The Reformation of the Keys: Confession, Conscience, and Authority in Sixteenth-Century Germany (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780674011762)

The Catholic Church's claims to spiritual and temporal authority rest on Jesus' promise in the gospels to give Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven. In the sixteenth century, leaders of the German Reformation sought a fundamental transformation of this "power of the keys" as part of their efforts to rid Church and society of alleged clerical abuses. Central to this transformation was a thoroughgoing reform of private confession.

Unlike other Protestants, Lutherans chose not to abolish private confession but to change it to suit their theological convictions and social needs. In a fascinating examination of this new religious practice, Ronald Rittgers traces the development of Lutheran private confession, demonstrating how it consistently balanced competing concerns for spiritual freedom and moral discipline. The reformation of private confession was part of a much larger reformation of the power of the keys that had profound implications for the use of religious authority in sixteenth-century Germany.

As the first full-length study of the role of Lutheran private confession in the German Reformation, this book is a welcome contribution to early modern European and religious history.

Author: Ronald K. Rittgers
ISBN-10: 0674011767
ISBN-13: 9780674011762
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/15/2004
Pages: 330
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.37lbs
Size: 9.46h x 6.56w x 1.06d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2004 pg. 501
Books & Culture 11/01/2005 pg. 8