Peace in the post-reformation - John Bossy

Christians are supposed to love their neighbours, including their enemies. This is never easy. When feud and honour are common realities, it is even harder than usual. This book sketches the history of peace-making between people (not countries) as an activity of churches or of Christianity between the Reformation and the eighteenth century. The story is recounted in four countries (Italy, France, Germany, and England) and in several religious settings (including Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Church of England, and Calvinist). Each version is a variation upon a theme: what the author calls a 'moral tradition' which contrasts, as a continuing imperative, with the novelties of theory and practice introduced by the sixteenth-century reformers. In general the topic has much to say about the destinies of Christianity in each country, and more widely, and strikes a chord which will resonate in both the social and the religious history of the West.

'… there is much to chew on and much to learn in this very short text; and like Christianity in the west, it will take several readings to absorb it all. But it is well worth the effort'. The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

"Bossy's lectures on the moral tradition are well worth reading because of the ideas they provoke about the analysis and impact of peace in post-Reformation Europe."
Renaissance Quarterly