Events

Come explore one of the most epochal events in European history with a leading expert. On March 16, Reformation scholar Dr. Ron Rittgers will be delivering two public lectures exploring the impact of Reformation doctrine and practice on the fabric of Early Modern European culture and tracing the influence of these events into our current day.

The first lecture, “Secularization through Solace: Reflections on the Reformation and Modern Identity,” will take place from 11:00am to 12:30pm on March 16 in Room 100. The second, entitled “Martin Luther: Evangelical Mystic?”  will take place from 7:00pm to 8:30pm in the Regent College Chapel. We hope you'll join us for this fascinating discussion.

Dr. Ron Rittgers (PhD, Harvard University) taught at Yale University for seven years before arriving at his current position as Erich Markel Chair in German Reformation Studies at Valparaiso University. Professor Rittgers has received numerous research grants for his work, and was recently elected president of the American Society of Church History. His most recent publication, The Reformation of Suffering: Pastoral Theology and Lay Piety in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany (Oxford University Press, 2012), argues that the Reformation significantly altered the way we suffer and the way we console those who are suffering. He is also the author of The Reformation of the Keys: Confession, Conscience, and Authority in Sixteenth-Century Germany (Harvard University Press, 2004), which investigates the impact of the Lutheran practice of private confession on German politics and religion. In 2017 he plans to release The Reformation Commentary on Scripture: Hebrews and James (Intervarsity Press, 2017).