In 1523, in one of the most daring and remarkable events in the history of the Reformation, a woman challenged the Catholic establishment to a public debate. The issue was the persecution of a young Lutheran student in Ingolstadt.Argula von Grumbach's writings on this and many other topics were widely circulated: her first publication alone went through sixteen editions. She addressed the Catholic theologians of Ingolstadt, the Dukes of Bavaria and the Councils of Ingolstadt and Regensburg. She also met with and conducted an extensive correspondence with Luther, Osiander and many of the leading reformers.Professor Peter Matheson here provides translations of all her published works together with introductions. He gives a full biographical account of von Grumbach, analyses her use of Scripture and discusses her role as a woman of the Reformation.The rediscovery of Protestanism's first female theologian and author affords a wealth of new insight into the history of the Reformation; the role of women in Church, state and society; and a woman's use of Scripture, which in many ways anticipates the flowering of feminist theology today.

In this small gem of Reformation research, Peter Matheson offers a rich view of the Reformation as it appeared in pamphlets and sermons, woodcuts and paintings, poetry and song, correspondence and the contours of daily life. The popular media he explores evince the Reformation's novel use of images and metaphors, its deep effects on personal and family life and spirituality, heightened civic engagement, great utopian dreams and experiments, as well as its nightmarish excesses.

Alongside essays on aspects of Calvin s Theology, Calvin: The Man and the Legacy includes studies of Calvin as pastor, preacher and liturgist and traces the influence of Calvin as it was conveyed through Scottish migration to Australia and New Zealand. Fascinating stories are told of the ways in which the Calvinist tradition has contributed much to the building of colonial societies, but also of the ways it has attracted ridicule and derision and has been subject to caricature that is sometimes deserved, sometimes humorous, but often grossly misleading."

InterfaceTheology is a biannual refereed journal of theology published in print, epub and open access by ATF Press in Australia. The journal is a scholarly ecumenical and interdisciplinary publication, aiming to serve the church and its mission, promoting a broad based interpretation of Christian theology within a trinitarian context, encouraging dialogue between Christianity and other faiths, and exploring the interface between faith and culture. It is published in English for an international audience.

InterfaceTheology is a biannual refereed journal of theology published in print, epub and open access by ATF Press in Australia. The journal is a scholarly ecumenical and interdisciplinary publication, aiming to serve the church and its mission, promoting a broad based interpretation of Christian theology within a trinitarian context, encouraging dialogue between Christianity and other faiths, and exploring the interface between faith and culture. It is published in English for an international audience.

Alongside essays on aspects of Calvin s Theology, Calvin: The Man and the Legacy includes studies of Calvin as pastor, preacher and liturgist and traces the influence of Calvin as it was conveyed through Scottish migration to Australia and New Zealand. Fascinating stories are told of the ways in which the Calvinist tradition has contributed much to the building of colonial societies, but also of the ways it has attracted ridicule and derision and has been subject to caricature that is sometimes deserved, sometimes humorous, but often grossly misleading."

About the Contributor(s): Peter Matheson is a Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religion at Otago University in New Zealand. He has authored several books in Renaissance and Reformation studies, with a particular focus on radical movements and women's history, including The Imaginative World of the Reformation.

Peter Matheson has written the first study in English of the Reformation as a literary phenomenon. This book traces the first emergence of a 'public opinion' in European history.Using insights from social history, religion and literature, Professor Matheson explores the connection between the 'communal Reformation' and the outpouring of pamphlets in the early 1520's. These pamphlets helped to create a dynamic and subversive network of communication where language and structure were of equal importance.He also examines the relative strengths of polemical and dialogical approaches in winning adherents, the motivations of the authors and the expectations of audiences.This ground-breaking study will be of interest to scholars and students of the history of the Reformation, theology, and also of communication and literature.