This volume demonstrates that the Catholic rhetoric of tradition disguised both novelties and creative innovations between 1550 and 1700.

Innovation in Early Modern Catholicism reveals that the period between 1550 and 1700 emerged as an intellectually vibrant atmosphere, shaped by the tensions between personal creativity and magisterial authority. The essays explore ideas about grace, physical predetermination, freedom, and probabilism in order to show how the rhetoric of innovation and tradition can be better understood. More importantly, contributors illustrate how disintegrated historiographies, which often excluded Catholicism as a source of innovation, can be overcome. Not only were new systems of metaphysics crafted in the early modern period, but so too was a new conceptual language to deal with the pressing problems of human freedom and grace, natural law, and Marian piety. Overall, the volume shines significant light on hitherto neglected or misunderstood traits in the understanding of early modern Catholic culture.

Re-presenting early modern Catholicism more crucially than any other currently available study, Innovation in Early Modern Catholicism is a useful tool for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars in the fields of philosophy, early modern studies, and the history of theology.

About the Author

Ulrich L. Lehner is the William K. Warren Foundation Professor at the University of Notre Dame. He has published more than twenty volumes on early modern history and the history of religion including Women, Enlightenment and Catholicism (Routledge, 2018) and his writings have been translated into seven languages.

Reviews

'This book is an important intervention in early modern studies. Dismantling the caricature of the period's Catholic theology as staid and oppressive, this volume highlights the innovation and creativity that was taking place, which saw the Church spread globally and help set theological courses that would rise to prevalence in the modern period.'

James E. Kelly, Durham University, UK

"This multi-faceted volume's numerous case studies provide a compelling and fascinating effort at rediscovering these early modern hybrids-traditional innovations."

Stephen Schloesser S.J., Department of History, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. Reviewed in Journal of Jesuit Studies issue 10 (Brill, 2023), 371-3

Book Information
ISBN 9781032051970
Author Ulrich L. Lehner
Format Paperback
Page Count 202
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g