The Reformation as an Evangelical Movement

From the Social History of the Reformation (1960-1980) to the Reformation as Communication Process (1990-2000)

“…3 But Moeller entirely missed the point of his argument by failing to view the urban Reformation processes as the product of a dialectical relationship between the reform policies of urban authorities on the one hand and popular evangelical movements on the other, something vividly depicted by Bob Scribner in the case of Zwickau and Philip Broadhead in the case of Augsburg. 4 On the other hand, Lorna Abray's study of Strasbourg during the Reformation has stressed the manipulation of evangelical preachers by civic oligarchies, who viewed the city preachers as "diffusion valves" for popular aspirations. Similar observations have led Scribner to suggest that urban preachers were the channels through which sociopolitical considerations shaped the original Reformation message.…”