New publication: The many faces of religion
How did the Lutheran clergy in the royal capital of Berlin in the 18th century – an era of secularization and the emergence of bourgeois culture – move between church congregation and political authorities? Based on a wide array of sources, Florian Grumbach explores in “Predigt, Publikum and Seelenheil” (‘Sermon, audience, and salvation’), the 23rd book in the series “Religion und Moderne”, the pastoral practice and daily work of the clergy such as their sermons or publishing activities. As agents of early modern public life, Lutheran priests based their class consciousness on their role as religious experts, teachers as well as on their ministry. Pastoral practice, however, was not only subject to the actions of the clergy but equally shaped by the influence of the congregation and the state authority over the church who often held aspirations and expectations unrelated to Lutheran theology.