Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation

Christopher Boyd Brown

Harvard University Press, Mar 31, 2005 - History - 298 pages

Singing the Gospel offers a new appraisal of the Reformation and its popular appeal, based on the place of German hymns in the sixteenth-century press and in the lives of early Lutherans. The Bohemian mining town of Joachimsthal--where pastors, musicians, and laity forged an enduring and influential union of Lutheranism, music, and culture--is at the center of the story.

The Lutheran hymns, sung in the streets and homes as well as in the churches and schools of Joachimsthal, were central instruments of a Lutheran pedagogy that sought to convey the Gospel to lay men and women in a form that they could remember and apply for themselves. Townspeople and miners sang the hymns at home, as they taught their children, counseled one another, and consoled themselves when death came near.

Shaped and nourished by the theology of the hymns, the laity of Joachimsthal maintained this Lutheran piety in their homes for a generation after Evangelical pastors had been expelled, finally choosing emigration over submission to the Counter-Reformation. Singing the Gospel challenges the prevailing view that Lutheranism failed to transform the homes and hearts of sixteenth-century Germany.

Contents

• Reformation and Music in Joachimsthal: 24
• Lutheranism Music and Society: 41
• Music and Lutheran Education: 52
• Lutheran Music in the Church: 74
• Lutheranism and Music at Home: 103
• CounterReformation in Joachimsthal: 128
• Joachimsthas Influence: 149
• Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation: 165
• Printing of Nicolaus Herman Sonntags Evangelia 15601630: 173
• Printing of Nicolaus Herman Historien von derSindfluty 15621607: 177
• Contents of Nicolaus Herman Sonntags Evangclia: 179
• Contents of Nicolaus Herman Historien: 187
• Abbreviations: 195
• Notes: 199
• Index: 277

About the author

Christopher Boyd Brown is Assistant Professor of Church History, Boston University School of Theology.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Singing the Gospel: Lutheran Hymns and the Success of the Reformation; EBSCO ebook academic collection; Volume 148 of Harvard Historical Studies, ISSN 0073-053X
• Author: Christopher Boyd Brown
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2005
• ISBN: 0674017056, 9780674017054
• Length: 298 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Germany; History / General; Music / Religious / Gospel; Music / Religious / Hymns; Religion / Christianity / Protestant; Religion / General; Religion / Institutions & Organizations