Calvinism in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth 1548-1648

The Churches and the Faithful
LIV, 322 Pp. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-90-04-42481-4
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, 322 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 683 g

Reihe: St Andrews Studies in Reformation History

Calvinism in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1548–1648 offers an in-depth history of the Reformed Churches in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in their first hundred years. Kazimierz Bem analyses church polity, liturgy, the practices of Calvinist church discipline and piety, and the reasons for conversion to and from Calvinism in all strata of the society.

Drawing on extensive research in primary sources, Bem challenges the dominant narrative of Protestant decline after 1570 and argues for a continued flourishing of Calvinism in the Commonwealth until the 1630s.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bem, Kazimierz

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christliche Kirchen, Konfessionen, Denominationen Protestantismus, evangelische und protestantische Kirchen Reformierte Kirchen, Calvinisten, presbyterianische Kirchen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Kirchengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religionsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments

Name and Place Conventions

Timeline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Maps and Illustrations

PART 1

The Commonwealth in the Age of the Reformation

1 Introduction

2 The Land of Many Sects

2.1 The People and Their Religions

2.2 The Territories and Their Governance

2.3 The Reformation in Poland and Lithuania before 1548

PART 2

The Reformed Churches

3 Church Polity

3.1 The Early Years: 1548–1595

3.2 Growing Together: 1595–1630s

3.3 The 1634 Wlodawa General Convocation and Its Aftermath

4 The Liturgy

4.1 The Early Years 1550–1595

4.2 Krainski’s Forma of 1599 and the 1601 Agenda in Lesser Poland

4.3 Liturgical Developments in the Greater Poland Brethren Churches

4.4 Reformed Liturgy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1550–1621

4.5 Toward a Unified Reformed Liturgy in Poland and Lithuania

5 Church Discipline

5.1 Theological Background of Reformed Church Discipline before 1634

5.2 The Practice of Reformed Church Discipline before 1634

5.3 Reformed Church Discipline after the 1634 Wlodawa Convocation

6 The Ministry

7 Patterns of Piety

PART 3

The Reformed Faithful

8 The Nobles Convert

9 A Few Sheep Are Better than a Herd of Pigs

10 Calvinists in Royal Towns

11 Calvinist Fishing in Lutheran Waters

12 “Most Fanatical Champions of Their Perfidious Dogmas”— Women and Calvinism in the Commonwealth

13 The Ambiguity of Numbers

14 Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Kazimierz Bem, Ph.D. (2007, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), is pastor of First Church in Marlborough (Congregational) UCC in Massachusetts, USA. He received his M.Div. and S.T.M. degrees from Yale Divinity School in 2010 and 2012. He is the author of many articles on Calvinism in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the book Biographical Dictionary of Reformed Clergy. Pastors and Deaconess of the Lesser Poland and Warsaw Consistory 1815–1939 (Wydawnictwo Naukowe Semper, 2015).