Ink against the devil Loewen, Harry
Ink against the devil,
2015, 2015, 2015-06-18, 2015-06-12
eBook
Sixteenth-century Reformation Europe was a tumultuous time during which many defining ideas of the modern era were formulated. The technological advancement augured by the Gutenberg press allowed the ...unprecedented circulation of ideas among a growing legion of literate Europeans. The writings of radical reformer Martin Luther were perhaps most influential of all. His opposition to the universal Roman Catholic Church fundamentally challenged the elites and their institutions. Along the way, Luther was opposed by the Church, the political powers of the day, and competing religious ideologies. Ink Against the Devil distills the major impulses from these debates that continue to resonate to this day. This book will appeal to both lay and professional scholars of the Reformation and its major players with prose that is accessible and free of jargon. Loewen directly addresses the debates between Luther and his many foes, including Humanists like Erasmus and the sectarian opponents found among contemporary Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Of particular interest will be a focus on anti-semitism throughout Luther's published writings and sermons. There may be no other examples of this book's scope in such a natural, narrative presentation.
In their zeal to tell the true story of sixteenth-century radicalism, some sympathizers of the Anabaptist movement have portrayed the once maligned individuals and groups as innocent, pious people ...who suffered cruel persecution at the hands of the wicked state-churchmen. Their side of the story is thus often as one-sided as was the story of the enemies of Anabaptism. This book, written by a Mennonite scholar, seeks to understand the reasons for the clash between Luther and the radicals, a point often neglected when one or the other side is emphasized. The study keeps Luther, however, in a central position, exploring the issues which led to the Reformer's attitude toward the radicals and analyzing the principles that were at stake in his struggle with the dissident groups.
German-speaking Canadians from various national and cultural backgrounds -- German, Austrian, Swiss, Mennonite -- make up the third largest ethnic group in Canada. Yet despite their prominence and ...achievements, The Old World and the New is the first book to explore the contributions of men and women in this group to the Canadian literary tradition. These writers underwent vastly different experiences as immigrants in twentieth-century Canada. Else Seel left behind the dynamic literary life of Berlin at the same time of the Weimar Republic to become a settler's wife in the interior of British Columbia, a latter-day Susanna Moodie. Frederick Philip Grove did his best to cloud his past, though his European literary roots remained strong, and became part of the Canadian mainstream. Ulrich Schaffer, in his search meaning in today's world, drew intensely on two homelands and on his religious faith, but remains virtually unknown in his adopted country. Henry Kriesel, Carl Wiselbreger, and Charles Wassermann came to Canada as political refugees, spent time in internment camps, then with freedom found the inspiration to begin anew. Walter Bauer experienced Canada through the burden of his European 'luggage' -- his memories of two devastating world wars and his 'desperate love for Europe'; like his distinguished Swiss contemporary Hermann Boschenstein, he became a professor of German at the University of Toronto. The Mennonite writers surveyed here, including Rudy Wiebe and Patrick Firesen, portray in their writing the traditions of suffering in exile and longing for a lost homeland. As immigrants, these writers faced alienation and the force of assimilation, rootlessness and the satisfaction of survival. Central to their creative works are the themes of exile, adjustment to a new way of life, and the interplay of two homelands, Canada and Europe, and two worlds, the Old and New. The Old World and the New is an important expression of the literary voice of German-speaking Canadians. It also reflects the variety and sophist
