Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt played a key role in the development of the evangelical understanding of the Lord's Supper. In 1521 he wrote several pamphlets urging a reform of the Mass. In 1524 he broke with Martin Luther and published a second group of pamphlets rejecting the traditional belief in Christ's corporeal presence in the Eucharist. Despite the importance of Karlstadt's tracts, they are little known today, and his understanding of the Lord's Supper is often reduced to a caricature. For the first time, Amy Nelson Burnett translates his thirteen pamphlets into English, illuminating Karlstadt's importance for the Reformation debate over the Eucharist and his contribution to what would become Reformed sacramental theology.
Maps and Illustrations
Chronology
Introduction
On the Recipients, Signs, and Promise of the Holy Sacrament (June 1521)
On the Adoration and Veneration of the Signs of the New Testament (November 1521)
On Both Forms in the Holy Mass (November 1521)
Sermon of Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt Given in Wittenberg on the Reception of the Holy Sacrament (January 1522)
On the Priesthood and Sacrifice of Christ (December 1523/January 1524)
Against the Old and New Papistic Masses (October 1524)
Whether One Can Prove from Holy Scripture That Christ Is in the Sacrament with Body, Blood, and Soul (October 1524)
Exegesis of This Word of Christ: “This Is My Body, Which Is Given for You. This Is My Blood, Which Is Shed for You,” Luke 22 (October 1524)
Dialogue, or a Discussion Booklet on the Horrible and Idolatrous Misuse of the Most Worthy Sacrament of Jesus Christ, 1524 (October 1524)
On the Anti-Christian Abuse of the Lord’s Bread and Cup (October 1524)
Explanation of 1 Corinthians 10: “The Bread That We Break, Is It Not a Fellowship of the Body of Christ?” Answer of Andreas Karlstadt to Luther’s Book, and How Karlstadt Recants (March 1525)
On the New and Old Testament. Answer to the Saying, “The cup, the new testament in my blood,” etc., Luke 22; 1 Cor. 11. How Karlstadt Recants. 1525 (April 1525)
A Declaration of How Karlstadt Regards His Teaching about the Venerable Sacrament et cetera and Wants It to Be Regarded (September 1525)
Bibliography
About the Author
Index
“[Burnett] provides documentation of the reformer's actual opinions, translating thirteen works by Karlstadt on the topic of the Eucharist and providing the translations with informative footnotes. Most are polemics—and only a few have appeared previously in English; but Burnett has wisely chosen to include a sermon delivered in 1522 to illustrate how the reformer's ideas were taken into the pulpit. The English versions are readable allowing for the reformer's relentless denunciations of contrary opinions. The translations are accompanied by a lucid introduction, providing contexts for the texts, as well as a chronology of evangelical writings on the topic.”
