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Ronald K. Rittgers

Duke Divinity School Professor of Reformation Studies
Divinity School
0040C Langford Building, Duke Divinity School, NC 27708

Overview


Prof. Rittgers joined the faculty of Duke Divinity School in the fall of 2021. He is interested in the theology and spirituality of the Age of Reform (ca. 1050-ca. 1650), and also studies the important intellectual, social, and cultural developments of this period in western Christianity. In addition to articles and essays, Professor Rittgers has authored a number of books: The Reformation of the Keys: Confession, Conscience, and Authority in Sixteenth-Century Germany (Harvard University Press, 2004); The Reformation of Suffering: Pastoral Theology and Lay Piety in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany (Oxford University Press, 2012); The Reformation Commentary on Scripture: Hebrews and James (Intervarsity Press, 2017); a co-edited volume, Protestants and Mysticism in Reformation Europe (Brill, 2019); and A Widower’s Lament: The “Pious Meditations” of Johann Christoph Oelhafen (Fortress, 2021). Prof. Rittgers is currently working on a book entitled The Enchanted Word of Early Protestantism. He has held grants from the NEH and the Lilly Foundation, and has been a senior research fellow at the Herzog August Bibliothek (Wolfenbüttel, Germany) and the Leibniz Institute for European History (Mainz, Germany). Professor Rittgers has also served as the president of the American Society of Church History.
A committed teacher, Professor Rittgers offers survey classes on the History of Christianity, as well as seminars on topics such as Martin Luther, Christian Theology in the Age of Reform, Christian Spirituality in the Age of Reform, Renaissance Christian Humanism, and Faith and History.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Duke Divinity School Professor of Reformation Studies · 2024 - Present Divinity School
Professor of the History of Christianity · 2021 - Present Divinity School
Professor of History · 2022 - Present History, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

Recent Publications


Scripture as ‘Sacrament’ in Early Modern Evangelical Church Ordinances

Journal Article Reformation and Renaissance Review · January 1, 2025 This article seeks to contribute to the growing body of scholarly literature that challenges the Weberian disenchantment thesis and its assumptions about the role of the Protestant Reformation in shaping the modern world. It does so by interacting with sch ... Full text Cite

A Liturgy of Lament for a Broken House-Church: The Pious Meditations (1619) of Johann Christoph Oelhafen

Journal Article Reformation and Renaissance Review · January 1, 2023 This article explores the evolving nature of affectivity in the long Reformation, focusing especially on the place of lament in the ‘emotion script’ of early modern Lutheranism. It examines this script by introducing readers to an extremely rich and previo ... Full text Open Access Cite

A Widower's Lament The Pious Meditations of Johann Christoph Oelhafen

Book · September 21, 2021 This book deals with one instance of Christian lament in the late Reformation by exploring the efforts of a talented yet little-known layman to cope with the death of his beloved wife. ... Cite
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Education, Training & Certifications


Harvard University · 1998 Ph.D.
Regent College (Canada) · 1992 M.T.S.
Wheaton College · 1987 B.A.