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The History Of Christianity In The Reformation Era
We are the cultural descendants of the Reformation era, says Professor Brad S. Gregory in these 36 lectures on one of the most tumultuous and consequential periods in all of European history. Regardless of whether we ourselves are religious, says Professor Gregory, our modern preference for belief bolstered by doctrine is "a long-term legacy of the efforts to educate, to catechize, to indoctrinate, that began in a widespread way during the 16th century."
This course consists of 36 lectures, and is designed to take you inside the minds of those who supported the Reformation and those who resisted it. It treats the three broad religious traditions that endured or arose during these years:
This course consists of 36 lectures, and is designed to take you inside the minds of those who supported the Reformation and those who resisted it. It treats the three broad religious traditions that endured or arose during these years:
•Roman Catholicism, both as it existed on the cusp of the Reformation and as it changed to meet the Protestant challenge.
•Protestantism, meaning the forms approved by political authorities, such as Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism.
•"Radical" Protestantism, meaning the forms often at odds with political authorities, such as Anabaptism.The goal is to understand historically the theological and devotional aspects of each of these three broad traditions on its own terms and to grasp the overall ramifications of religious conflict for the subsequent course of modern Western history.
Audiobook
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
Brad S. Gregory
12 books65 followersBrad S. Gregory is Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Notre Dame. He received his Ph.D. from Princeton University (1996) and was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows (1994-96). Before joining the faculty at Notre Dame in 2003, Gregory taught at Stanford University, where he received early tenure in 2001. Gregory has two degrees in philosophy as well, both earned at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. He has received multiple teaching awards at Stanford and Notre Dame, and in 2005 was named the inaugural winner of the Hiett Prize in the Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture as the outstanding mid-career humanities scholar in the United States. Gregory's research focuses on Christianity in the Reformation era, the long-term effects of the Reformation, secularization in early modern and modern Western history, and methodology in the study of religion.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 2, 2025
بیشتر به تاریخ میپردازه تا الهیات. اما برای منم همین مفید بود، چون بیشتر در مورد الهیات نهضت اصلاح دینی خونده بودم و این اندازه با جزئیات وقایع آشنایی نداشتم.
January 10, 2025
I have not taken a course in reformation history since my days in seminary, so this was a helpful refresher on all the various strands of reformational history and theology. It is admittedly a wild ride! As a Lutheran, I am most familiar with our own history—the good, the bad, and the ugly. This course takes a deep look at the ways in which the reformation impacted all of Europe, Roman Catholicism, and the many branches of Protestantism. What I found most insightful was how the lecturer described the positive impact that the reformation had on Roman Catholicism.
May 3, 2021
I inherited a login providing access to about 100 of these courses when my uncle died a few years ago. I've slowly pushed through them - much more slowly since 2016, given that I became 100% remote effective that year - and can now hazard a few observations about "The Great Courses." As someone who had once been a half-decent university lecturer and still hosts an academia-adjacent podcast with a solid subscriber base (www.patreon.com/whatsleft), allow me to make the following observations about the series in general and this entry in particular:
1) There are two types of GC lecture series. The first is taught by a great lecturer who is probably not a specialist in the field, but who churns out entries *en masse* for GC (Rufus Fears comes to mind). These lectures are enjoyable, but there's little content behind the lecturer's performance. The other type is taught by a nose-to-the-grindstone specialist who got the GC invite because they happened to be a solid lecturer, then recorded 1-2 series in their area of expertise. Gregory is the latter.
2) As mentioned previously, lectures are either very opinionated/insubstantial/entertaining (the Fears line of courses) or taught by hyper-careful academics unwilling to make broad claims about anything. Again, Gregory numbers among the latter.
3) Most of the GC are repetitive in nature, with numerous offerings that touch on the Reformation, the Renaissance, and other shopworn aspects of Western Civ. Again, if you're wanting to focus on the most useful stuff, listen to the lectures from serious academics like Gregory (I'm guessing his books Salvation at Stake and The Unintended Reformation are fairly decent too, though likely not Fawn Brodie-esque page turners).
At any rate, were I actually commuting anywhere on a regular basis, I'd probably have finished more of these lectures by now. As it stands, it took me a little under two years to finish this one.
