Charlotte Methuen (Glasgow, Great Britain)

Competing Reformations. History and Present

This paper will ask how the Reformation influenced identity in the 16^th century and how it does so today. Beginning with the confessionalisation thesis, it will explore the way in which the Reformation shaped understandings of architecture and art, liturgy and music, as well as theology, both personal and political. Cases of confessional coexistence and the ways in which these both supported and challenged confessional distinctions will be considered, and the particular challenge of applying the confessionalisation thesis to churches outside Germany will be discussed. The paper will then move to consider the significance of the Reformation today, particularly in shaping denominational definition, but also in public discourse. Very different views of the Reformation – competing Reformations – will emerge from the analysis.