Britton, Dennis. "Race and religious conversion." www.throughlines.org/suite-content/race-and-religious-conversion. [Date accessed].

Race and religious conversion

The Reformation was more than just about Catholic/Protestant conflict.

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Dennis Britton
University of British Columbia

Students are usually unaware that in early modern Europe changing or not changing religions was often a matter of life or death. When teaching early modern texts, it is important to make it clear in the classroom that the Reformation was more than just about Catholic/Protestant conflict. Bringing conversations about religious conversion into the classroom can help students see that religion was—and still is for some—more than just about what a person thinks and believes. It’s about the transformation of fundamental aspects of identity. It is also important for students to pay attention to the fact that many early modern Christians didn’t believe that everyone had—or should have—equal access to this transformation.

Further learning

Essay

Religious conversion(s)

Teaching Jewish-to-Christian conversion helps broaden the understanding of religious and theological conflicts that characterize the Protestant Reformation.

Dennis Britton
Syllabus

Teaching the Reformation

A unit from Dennis Britton's "Survey of British Literature" course on the Reformation and the understandings of religious and racial difference in the period.

Dennis Britton

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