1) There are two types of GC lecture series. The first is taught by a great lecturer who is probably not a specialist in the field, but who churns out entries *en masse* for GC (Rufus Fears comes to mind). These lectures are enjoyable, but there's little content behind the lecturer's performance. The other type is taught by a nose-to-the-grindstone specialist who got the GC invite because they happened to be a solid lecturer, then recorded 1-2 series in their area of expertise. Gregory is the latter.
2) As mentioned previously, lectures are either very opinionated/insubstantial/entertaining (the Fears line of courses) or taught by hyper-careful academics unwilling to make broad claims about anything. Again, Gregory numbers among the latter.
3) Most of the GC are repetitive in nature, with numerous offerings that touch on the Reformation, the Renaissance, and other shopworn aspects of Western Civ. Again, if you're wanting to focus on the most useful stuff, listen to the lectures from serious academics like Gregory (I'm guessing his books Salvation at Stake and The Unintended Reformation are fairly decent too, though likely not Fawn Brodie-esque page turners).
At any rate, were I actually commuting anywhere on a regular basis, I'd probably have finished more of these lectures by now. As it stands, it took me a little under two years to finish this one.
December 16, 2018
This is an audio history lecture produced by The Teaching Company. It is the second set that I listened to from them. I got this product largely due to the positive experience with my first lecture series on the topic of ancient warfare. This present lecture series is on the history of Christianity during the era of the Reformation. I was more impressed with this lecture series than the first one I listened to and I am looking forward to enjoying more products from this company since they have done a good job picking qualified scholars and experts on the subjects being taught.
Those who are interested in church history and especially with the beginning of the modern era will enjoy these lectures a lot. Those who enjoy studying the Reformation would also benefit greatly from these lectures though it isn’t a historical theology course per se. The series title is accurate: it is on history during the era of the Reformation and not just Reformation history. So the approach of the lectures also encompasses those outside of mainstream Protestantism (Reformed and Lutherans) such as Anabaptists, Arminians and Catholics. Also the professor isn’t necessarily looking only at the Protestants perspective with the Reformation. The professor Brad S. Gregory has been trained and taught in various Catholic institutions of learning and presently is the Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Notre Dame. From a historian standpoint Gregory is quite accomplished and more than capable in teaching about the history of this era having earned a doctorate in Princeton and early in his career was a tenured professor at Stanford two years prior to his move to Notre Dame. Overall his lectures are quite fair and in general one doesn’t hear his biases. I was pleasantly surprised at his articulation of what Martin Luther believed in terms of justification, salvation and the Gospel. He was able to accurately portray what the different side believed.
Though I am personally of the Reformed Protestant perspective I think listening to these lectures with biblical lens and discernment is still very helpful. For instance I enjoyed his discussion of background to the Reformation with Medieval beliefs and institutions. Situating the Reformation in its social context allows one to make better sense of what happened. In particular I thought the professor’s point about the medieval beliefs of providence and sacraments is important in which eventually Protestants would embrace and one doctrine and even become more specific with (the doctrine of providence) while also gradually rejecting the other because of Scripture (medieval concept of sacraments). His exploration of the external causes of the Reformation is one of the best I’ve heard. Gregory is conscious about historical methodology and in particular to explain why some became Protestants and why some stayed in Catholicism. His breakdown of the cause being anticlericalism, structural difficulties and the more counter-intuitive cause that medieval Christianity was actually more active and vibrant rather than the stereotypical assumption that Christianity was totally dead was surely food for thought. I do think he’s right about anticlericalism with the abuses during that era. From these lectures I learned that during this era the largest complaint about priests and church leadership was about clerical greed more than other moral failure. More controversial is Gregory’s point about a vibrant medieval Christianity paving the way for the Reformation. I do think the teacher is right in saying there was a lot of religiosity and religious activity and zeal during the medieval age as seen by the various volunteer organizations, projects and works of those centuries. Yet all these religious works didn’t pacify the mind and conscience of being right with God or earning righteousness with God which the New Testament describe as dead works. A more nuanced view is because of religiousness that doesn’t satisfy man’s biggest need with God is why the Reformation with its recovery of the biblical doctrine of Justification became such a historical movement.
These 36 lectures were quite comprehensive. Gregory spends quite some length discussing French Calvinists and also how politically the Scottish alliance with France influenced Scottish Protestantism. These two areas are among things I learned from this series that I didn’t know much about before. I also enjoyed the author’s point that the older view of historian that Calvin is some kind of insurrectionists is largely rejected and also going over the kings and queens in England and how it shaped English’s religious landscape. Also the lecture on the Thirty Years war was on a subject I didn’t know much about previously.
