Reading the Reformation: How Theologians, Printers, and Scribes Fueled the Growth of Protestantism

by Zachary Purvis

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2026

Overview

During the Reformation, theologians wrote, colleagues annotated, scribes recorded, and printers toiled, bringing Protestant doctrine and practice to life and transforming European society. Demonstrating the benefit of integrating histories of culture and scholarship with historical theology, this book invites readers to view the Reformation and its writings with fresh eyes.

Instead of focusing solely on the printing press as an agent of change, Reading the Reformation recalls the forgotten methods of writing, annotating, publishing, and preserving texts by key Protestant reformers, from Martin Luther to John Calvin, from Martin Bucer to the Westminster Assembly. Zachary Purvis covers a broad range of topics, meticulously illuminating the physical and mental labor behind the texts that fostered the Reformation.

This book is an indispensable resource for students, scholars, history enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the transformative power of the written word during one of the most pivotal eras of European history.

Key Features

• Invites readers to view the Reformation and its writings with fresh eyes.
• Draws new connections between theological traditions and intellectual innovations.
• Demonstrates the Reformation’s profound impact on reading and writing.

Product Details

• Title: Reading the Reformation: How Theologians, Printers, and Scribes Fueled the Growth of Protestantism
• Author: Zachary Purvis
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2026
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 216
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• ISBNs: 9781493451999, 9781540968517, 1540968510, 1493451995
• Resource ID: LLS:9781493451999
• Resource Type: text.monograph.church-history
• Metadata Last Updated: 2026-01-26T14:29:56Z

About Zachary Purvis

Zachary Purvis (DPhil, University of Oxford) is lecturer in theology and church history at Edinburgh Theological Seminary in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. He previously held postdoctoral positions at the University of Göttingen, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Edinburgh. He has also been a US Fulbright Fellow in Switzerland, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a fellow of the Leibniz Institute for European History. Purvis is the author of the prize-winning Theology and the University in Nineteenth-Century Germany.