Throughout the history of mankind religion has been a creative and innovative factor of great strength, able to change societies, create new cultures, and shape strong identities. In Religion as an Agent of Change leading historians and Church historians discuss religion as a driving force in historical development on the basis of three particular cases from the history of Christianity in Western Europe: the Crusades, the Reformation, and Pietism. The empirical case studies in the book present important results and viewpoints from new research in these three historical phenomena, to a large degree undertaken in our own generation, thus establishing a solid foundation for further scholarly discussions about the role of the Christian religion as a driving force in history.

Contributors are: Arne Bugge Amundsen, Ole Peter Grell, Martin H. Jung, Thomas Kaufmann, Fred van Lieburg, Christoph T. Maier, Peter Marshall, Hugh McLeod, Jonathan Phillips, Felicitas Schmieder, and John Wolffe.