238 - Patterns of Reformation

Patterns of Reformation
By Gordon Rupp
425 pp Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1969 $9 50.

The reader should be warned that this reviewer is an ardent admirer of Professor Rupp. While Rupp, like the rest of us, is not beyond making errors of fact and judgment, his work is invariably characterized by that welcome combination of competence and insight that makes him one of the eminent Reformation historians today. Patterns of Reformation is a distinguished addition to Rupp's previous publications. Here we have the flair (a quotation from Uncle Remus introduces the chapter on the Wittenberg turmoil 1521-22), the sparkle (Rupp says of Michelangelo's "Daniel" that it would do well for Thomas Muntzer), the creative insight (the exposition of Muntzer's "gospel of all creatures") we have come to expect.

The book contains biographical essays on four not-so-major reformers of the early Reformation-Johannes Oecolampadius; Andreas Bodenstein Carlstadt; Thomas Muntzer; Joachim Vadian. By employing the labels of "scholar," "Puritan," "rebel," and "layman," Rupp indicates their respective characteristics and contributions. At the same time, the overall title of, Patterns of Reformation, denotes the rich diversity of reformatory effort in the early sixteenth century.

The four essays are of uneven length. Those on Oecolampadius and Vadian are brief and, while vivid, do little more than restate (in Ruppian fashion) the scholarly consensus on these two men. The essays on Carlstadt and Muntzer, on the other hand, are of substantial length (actually almost half of the book is on Muntzer) and significant scholarly insight. The Carlstadt essay makes a detailed biographical sketch of this reformer available in English-and since the standard German biography by Barge is outdated for several reasons, perhaps, in German as

239 - Patterns of Reformation

well. Fortunately (in the eyes of this reviewer), Rupp has modified his own earlier negative and flamboyant assessment of Carlstadt (in an article in the journal of Theological Studies), though he still concludes that in Carlstadt was a "dreadful element of what the Bible means by folly." Probably, this is not the last word on the man. For one, the theological substance of Carlstadt's contribution to the early Reformation controversy between 1518 and 1521 must yet be explored in greater detail (Rupp bypasses this facet to a large extent). And the story of Carlstadt's reformatory efforts at Orlamunde would suggest (despite, for example, his manure-spreading) a tragic figure rather than a maverick. When all is said and done, Carlstadt's place in the early German Reformation is that of a man whose insights exceeded his abilities.

The essay on Muntzer is really a full-fledged biography of 150 pages. It takes him more seriously than traditional Protestant historiography (including Muntzer's recent biographer Gritsch) has done. Rupp says of Muntzer what this reviewer would want to say about Carlstadt as well, namely, that his is a pathetic story of both insight and imbalance, commitment and erratic behavior, confrontation and misunderstanding. The chapter on "the gospel according to the Muntzer" is the best general summary of Muntzer's thought; it might have been amplified by more extensive comments about its sources and social implications. Indeed, Rupp sees in Mintzer's comprehensive notion of reform, which entailed not only an answer to the question of the bruised conscience but to that of social injustice as well, his most significant contribution.

If the comments about the individual parts of the present volume must thus be emphatically positive, a caveat seems in order with respect to the book as a whole. To distinguish a book from a non-book, the whole must be greater than its parts, to vary a saying so popular with Muntzer. The discrepancy in the sizes of the four essays is one problem; the absence of extended general reflections on the problem of diversity-uniformity in the Reformation is another. As matters stand, Rupp leaves us, for better or for worse, to make up our own mind. Perhaps that is what he intended.

Hans J. Hillerbrand
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina