Areas of Focus and Call for Papers

The event will explore interchurch issues, intra-church issues, interfaith issues and issues concerning interaction and dialogue between the wider world and societies in which faith communities live out their existence.

N.B.: the majority of papers and presentations will take place between May 28 and May 31. The final two days of the conference will involve optional excursions to sites linked with the Reformation.

We invite contributions from scholars, religious and political leaders and practitioners and activists for peace and reconciliation on a wide variety of themes. These include but are not limited to:

– New historical and hermeneutical perspectives on the Reformation era and its leading figures, texts and events – especially Luther himself, but also other leading figures in different communities from the Radical Reformation groups to the aftermath of the Council of Trent.

– The notion of the Reformation as an ecumenical event: both in terms of history and for today. What does it mean for Christians of many different traditions to be marking this special occasion, 500 years on?

– How the Reformation Transformed Germany and Europe.

– Harsh Apologetics: reappraising the character and tone of the discourse of the Reformation era and across denominational traditions down to recent times.

– How, Where and Why Post-Reformation Divides led to Crises of Division, Exclusion and Persecution.

– The growth and spread of Lutheran and other Protestant communities throughout the different continents of the world, how they impacted those diverse setting and vice-versa – how Lutheranism and other Protestant traditions have been shaped and transformed by such global outreach and subsequent reverse influence.

– Studies on the Catholic/Counter Reformation
Assessments of the Contributions of Religious Orders to the post-reformation period and to subsequent religious divisions and to ecumenical dialogue.

– The Reformation Debates in the –so-called ‘New World’ and the Reformation’s impact on those regions.

– Specific Perspectives on the Reformation from Differing Continents, Regions and Countries (especially, Asia, Africa, Latin America, North America and Oceania).

– How the Reformation transformed Christian Ideas on Church-State Relations.

– Questions of Theological Correlation, Pluralism and Method for Our Times.

– Historical and Recent Studies of the Contribution of Lutheranism and other Protestant Churches to the Ecumenical Movement, along with Roman Catholic and Orthodox responses to and interaction with the same.

– Studies of the Greatest Milestones in the History of the Ecumenical Movement and Projections of Where it needs to go from today’s positions.

– What do differences between Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox and other Christian churches look and feel like in differing continents and cultural contexts – as well as at different points of history?

– What can other contexts and cultures teach Europe and North American about religious co-existence and harmony?

– Given the Reformation was also a traumatic experience for Europe, with enmity and divisions that have persisted long into our own century around the globe, often oblivious to the fact that so many theological and ecclesiological differences have long since been overcome between mainline churches, what are the key challenges to foster reconciliation today?

– What actual resources might the Reformation traditions and the responses historically and subsequently to this movement for renewal give for promoting reconciliation in today’s world?

– What resources might be mined from examining the movements for ecclesial reform both before and since 1517?

– Historical and Recent Studies of the Contribution of Lutheranism and other Protestant Churches to the progress in interfaith dialogue and interreligious understanding, along with Roman Catholic and Orthodox responses to and interaction with the same.

– The Reformation in Differing Cultural and Ethnic Contexts.

– The Reformation and Global Conflict, Peace and Reconciliation.

– The Reformation and the Emergence and Future of the European Union.

– Contributions on what the Reformation’s Legacy means for an Age of Global Migration and Tension.

– How can communities of differing traditions best work toward promoting global reconciliation for ours and future times?

Papers on other themes will be very welcome, too.

Please use the following form to submit your paper proposal: