Professor of History
434.544.8328
amos.n@lynchburg.edu
Carnegie Hall 232
Experience
- Fall 2002, Fall 2003 – Spring 2004, Fall 2005 – present, University of Lynchburg
- Fall 2003 – Spring 2008, Center for Christian Study, Charlottesville, Virginia
- Fall 1998, St. Mary’s College, University of St. Andrews, Tutorials
- Spring 1997, St. Andrews Reformation Studies Institute, University of St. Andrews, Tutorials
Education
- PhD – University of St. Andrews, 2003
Field of Study: The English and Continental Reformations; Tudor England - ThM – Westminster Theological Seminary, 1996
Field of Study: The Swiss Reformation - MDiv with First Honors – Westminster Theological Seminary, 1993
- MA in History – The College of William and Mary, 1986
Field of Study: Tudor England - BA in History, Graduated Summa Cum Laude – Old Dominion University, 1980
Other Educational Experience
- Folger Shakespeare Library, Folger Institute
Washington DC, October 2015
Subject: Theatres of Learning: Education in Early Modern England (1500-1700) - Folger Shakespeare Library, Center for Shakespeare Studies
Washington DC, September 2011
Faculty Workshop: An Anglo-American History of the KJV - Folger Shakespeare Library, Center for Shakespeare Studies
Washington DC, November 2010
Faculty Workshop: Reassessing Henry VIII: Directions for future research - Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard University
Washington, DC, July 2008
Course of Study: Homer and Hesiod - Folger Shakespeare Library, Center for Shakespeare Studies
Washington, DC, September 2002
Course of Study: The Early Modern Bible – A Weekend Seminar led by Jaroslav Pelikan - University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England
Centre for Advanced Religious and Theological Studies, Sept. 2000 – Dec. 2001
Visiting Scholar - Université de Genève
Institut d’histoire de la Réformation Genève, June 1999
Course of Study: The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages and the Reformation
Honors and Awards
- Summer Research Grant, University of Lynchburg, 2018
- 2011 James A. Huston Award for Excellence in Scholarship, University of Lynchburg
- Overseas Research Scholarship, University of St. Andrews
- University Research Studentship, University of St. Andrews
- Edwin L. Jones Graduate Fellowship, Westminster Theological Seminary
- Graduate Assistantship, College of William and Mary
- Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Papers Presented (Representative Selection)
- “In memoriam Martini Buceri: the contested after-life of Martin Bucer in England.” Presented to the November 2018 meeting of the Sixteenth Century Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
- “‘Do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth’: Reformation Interpretations of the Tragedy of Jephthah and His Daughter.” Presented to the April 2016 meeting of the Society for Reformation Studies, Westminster College, Cambridge.
- “Continuity within Discontinuity: Grund und Ursach and a Measured Approach to Reform.” Presented to the April 2015 meeting of the Society for Reformation Studies, Westminster College, Cambridge.
- “‘An exposition of the whole doctrine of salvation:’ Exegesis and Theology in Martin Bucer’s 1550 Ephesians Lectures.” Presented to the October 2011 meeting of the Sixteenth Century Conference, Ft Worth, Texas.
- “‘For the sake of the weaker brethren’: Grund and Ursach and a Measured Approach to Reform.” Presented to the October 2010 meeting of the Sixteenth Century Conference, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
- “Protestant Exiles in England: Martin Bucer and the Measured Approach to Reform – From a ‘gute, leidliche Reformation‘ to a Via Media.” Presented to the Symposium “Sister Reformations: The Reformation in Germany and in England-Symposium on the Occasion of the 450th Anniversary of the Elizabethan Settlement,” sponsored by the Faculty of Theology, Humboldt University Berlin, 23-26 September 2009.
- “From Cologne to Canterbury: Martin Bucer, Thomas Cranmer, and the Measured Approach to Reform.” Presented to the March 2008 Meeting of the Society for Reformation Studies, Westminster College, Cambridge.
- “Exegesis and Theological Method: Loci Communesand their Application to the Practice of Theology in the Early Reformation.” Presented to the International Conference of the Peter Martyr Society, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 8-10 August 2007.
- “Bucer among the Biblical Humanists: His Practice in the Teaching of Theology in Strasbourg, 1523-1548.” Presented to the October 2003 meeting of the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- “Loci communes and their Application to the Practice of Theology in the Early Reformation: Varieties of Approach.” Presented to the October 2002 meeting of the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, San Antonio, Texas.
- “The Relationship between Biblical Exegesis and the Practice of Theology in the Later Middle Ages.” Presented 8 November 2001 to the Medieval History Research Seminar, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge.
- “The Use of Canon and Civil Law and their Relationship to Biblical Law in De Regno Christi.” Presented to the International Symposium “Martin Bucer und das Recht,” held at the Johannes B Lasco Bibliothek, Emden, Germany, March 2001.
