Debating the sacraments: print and authority in the early Reformation

Abstract

"Debating the Sacraments argues that Reformation debates concerning baptism and the Lord's Supper cannot be treated in isolation. It demonstrates the continuing influence of Erasmus on Luther's evangelical opponents and examines the role of printing in fanning the public controversy over the sacraments"--

Contents

Print and the Reformation crisis of authority -- Contours of the printed debate -- Heresy and hermeneutics: the background to the controversy -- Karlstadt's challenge to Luther -- The early debate in Switzerland -- Martin Bucer and Bugenhagen's Psalms commentary -- Oecolampadius against the Wittenbergers -- Undermining Oecolampadius: the debate with Pirckheimer -- The contributions of Zurich and Strasbourg -- Print, polemics, and popular response in southern Germany -- The debate matures, 1527-1529 -- The Lord's Supper in catechetical literature -- Sacramentarian diversity -- Reconstituting authority.