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How did we get from the religious core of the sixteenth-century Reformation to the notions of freedom popularised by Hegel and Ranke? Enlightenment's Reformation explores how two key cultural and intellectual achievements – the sixteenth-century Reformation and the late eighteenth-century birth of 'German' philosophy – became fused in public discussion over the course of the 'long' eighteenth century. Michael Printy argues that Protestant theologians and intellectuals recast the meaning of Protestantism as part of a wide-ranging cultural apology aimed at the twin threats of unbelief and deism on the one hand, and against Pietism and a nascent evangelical awakening on the other. The reimagining of the Reformation into a narrative of progress was powerful, becoming part of mainstream German intellectual culture in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Utilising Reformation history, Enlightenment history, and German philosophy, this book explores how the rich if unstable idea linking Protestantism and modern freedom came to dominate German intellectual culture until the First World War.
‘Michael Printy launches this remarkable book with an arresting thesis: Our understanding of Protestantism as the religion of freedom grounded in the freedom of reason was invented by German Enlightenment philosophers at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In exploring this thesis, Printy provides us with shining insights into the histories of the Enlightenment, the Protestant religion, and German philosophy by showing how tightly they were intertwined.’
Ian Hunter - The University of Queensland
‘This is a fascinating study of the effect of the Protestant tradition on Enlightenment thinking, from the mid eighteenth century to the mid nineteenth century. Michael Printy brings the complex debates to life, while showing a profound knowledge and understanding of a range of figures. Anyone interested in these themes will find the book invaluable.’
Robert Stern - University of Sheffield
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