- “New Learning, Old Theology: Renaissance Biblical Humanism, Scripture, and the Question of Theological Method.” Presented to the March 2000 Meeting of the Society for Reformation Studies, Westminster College, Cambridge; also, to a Colloquium sponsored by the Society for Renaissance Studies held at Mansfield College, Oxford, April 2000.
Publications
Books
- Joshua, Judges, Ruth (editor). Reformation Commentary on Scripture, volume 4. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020.
- Bucer, Ephesians, and Biblical Humanism: The Exegete as Theologian. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2015.
- The Education of a Christian Society: Humanism and the Reformation in Britain and the Netherlands, Co-Editor, with Andrew Pettegree and Henk van Nierop. Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, 1999.
Contributions to Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
- “Bucer’s Kingdom of Christ.” Oxford Handbook of Reformed Theology, ed. Michael Allen and Scott Swain, pp. 189-202. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
- Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 4th ed. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 2004. Articles on: “Perkins, William,” “Preston, John,” “Prynne, William,” “Ranters,” “Robinson, John,” “Sibbes, Richard,” “Smyth, John,” “Travers, Walter,” “Ussher, James,” “Vane, Sir Henry,” “Wake, William,” “Whitgift, John.”
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Articles on: “Babington, Francis,” “Bucer, Martin.”
- Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, edited by Timothy Larsen. Downers Grove, IL: Invervarsity Press, 2003. Article on: “Bradford, William.”
Contributions to Edited Volumes
- “In memoriam Martini Buceri: the contested after-life of Martin Bucer in England.” Reformation Anglicanism: Essays on Tudor Evangelicalism, eds. Mark Earngey and Stephen Tong, pp. 161-182. London: Latimer Trust (2023).
- “Protestant Exiles in England: Martin Bucer, the Measured Approach to Reform, and the Elizabethan Settlement – ‘Eien gute, leidliche Reformation.'” Sister Reformations: the Reformation in Germany and England, Symposium on the Occasion of the 450th Anniversary of the Elizabethan Settlement, September 23-29, 2009, edited by Dorothea Wendebourg. Tübingen:Mohr-Siebeck, 2010.
- “Exegesis and Theological Method.” A Companion to Peter Martyr Vermigli, edited by Torrance Kirby, Emidio Campi, and Frank A. James III. Leiden: E. J. Brill 2009.
- “Strangers in a Strange Land: the English Correspondence of Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr Vermigli.”Peter Martyr Vermigli and the European Reformations, edited by Frank James III. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2004.
- “The Use of Canon and Civil Law and their Relationship to Biblical Law in De Regno Christi.” Martin Bucer und das Recht, edited by Christoph Strohm. Geneva: Librairie Droz, 2002.
Journal Articles
- “The curious case of the misplaced eulogy: the printing history of Matthew Parker’s sermon for Martin Bucer’s funeral.” The Journal of Ecclesiastical History (forthcoming, January 2024).
- “BL Lansdowne MS 931.1 and the Disappearance (and Rediscovery) of Items in the Parker Library.” Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society XVII/2 (forthcoming 2021 [2023]).
- “‘Do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth’: A Reformation Debate on the Tragedy of Jephthah and His Daughter.” Reformation and Renaissance Review 21.1 (2019): 3-26.
- “Bucer among the Biblical Humanists: The Context for His Practice in the Teaching of Theology in Strasbourg, 1523-1548.” Reformation and Renaissance Review 6.2 (August 2004): 134-154.
- “New Learning, Old Theology: Renaissance Biblical Humanism, Scripture, and the Question of Theological Method.” Renaissance Studies 17/1 (March, 2003): 39-54.
- “The Alsatian among the Athenians: Martin Bucer, Mid-Tudor Cambridge and the Edwardian Reformation.”Reformation and Renaissance Review 4.1 (June, 2002): 94-124.
- “Martin Bucer and the Revision of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer: Reform of Ceremonies and the Didactic Use of Ritual.” Reformation and Renaissance Review 2 (December 1999): 107-126.
- “‘It is Fallow Ground Here’: Martin Bucer as Critic of the English Reformation.” Westminster Theological Journal 61/1 (1999): 41-52.
Book Reviews (Representative Selection)
- Review of John Fisher’s Court Sermons: Preaching for Lady Margaret, 1507-1509, edited by Cecilia A. Hatt. History: Reviews of New Books, Volume 50 Issue 2 (2022): 37-38.
- Review of The Refugee-Diplomat: Venice, England, and the Reformation, by Diego Pirillo. Church History 88/3 (2019): 826-828.
- Review of The Personal Luther: Essays on the Reformer from a Cultural Historical Perspective, by Susan Karant-Nunn. Renaissance Quarterly 72/2 (2019): 707-708.