With such an excellent series that overall is helpful no matter what perspective one holds I was though a bit disappointed at the end of the series when Gregory talked about metric of success and answering the question of whether the Reformation was a success. He argued that from the assumptions of the three actors (Reformers, Catholics and Anabaptists) according to their own beliefs it was the Reformers that was the least successful. I beg to differ because the Gospel was recovered in the eyes of the Reformers. I think Gregory stresses too much on the Reformers’ goal of unity and while the Reformers originally never meant to start their own churches still the overall motivation for Protestants and Reformers was the recovery of the Gospel and for the Reformers that is a precious thing!
Much more could be said but these lectures were fascinating and informative.
Those who are interested in church history and especially with the beginning of the modern era will enjoy these lectures a lot. Those who enjoy studying the Reformation would also benefit greatly from these lectures though it isn’t a historical theology course per se. The series title is accurate: it is on history during the era of the Reformation and not just Reformation history. So the approach of the lectures also encompasses those outside of mainstream Protestantism (Reformed and Lutherans) such as Anabaptists, Arminians and Catholics. Also the professor isn’t necessarily looking only at the Protestants perspective with the Reformation. The professor Brad S. Gregory has been trained and taught in various Catholic institutions of learning and presently is the Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Notre Dame. From a historian standpoint Gregory is quite accomplished and more than capable in teaching about the history of this era having earned a doctorate in Princeton and early in his career was a tenured professor at Stanford two years prior to his move to Notre Dame. Overall his lectures are quite fair and in general one doesn’t hear his biases. I was pleasantly surprised at his articulation of what Martin Luther believed in terms of justification, salvation and the Gospel. He was able to accurately portray what the different side believed.
Though I am personally of the Reformed Protestant perspective I think listening to these lectures with biblical lens and discernment is still very helpful. For instance I enjoyed his discussion of background to the Reformation with Medieval beliefs and institutions. Situating the Reformation in its social context allows one to make better sense of what happened. In particular I thought the professor’s point about the medieval beliefs of providence and sacraments is important in which eventually Protestants would embrace and one doctrine and even become more specific with (the doctrine of providence) while also gradually rejecting the other because of Scripture (medieval concept of sacraments). His exploration of the external causes of the Reformation is one of the best I’ve heard. Gregory is conscious about historical methodology and in particular to explain why some became Protestants and why some stayed in Catholicism. His breakdown of the cause being anticlericalism, structural difficulties and the more counter-intuitive cause that medieval Christianity was actually more active and vibrant rather than the stereotypical assumption that Christianity was totally dead was surely food for thought. I do think he’s right about anticlericalism with the abuses during that era. From these lectures I learned that during this era the largest complaint about priests and church leadership was about clerical greed more than other moral failure. More controversial is Gregory’s point about a vibrant medieval Christianity paving the way for the Reformation. I do think the teacher is right in saying there was a lot of religiosity and religious activity and zeal during the medieval age as seen by the various volunteer organizations, projects and works of those centuries. Yet all these religious works didn’t pacify the mind and conscience of being right with God or earning righteousness with God which the New Testament describe as dead works. A more nuanced view is because of religiousness that doesn’t satisfy man’s biggest need with God is why the Reformation with its recovery of the biblical doctrine of Justification became such a historical movement.
These 36 lectures were quite comprehensive. Gregory spends quite some length discussing French Calvinists and also how politically the Scottish alliance with France influenced Scottish Protestantism. These two areas are among things I learned from this series that I didn’t know much about before. I also enjoyed the author’s point that the older view of historian that Calvin is some kind of insurrectionists is largely rejected and also going over the kings and queens in England and how it shaped English’s religious landscape. Also the lecture on the Thirty Years war was on a subject I didn’t know much about previously.
With such an excellent series that overall is helpful no matter what perspective one holds I was though a bit disappointed at the end of the series when Gregory talked about metric of success and answering the question of whether the Reformation was a success. He argued that from the assumptions of the three actors (Reformers, Catholics and Anabaptists) according to their own beliefs it was the Reformers that was the least successful. I beg to differ because the Gospel was recovered in the eyes of the Reformers. I think Gregory stresses too much on the Reformers’ goal of unity and while the Reformers originally never meant to start their own churches still the overall motivation for Protestants and Reformers was the recovery of the Gospel and for the Reformers that is a precious thing!
