The People’s Books: The Reformation and the Bible

The Wheaton Theology Conference commemorates the Reformation’s 500th anniversary with these collected essays, which explore “the centrality of the Bible to the emergence and diffusion of the Reformation” in sections titled “Access and Readership,” “Transmission and Worship,” “Protestant-Catholic Dialogue,” and “The People’s Book Yesterday and Today.” These essays examine lesser-known aspects of biblical production throughout Europe, such as Bruce Gordon’s analysis of the proliferation and importance of Protestant-produced Latin Bibles, and D. Densil Morgan’s recounting how the creation of the Welsh Bible helped “secure the acceptance of Protestant vision” in a formerly Catholic stronghold. Unpacking complexities behind simplified Reformation tenets, G. Sujin Pak reveals how Luther’s call for the “Priesthood of all Believers” resulted in “a remarkable outpouring of treatises written by women,” Randall Zachman considers various Reformers’ distinct rationales for individuals learning to read scripture, and Paul C. H. Lim advocates that contemporary Protestants become more attuned to historical understandings of doctrines like “Sola Scriptura.” The essays brim with intriguing insights, such as Read Mercer Schuchardt’s assertion that the printing press not only produced Reformation products (indulgences and Bibles) but also made ineffective the practice of “censorship by burning at the stake.” Students of the Reformation will welcome this scholarly, diverse collection. (Apr.)