Recultivating the Vineyard: The Reformation Agendas of Christianization

by Scott H. Hendrix

Scott Hendrix argues in this book that the sixteenth century reformers all shared the same goal: to Christianize Christendom, that is, to replant authentic Christianity in the vineyard of the Lord, in the same European Christendom which they believed had been devastated by the medieval church. He believes it is more accurate and useful to speak of one Reformation and to locate its diversity in the various theological and practical agendas that were developed to realize the goal of Christianization.

Genres: History, Religion

280 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2004

About the author

Scott H. Hendrix is James Hastings Nichols Professor of Reformation History and Doctrine at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey.

Reviews

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Hendrix tries to take a broad view of the Reformation(s) in the sixteenth century. He argues that too many histories of the Reformation focus on the differences of approach and doctrine amongst the various Protestant reformers as well as the Anabaptists and Roman Catholics. Therefore he chooses to focus his book on the one overarching theme that all the reformers, Lutheran, Reformed, Catholic, and Radical, had in common. He identifies this common goal as the Christianization or reChristianization of Europe.

By the early 16th century, pastors and theologians from all over Europe realized that the daily lives of many of the common people were subChristian, full of superstition, impiety, and confusion. Hendrix argues that Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Bucer, and even such men as Hofmman and Müntzer were attempting to Christianize the lives of the common people by making the Scriptures understandable and by encouraging a true Christian piety outside of the monastery. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic responses to the Protestant Reformation (for example: the New Devotion, or the Jesuit missions) were attempting the same thing. All of these groups disagreed on points of theology and biblical interpretation, but their vision for a fully Christian Europe, for a Christian Christendom, was the same.

On the whole, Hendrix's thesis has good explanatory power when it comes to some of the specific differences between the Protestant Reformers. The differing perspectives at the Marburg Colloquy, for instance, make a lot more sense when viewed from the perspective of competing visions of a Christian society vs simply abstract theology. However, sometimes it seems that Hendrix has to do some flattening out of motives in order to bring out his thesis. He also assumes that the reader has a solid grasp of the history of this time period and all its major players, and thus makes many allusions to events without explaining them. This does keep the length of the book down, but it also makes the book a bit inaccessible for a popular audience. This is a book that reflects on the Reformation, but it's not an introduction to or overview of the Reformation.

I would recommend Hendrix's book as an intriguing way to view the 16th century of Europe in a fresh perspective, and at 174 pages of text it won't take you too long to read.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hendrix's work is a survey of the Reformation that offers a synthetic interpretive paradigm: Christianization. Basically, all of the reform movements of the sixteenth century (and beyond) are seen to be united in their goal—a world both with more Christians and with more committed or pure Christians—but divided in their agendas. I find this plausible but a bit lacking in profundity. Certainly we can find commonalities between anything if we move far enough up the ladder of abstraction. It does a decent job with the intentions of the various major actors, but there isn't much more too it than that. A sub-200 page Reformation survey just can't compete with everything else in the field.