The Jewish question in the early Reformation era

Richard, Robert (1998) The Jewish question in the early Reformation era. MTh(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The original idea for this thesis was derived from my own personal interest in the areas of Reformation History and Judaism which naturally led to a merging of the two. It was then carried out by means of library-based research over a period of two years (the first of these comprising full-time study) under the careful and patient supervision of Dr. W.I.P. Hazlett. Generally, the scope of the thesis encompasses the differing views held by key figures within the Early Reformation Era (Reuchlin, Erasmus, Zwingli, Luther, Bucer, etc.) with regard to the "Jewish Question" of the day. It is already well documented that medieval theology had not been kindly disposed towards the Jewish people up to the eve of the Reformation. However, having examined the most recent relevant material pertaining to this epoch of history, I felt that the way in which the Jewish question has been handled was often overlooked. Perhaps the reasons for such an omission are related to a need to assess the more pressing concerns of the time, i.e. why did the early protagonists require to "reform" the Christian Church at all, what kind of new theologies were formulated in the light of this etc - all of these of course being very valid and indeed crucial pursuits. Naturally, no argument is ever one-sided and, to this end, I have provided an overview of Jewish reaction to the Reformation itself in order to provide a more balanced picture to the bulk of the thesis, being devoted as it is to the outlook of the Reformers. Finally, the Conclusion pulls together the various themes and pertinent strands of the work and offers an overall assessment of "The Jewish Question in the Early Reformation Era".

• Item Type: Thesis (MTh(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: Religious history, judaic studies.
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities
• Supervisor's Name: Hazlett, Dr. W.I.P.
• Date of Award: 1998
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1998-73389
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 14 Jun 2019 08:56
• Last Modified: 11 Aug 2021 11:29
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/73389