- Review of Reformations: The Early Modern World, 1450-1650, by Carlos M.N. Eire. Reformation and Renaissance Review 19/3 (2017): 243-245.
- Review of Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet, by Lyndal Roper. Renaissance Quarterly 70/3 (Fall 2017): 1175-1176.
- Review of Taking the Long View: Christian Theology in Historical Perspective, by David C. Steinmetz. Reformation and Renaissance Review 17/3 (2016): 274-275.
- Review of The Reformation: Towards a New History, by Lee Palmer Wandel. Sixteenth Century Journal 43/4 (2012): 1165.
- Review of The Renaissance Bible: Scholarship, Sacrifice, and Subjectivity, by Debora Kuller Shuger. Journal of Ecclesiastical History 63/3 (2012): 618-619.
- Review of The Correspondence of Wolfgang Capito, Volume 2: 1524-1531. Edited and translated by Erika Rummel with the assistance of Milton Kooistra. Journal of Ecclesiastical History 62/2 (2011): 395-396.
- Review of Italian Reform and English Reformations, c. 1535-c. 1585 by Anne Overell, Reformation and Renaissance Review 11.3 (2009) 347-348. [Appeared 2011]
- Review of Martin Bucer’s Doctrine of Justification: Reformation Theology and Early Modern Irenicism, by Brian Lugioyo. Renaissance Quarterly 64/1 (Spring 2011).
- Review of Martin Luther’s Understanding of God’s Two Kingdoms: A Response to the Challenge of Skepticism, by William J. Wright, Renaissance Quarterly 63/3 (Fall 2010).
- Review of Johann Sleidan and the Protestant Vision of History, by Alexandra Kess. H-Net Reviews (March 2010):
- Review of Herculean Labours: Erasmus and the Editing of St. Jerome’s Letters in the Renaissance, by Hilmar Pabel. Reformation and Renaissance Review (forthcoming issue).
- Review of Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith by Robert Kolb. Renaissance Quarterly 62/4 (Winter 2009).
- Review of From Judaism to Calvinism: The Life and Writings of Immanuel Tremellius (ca. 1510-1580), by Kenneth Austin. Reformation and Renaissance Review 8.3 (2006) [appeared 2008].
- Review of The Zurich Connection and Tudor Political Theology, by W. J. Torrance Kirby. H-Net Reviews (March 2008).
- Joint review of Martin Bucer: A Reformer and His Times, by Martin Greschat, tr. by Stephen E. Buckwalter;Eucharistic Sacrifice and Patristic Tradition in the Theology of Martin Bucer 1534-1546, by Nicholas Thompson.Renaissance Quarterly 58/4 (Winter 2005): 1362-1364.
- Joint review of The Confessionalization of Humanism in Reformation Germany, by Erika Rummel; Renaissance Humanism in Support of the Gospel in Luther’s Early Correspondence: Taking all things Captive, by Timothy P. Dost. Journal of Ecclesiastical History 54/2 (2003): 355-358.
- Review of Martin Bucer (1491-1551); Auf der Suche nach Wiederherstellung der Einheit; Begleitbuch zur Ausstellung im Universitätsmuseum Heidelberg, 9. November 2001 – 24. Januar 2002, edited by Albert de Lange and Thomas Wilhelmi. BibliothPque d’Humanisme et Renaissance 64 (2002): 755-756.
- Review of Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe, by Brad S. Gregory. Westminster Theological Journal 63/1 (2001): 194-197.
- Review of The Rhetoric of the Reformationby Peter Matheson. Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 18/2 (2000): 184-184.
- Review of Tudor Church Militant: Edward VI and the Protestant Reformationby Diarmaid MacCulloch.Westminster Theological Journal 62/2 (2000): 322-326.
- Review of Martin Luther’s Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Developmentby Bernhard Lohse.Westminster Theological Journal 62/2 (2000): 319-322.
- Review of Marriage and Divorce in the Thought of Martin Bucerby H. J. Selderhuis. Westminster Theological Journal 62/1 (2000): 149-150.
- Review of Thomas Cranmer: A Life, by Diarmaid MacCulloch. History 83 (January 1998): 152.
- Review of The Catholic Priesthood and the English Reformation by Paul Marshall. Fides et Historia 27 (Summer 1995): 83-4.
Professional Associations and Affiliations
- American Society of Church History
- North American Patristics Society
- Renaissance Society of America
- Sixteenth Century Society
- Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical and Theological Research
Professional Interests
- Martin Bucer
- English Reformation, ca. 1520-1660
- Continental Reformation, especially Southwest Germany and Switzerland
- The Northern Renaissance, especially Erasmus of Rottterdam
- The Italian Renaissance
- History of Christianity
- Tudor England