PDF The Founding Fathers: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by R. B. Bernstein in History

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The most profound characteristic of Western Europe in the Middle Ages was its cultural and religious unity; a unity secured by a common alignment with the Pope in Rome; and a common language - Latin - for worship and scholarship. The Reformation shattered that unity; and the consequences are still with us today. In All Things Made New; Diarmaid MacCulloch; author of the New York Times bestseller Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years; examines not only the Reformation's impact across Europe; but also the Catholic Counter-Reformation and the special evolution of religion in England; revealing how one of the most turbulent; bloody; and transformational events in Western history has shaped modern society.The Reformation may have launched a social revolution; MacCulloch argues; but it was not caused by social and economic forces; or even by a secular idea like nationalism; it sprang from a big idea about death; salvation; and the afterlife. This idea - that salvation was entirely in God's hands and there was nothing humans could do to alter his decision - ended the Catholic Church's monopoly in Europe and altered the trajectory of the entire future of the West.By turns passionate; funny; meditative; and subversive; All Things Made New takes readers onto fascinating new ground; exploring the original conflicts of the Reformation and cutting through prejudices that continue to distort popular conceptions of a religious divide still with us after five centuries. This monumental work; from one of the most distinguished scholars of Christianity writing today; explores the ways in which historians have told the tale of the Reformation; why their interpretations have changed so dramatically over time; and ultimately; how the contested legacy of this revolution continues to impact the world today.