Introduction

Elena Namli

pp. 1-18

in: Elena Namli (ed), Future(s) of the revolution and the reformation, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2019

Abstract

This chapter is the introduction to Future(s) of the Revolution and the Reformation. The volume was inspired by the symbolic anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation of 1517 and the Russian Revolution of 1917 in the year 2017. Does a hope for "new heavens and a new Earth" (Is. 65. 17) have a persisting political and theological relevance? The chapter introduces the main issues addressed by the contributors to the volume, such as the meaning and relevance of modern revolutions for a plausible concept of revolution and "the-end-of-revolution thesis." Most importantly, it is explained how theological constructions of reformation can be related to the discussion about the concept and the theory of revolution.