Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

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The British philosopher Andrew Collier recently announced, “I want to make Lenin and Althusser meet Augustine and Luther!” Karl Marx’s initial encounter with Martin Luther had indeed been positive. In the spirit of German radical philosophy, Luther came to be regarded as a voice for freedom. While this evaluation persisted among some socialists in other lands, in post-1848 Germany Luther came to be cast as the chief betrayer of the revolutionary cause at the time of the Reformation. Hostility to Luther dominated German-speaking socialist/Marxist views until around 1980, when the East German government decided for an official celebration of the Luther jubilee in 1983. The fall of the Soviet Union and Germany in 1989-90 changed the situation entirely, and there are now signs of a new evaluation of Luther in neo-Marxist and radical Christian circles.

Dr. Thomas A. Brady, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of Early Modern European History at the University of California, Berkeley. Having held several academic appointments, he served at the University of California, Berkeley Prof. Brady as Professor of Early Modern European History from 1991-2006 and as Peder Sather Chair of History from 2001-2009. In 2007, he was the distinguished Heiko A. Oberman Visiting Professor at the University of Arizona. Prof. Brady continues to teach courses at UC, Berkeley. His most recent course was “The Reformation as Modern Event.” He has occasionally taught courses at the Graduate Theological Union. He is a prolific writer and scholar, and his publications include: Ruling Class, Regime, and Reformation at Strasbourg 1520-1555, Studies in Medieval and Reformation Thought, vol. 22 (Leiden: Brill, 1978); Turning Swiss: Cities and Empire 1450-1550 (Cambridge and New York: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1985); Handbook of European History 1400-1600: Late Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, coedited with Heiko A. Oberman & James D. Tracy, 2 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1994-95); Protestant Politics: Jacob Sturm (1489-1553) of Strasbourg and the German Reformation (Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press, 1995); Communities, Politics, and Reformation in Early Modern Europe, Studies in Medieval and Reformation Thought, vol. 68 (Leiden: Brill, 1998); and German Histories in the Age of Reformations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Schedule of Events

• 9:00am — Registration & Refreshments
• 9:30am — Lecture
• 10:45am — Break
• 11:00am — Service of Word & Prayer
• 12:45pm — Lunch

Registration is now open!