5. What is transubstantiation? What about the concept did Luther reject? What did he not
reject? (178-179)
6. What, according to Zwingli, makes the communion bread different from ordinary bread? (185)
7. How did baptism take on political overtones for Zwingli? (187)
8. The dispute between Luther and Zwingli over the real presence had two important repercussions for
the Reformation; what were they? What was the Colloquy of Margburg? Why did it fail? (189).
9. What was the Roman Catholic position on the sacraments (as defined at the Council of Trent?)
(195-196)
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CHAPTER 10 – THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH
No questions
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CHAPTER 11 – THE POLITICAL THOUGHT OF THE REFORMATION
1. With what historical era did the radical reform compare itself? Why did it adopt pacifism? How did
it maintain discipline in its communities without using violence? (219-220)
2. What was Luther’s concept of the two kingdoms? What were the scope, methods, and functions of the
two kingdoms? (224-225)
3. What problems in Luther’s political theory did the Peasants Revolt demonstrate? (226)
4. What were the main differences between Luther’s and Zwingli’s political theory (focus on the 6th
paragraph in this section). (229)
5. What form of government did Zwingli prefer? Why? (230)
6. What was Calvin’s concept of the relationship between church and state? How did that concept differ
from Anabaptism? (232-233)
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CHAPTER 12 – THE DIFFUSION OF THE THOUGHT OF THE REFORMATION
1. What tools proved especially useful in spreading reform ideas? (235-239)
2. What is a catechism?
3. Generally speaking, what were the differences between the first two editions of Calvin’s Institutes of the
Christian Faith? (244)
4. What was the Lutheran parallel to the Institutes? (247)
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CHAPTER 13 – THE THOUGHT OF THE ENGLISH REFORMATION
1. What was the cause of the English Reformation? Why was Henry VIII’s request for a divorce denied?
(250)
2. How – in the years between 1534 and 1543 – did Henry VIII secure his position as “supreme head” of