Diálogo de doctrina cristiana constituye, una de las obras más representativas del influjo erasmiano en España. El contenido del Diálogo es muy parecido a otro libro de Juan de Valdés, el Alfabeto cristiano, escrito unos años después en Nápoles (y publicado también en versión italiana en 1546), donde sostiene la doctrina de la justificación por la fe. Valdés da a su Diálogo de la doctrina cristiana la forma de coloquio, tan difundida en el Renacimiento, y utilizada especialmente por Erasmo en sus escritos, e introduce a tres personajes: Antonio, Eusebio y Fray Pedro de Alba, arzobispo de Granada.
El Diálogo de doctrina cristiana es una obra que destaca no solo por su contenido teológico sino también por su estructura literaria y su contexto histórico. Escrita bajo la influencia del erasmismo, una corriente intelectual y religiosa inspirada en las ideas de Erasmo de Róterdam, este trabajo de Juan de Valdés se alinea con una serie de textos que buscaban conciliar los principios del Renacimiento con los del cristianismo. En cuanto a la forma, el uso del diálogo o coloquio es particularmente significativo. Este formato, popular durante el Renacimiento y frecuentemente empleado por Erasmo, permite una exploración más profunda y matizada de los temas teológicos. A través del intercambio entre los tres personajes -Antonio, Eusebio y Fray Pedro de Alba, arzobispo de Granada- se ofrecen diversas perspectivas sobre la doctrina de la justificación por la fe, un tema central en el erasmismo y en la Reforma protestante. La elección de los personajes también es reveladora. Al incluir a un arzobispo en la conversación, Valdés demuestra una voluntad de diálogo entre las diferentes facciones del cristianismo de la época. Esto puede interpretarse como un intento de buscar un terreno común en medio de las disputas teológicas y eclesiásticas que caracterizaban el período. En cuanto al contenido, la obra comparte similitudes con otro texto de Valdés, el "Alfabeto cristiano", lo que sugiere una coherencia en su pensamiento teológico. En ambas obras, el autor defiende la idea de la justificación por la fe, un principio que desafiaba algunas de las enseñanzas tradicionales de la Iglesia Católica de la época y que fue un punto clave en las discusiones religiosas subsiguientes. Diálogo de doctrina cristiana de Juan de Valdés es una obra compleja y rica en matices que ofrece una ventana a las tensiones teológicas y intelectuales del siglo XVI en España. Su uso del formato de diálogo permite un tratamiento más dinámico y plural de los temas doctrinales, y su influencia erasmiana la coloca en una tradición de pensamiento que buscaba renovar el cristianismo desde dentro, manteniendo un equilibrio entre la fe y la razón. La obra es un documento histórico valioso, y una pieza literaria que refleja las inquietudes y aspiraciones de su tiempo.
It is important for Christians and Muslims to engage in respectful dialogue. However, it is not easy. The present book delves into the past for wisdom and guidance. Spanish theologian Martín Pérez de Ayala (1504–66) wrote a catechism or Catecismo that was not published until more than three decades after he had passed away. Why was the Catecismo published posthumously? The search for answers to this question involved evaluating the Catecismo against thirteen other catechisms written in sixteenth-century Spain. This assessment generated timeless principles that can be used today by those who wish to have cordial conversations about Islam and biblical Christianity with their Muslim friends.
Humanism and Religion in Early Modern Spain brings together twenty-five essays by renowned historian Terence O’Reilly. The essays examine the interplay of religion and humanism in a series of writings composed in sixteenth-century Spain. It begins by presenting essential background: the coming together during the reign of the Emperor Charles V of Erasmian humanism and various movements of religious reform, some of them heterodox. It then moves on to the reign of Philip II, focusing on the mystical poetry and prose of St John of the Cross. It explores the influence on his writings of his humanist learning – classical, biblical and patristic. The third part of the book concerns a verse-epistle by John’s contemporary, Francisco de Aldana. One chapter presents the text with a parallel version in English, whilst two others trace its debt to Florentine Neoplatonism, particularly the thought of Marsilio Ficino. The final part is devoted to the humanism of the poet and Scripture scholar Luis de León, and specifically to the confluence in his work of biblical and classical motifs. This book is essential reading for scholars and students of early modern Spanish history, as well those interested in literary studies and the history of religion. (CS 1102).
In Toledo in 1529, a converso named Pedro de Cazalla declared that the connection between man and God was but a thread and that it should not be mediated by the Church. Hardly an isolated phenomenon, Cazalla’s inner spirituality was a widespread response to the increasing repression of religious dissent enacted by the Inquisition. Forced baptisms of Jews and Muslims had profound effects across Spanish society, leading famous intellectuals as well as ordinary men and women to rethink their sense of belonging to the Christian community and their forms of religiosity. Thus, in this book, early modern Iberia emerges as a laboratory of European-wide transformations.
Frances Luttikhuizen chronicles the arrival, reception, and suppression of Protestant thought in sixteenth century Spain—referred to at that time as 'Lutheranism'. It opens with several chapters describing the socio-political-religious context that prevailed in Spain at the beginning of the sixteenth century and the growing trend to use the vernacular for parts of the Mass, as well as for catechizing the populace. Special attention is given to the forerunners, that is, the early alumbrado-deixados, the role of Cardinal Cisneros, and the impact of Erasmus and Juan de Valdes, etc. The use of archival material provides new details regarding the historical framework and the spread of evangelical thought in sixteenth century Spain. These dispatches and trial records greatly enrich the main body of the work, which deals with the arrival and confiscation of evangelical literature, the attitude of Charles V and Philip II towards religious dissidents, and the severe persecution of the underground evangelical circles at Seville and Valladolid. Special attention is given to the many women involved in the movement. The recurrent mention of the discovery and confiscation of prohibited literature shows how books played an important role in the development of the movements. The final chapters focus on the exiles and their contributions, the persecution of foreigners, and the years up to the abolition of the Inquisition. The work concludes with the efforts made in the nineteenth century to rediscover the history of the persecuted sixteenth century Spanish Protestants and their writings.
The Companion to Ignatius of Loyola aims at placing Loyola’s life, his writings, and spirituality in a broader context of important late medieval and early modern movements and processes that have been appreciated too little by historians who explored Ignatius more as the colossal icon of the so-called Counterreformation than as a man influenced by the dramatic and revolutionary period in which he lived. One book will be never able to cover all aspects of such rich and controversial a figure as Ignatius of Loyola but the fifteen chapters of this volume indicate important directions of current scholarship that reassesses the previous scholarship and suggests new angles of studies on this pivotal figure of early modern period. An interview with editor Robert A. Maryks about this Companion is available on YouTube.
