A Global Sourcebook in Protestant Political Thought, Volume I

“This is a brilliant and welcome collection of 200 judiciously chosen primary texts framed by authoritative and accessible introductions by leading scholars. Here in one well-edited volume, specialists and new readers get vivid illustrations of the enduring fundamentals of early modern Protestant political thought and their ample local variations and applications. Religious insiders and secular historians alike will be surprised to learn how prescient and prophetic Protestants have been in creating and reforming many of the political ideas and institutions still in place in the West today.” John Witte, Jr., Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University, USA “What we call ‘Protestantism’ both is and was a very various phenomenon, a variety often lost to caricature and homogenizing, just-so surveys based on a narrow range of historical sources. This volume captures convincingly the sheer diversity of political arguments and approaches that passed under the ‘Protestant’ label in the early modern period, not only in Northern, but also Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as North America and the near East. The primary sources and commentaries collected here offer an unrivaled resource for students and scholars to explore this critical moment—and movement—in global intellectual history, the legacies of which continue to shape our world in important and often unexpected ways.” Teresa Bejan, Professor of Political Theory, University of Oxford, UK This is a really invaluable collection of materials, demonstrating the breadth and sophistication of political theology inspired by Protestant traditions - mainstream and not so mainstream. As increasing scholarly attention is - rightly - given to the insights of Catholic Social Teaching, it is more than ever important to have a clear sense of what other Christian bodies have to contribute to our current and urgent debates on the foundations of political ethics.' Rowan Williams, Former Archbishop of Canterbury