95 Theses, 500 Years

Document Type

Editorial

Publication Date

9-2-2017

Keywords

Reformation, Church history, Christian education

Abstract

Welcome to the final 2017 issue of Journal of Research on Christian Education (JRCE). This is the year, and fall is the season (supposedly October 31, when we celebrate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s placement of the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church. Technically, his document was titled Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences (History.com Staff). Intending to propose questions to guide an upcoming academic gathering and discussion, he did not realize he was starting a movement that would completely change the ecology of the Christian world.

Although the Protestant Reformation did not begin immediately, over the next decade what started as an effort to promote open discussion on the Roman Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences to fund the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome instead became a call for religious reform, and then a practice of religious separation. Unfortunately, leaders other than Luther moved the Protestant Reformation into the political arena through the German Peasants’ War and other actions (History.com Staff).

One of the—perhaps unexpected—outcomes of the Protestant Revolution, is the great number of Protestant denominations and their related perspectives and faith traditions. I love the richness and insights these Christian traditions bring to our world and, specifically, to the pages of the Journal of Research on Christian Education. This issue of JRCE contains a range of scholarly work from diverse perspectives within the Protestant traditions. Julie Lane begins the Research on PK12 Christian Education section with another of her important articles on special education services in Christian schools. This topic is vastly understudied, and Dr. Lane makes another important contribution to the field with this article on staffing and service models. The second article presents research from the U.K. researchers David Lankshear, Leslie Francis, and Emma Eccles. They report important work they completed in Church in Wales primary schools as these schools implement the governments Section 50 inspection criteria. These authors created an instrument that allows the 5- and 6-year students in these schools to add their voices to the evaluation data collected regarding the Christian distinctiveness of these schools.

Comments

Abstract excerpted from Introduction to periodical.

Journal Title

Journal of Research on Christian Education

Volume

26

Issue

3

First Page

223

Last Page

224

DOI

10.1080/10656219.2017.1386064

First Department

Teaching, Learning and Curriculum

Link to Full Text

@ the James White Library

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