Much more could be said but these lectures were fascinating and informative.
April 2, 2021
Straight History
AT A GLANCE
If you want the general history of the time, look no further.
CONTENT
This course covers the broad strokes of the Reformation epoch. It's history, mind you, so it can at times get reasonably qualified and dull. The focus is decidedly political in nature, covering the relations of various rulers and countries in the 16th and 17th centuries, together with their tensions and social conditions. Less time is spent covering the pressing questions of theology, considerably less than I had expected. Can't be too disappointed though, as there are other Great Courses for that subject.
NARRATOR
Prof. Gregory lectures well, delivering on inflection and avoiding overly dense language. His voice isn't terribly distinctive or engaging, but it doesn't distract from the content.
OVERALL
It's good. You can learn quite a lot if you pay close attention.
AT A GLANCE
If you want the general history of the time, look no further.
CONTENT
This course covers the broad strokes of the Reformation epoch. It's history, mind you, so it can at times get reasonably qualified and dull. The focus is decidedly political in nature, covering the relations of various rulers and countries in the 16th and 17th centuries, together with their tensions and social conditions. Less time is spent covering the pressing questions of theology, considerably less than I had expected. Can't be too disappointed though, as there are other Great Courses for that subject.
NARRATOR
Prof. Gregory lectures well, delivering on inflection and avoiding overly dense language. His voice isn't terribly distinctive or engaging, but it doesn't distract from the content.
OVERALL
It's good. You can learn quite a lot if you pay close attention.
December 16, 2016
Above average course: well organized, a good mix of facts and generalizations--and Dr. Gregory is the sort of lecturer who tells you what he's going to say, says it, sums up what he just said, tells you what he's going to say in the next lecture, and then later on refers back to what he's said before.
September 16, 2019
Good overview of post-reformation history and its impact on the democratization/secularization of the modern world. Filled with good analysis and historical background. Fair treatment of Luther's predicament. Bounces back and forth quite a bit between different countries and sects (Anglicanism, Anabaptism, Catholicism, Radical Protestantism, Erasmian Humanism etc.).
February 4, 2020
Another excellent course from The Great Courses. Gregory worked hard to explain the mindset of the reformation and various violent conflicts. I'm not a believer and thought he did a good job of describing both sides. It is a longish set of lectures but I would like to listen to them again or at least a subset of them.
September 1, 2022
Brad Gregory clearly knows his stuff. This course was packed with insightful information and analysis of a pivotal period of european history, the outcomes of which have shaped modern life profoundly. I really enjoyed this course, and will probably listen to it again to gain additional insights I missed the first time through.
December 20, 2023
If you're coming into this fresh, it's going to be a lot. If you are a student or scholar of the era, it was a fantastic overview with some very enjoyable tidbits and connections I was as yet unaware of.
March 17, 2022
Learned a lot
January 5, 2024
Ever wanted an extremely thorough overview of Europe in the late middle ages, early modern period? lol. Definitely going to revisit this, or at least the audible handouts, in the future.
October 30, 2025
Really well done!!! Very balanced, very understandable, and interesting!
April 8, 2023
Excellent deep dive into protestant movement
January 12, 2016
I enjoyed this installment of the Great Courses library, but not as much as the others I've listened to. There were so many different stories running through this time period that I felt the instructor didn't do a great job of weaving it all together into one coherent whole. I found myself losing interest and my mind would wander and I'd have to back up and listen again. I still learned a lot of interesting information, I just didn't love the instructor.
June 3, 2015
This was the most I ever learned about religion - or about European history, politics, and society for that matter. I consider myself to be pretty well read, and relatively religiously literate. And, as a devout Lutheran, I have been studying the Reformation for nearly two decades now. But, this provided a depth of understanding that I had not gotten from anywhere else.
February 6, 2017
One of the best Teaching Company courses--I've listened to this course twice now and am reading two of Brad Gregory's books--Salvation at Stake and The Unintended Reformation. Highly recommend!
October 29, 2021
This is an excellent course! Listen to learn more about Europe’s religious thought in the 1500’s and its continued influence today.
October 15, 2022
It had some interesting points. I finished it.
December 16, 2015
Too much material deftly handled.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews