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Ronald K. Rittgers

Professor of the History of Christianity
Divinity School
0040C Langford Building, Duke Divinity School, NC 27708

Selected Publications


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

Protestants and Mysticism in Reformation Europe

Book · March 25, 2019 Protestants and Mysticism in Reformation Europe, edited by Ronald K. Rittgers and Vincent Evener, is a research handbook on the Protestant reception of mysticism, from the beginnings of the Reformation through the mid-seventeenth century. ... Cite

The Word-Prophet Martin Luther

Journal Article The Sixteenth Century Journal · December 1, 2017 Full text Open Access Cite

Hebrews, James

Book · November 7, 2017 Edited by Ronald K. Rittgers, this RCS volume provides Reformation-era biblical commentary on Hebrews and James, drawing on Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, Radical, and Roman Catholic resources. ... Cite

The Age of Reform as an Age of Consolation

Journal Article Church History · September 2017 This article seeks to provide a new way of interpreting the Age of Reform and its legacy on the occasion of the Protestant Reformation's 500th anniversary. Over the past several decades, many scholars have interpreted the Age of Reform through the ... Full text Open Access Cite

The Reformation of Suffering Pastoral Theology and Lay Piety in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany

Book · April 30, 2012 This book investigates the history of Christian reflection on suffering and consolation in the Latin West and places the Protestant reformation campaign within this larger context, paying close attention to important continuities and ... ... Cite

The Reformation of the Keys confession, conscience, and authority in sixteenth-century Germany

Book · June 30, 2009 Rittgers's study is deeply researched. His writing is fluent, the argument easy to follow. Useful for Reformation scholars, this book also holds much for the general reader with a serious interest in the history of the Reformation. ... Cite

Private Confession and the Lutheranization of Sixteenth-Century Nördlingen

Journal Article The Sixteenth Century Journal · December 1, 2005 Full text Open Access Cite