Ablass und Reformation - Erstaunliche Kohärenzen

Berndt Hamm takes a fresh approach to late medieval indulgences by not only describing their relationship to the Reformation in the usual manner as a history of confrontation, but rather by recognising their remarkable connection and deep-rooted similarities. The coherences are astonishing because they completely change the conventional image of indulgences and the Reformation. The author outlines a reform- and innovation-dynamic that flowed from the outgoing medieval times into the Reformation, but at the same time brought about the radical split between the Reformation and the Church of the Indulgences. The full and concise title of the book could then be: »The Gospel of the Indulgences and the Gospel of the Reformation - The Story of an Astonishing Connection and a Fundamental Rift«.