Science and Theology in the Reformation

"Central to the rise of modern science was the concept of "natural order". What did it mean, how was it to be investigated and how was it related to theological ideas of the supernatural? In an attractive compilation of discerning essays, Charlotte Methuen provides a nuanced account of Reformation theology and of the diversity of its expression in the interpretation of innovative science. Particularly sensitive to the diversification within Lutheran theology, she shows how different understandings of general and special Providence informed the interpretation of astronomical phenomena, including the seemingly miraculous new star of 1572. For historians of science and for students of post-Reformation natural theology her book is an excellent resource." - John Hedley Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor Emeritus of Science & Religion, University of Oxford, UK -- John Brooke Mention -Book News, November 2008

The Revd Canon Dr Charlotte Methuen is Departmental Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Oxford, specialising in the history of the Reformation. She was previously Assistentin for Reformation History at the Ruhr University Bochum (Germany). She is the author of Kepler's Tubingen: Stimulus to a Theological Mathematics (Aldershot 1998) and numerous articles.

Introduction; 1. Natural order or order of nature? Natural and Moral Philosophy in the Thought of the Reformers.; 2. Lex naturae and ordo naturae in the thought of Philip Melanchthon.; 3. 'This comet or new star': theology and the interpretation of the nova of 1572.; 4. Special providence and sixteenth-century astronomical observation: some preliminary reflections.; 5. Time human or time divine: Theological aspects in opposing the Gregorian Calendar Reform.; 6. From sola scriptura to astronomia nova: novelty, authority, and the reform of astronomy in the work of Johannes Kepler.; 7. On the problem of defining Lutheran Natural Philosophy.