Andrew, Pettegree. Reformation and the Culture of Persuasion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
The main question Andrew Pettegree seeks to answer in Reformation and the Culture of Persuasion is why people chose to adopt the ideas of the Reformation. Often the choice to follow the new ideas of the Reformation resulted in persecution, incarceration, great personal loss, or death. Why risk so much for a new idea? What persuaded them to change?
The dominant theory on the modes of persuasion in the Reformation is that books were the main agents of change. Pettegree alleges that other mediums used also had great success among people, especially those who were illiterate. Pettegree seeks to “relocate the role of books” (8) from the central factor of change to just a part of a larger group of modes of persuasion. Pettegree’s point is that, contrary to popular opinion, books were not the main factor in the paradigm shift of the Reformation. Sermons, songs, dramas, and pictures as well as books were all a part of the change. Pettegree wishes to clearly …show more content…
He calls it the “protestant conversion process” (6) which begins first with awareness moving to identification, then to understanding and finally, activism. A person had to be first aware that there was a difference between the old standards of the Catholic Church and the teachings of the Reformation. After becoming aware of the changes people then identified themselves as either part of the new movement or part of the established church. When they understood their position, it then directed which course of action they took. Through all of these stages of conversion the impact of books and printed material remains important, though they were by no means the whole vehicle by which the Reformation was carried. In fact it is not until chapter six that books or printed materials are
The main question Andrew Pettegree seeks to answer in Reformation and the Culture of Persuasion is why people chose to adopt the ideas of the Reformation. Often the choice to follow the new ideas of the Reformation resulted in persecution, incarceration, great personal loss, or death. Why risk so much for a new idea? What persuaded them to change?
The dominant theory on the modes of persuasion in the Reformation is that books were the main agents of change. Pettegree alleges that other mediums used also had great success among people, especially those who were illiterate. Pettegree seeks to “relocate the role of books” (8) from the central factor of change to just a part of a larger group of modes of persuasion. Pettegree’s point is that, contrary to popular opinion, books were not the main factor in the paradigm shift of the Reformation. Sermons, songs, dramas, and pictures as well as books were all a part of the change. Pettegree wishes to clearly …show more content…
He calls it the “protestant conversion process” (6) which begins first with awareness moving to identification, then to understanding and finally, activism. A person had to be first aware that there was a difference between the old standards of the Catholic Church and the teachings of the Reformation. After becoming aware of the changes people then identified themselves as either part of the new movement or part of the established church. When they understood their position, it then directed which course of action they took. Through all of these stages of conversion the impact of books and printed material remains important, though they were by no means the whole vehicle by which the Reformation was carried. In fact it is not until chapter six that books or printed materials are