Franklin S. Dyrness Chair in Biblical & Theological Studies Inaugural Lecture

In the field of Reformation studies and in popular understanding, it has long been accepted that the most identifiable contribution of the Protestant Reformation to the reform of church and society was the Bible in common languages. Today, this narrative is increasingly questioned by scholars who emphasize the presence of vernacular Bibles in the medieval church before the Reformation. Such work has generated a dramatic paradigm shift within Reformation studies that challenges established understandings of the Bible’s history during the Reformation with implications for evaluating the Reformation legacy today. So, what was significant about the vernacular Bible during the Reformation?

This lecture will offer a nuanced response to the current historiographical landscape by focusing on the link forged between the vernacular Bible and Reformed Protestants driven into exile as religious refugees. John Calvin’s Geneva provides a compelling window into the way in which vernacular Bible translation, publication, and transmission became the primary theological expression of the religious refugee mission to advance Protestant reform throughout Europe. In that context, the vernacular Bible project came to embody the very symbol of resistance among marginalized Protestants from John Calvin to the Westminster Confession of Faith (1643).

This lecture will tell the story of how the Reformed tradition contributed to the sacralizing of the form, status, and function of the vernacular Bible by (1) tracing the significance of the replacement of medieval relics with Bibles during the Reformation; (2) highlighting the adoption of humanist philology as key to the re-evaluation of the function and authority of vernacular language in the early modern church and society. Furthermore, the controversial advancement of vernacular languages in the realms of theology, politics, and Christian worship will give insight into how common languages were intentionally elevated in their function and authority during the Reformation. In the end, the Bible in common languages was promoted as a theological and pastoral necessity for reforming the church. By exploring this story, we have the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the significance of the vernacular Bible during the Reformation as well as to reflect on the legacy and impact of vernacular Bibles in our own lives and in our church traditions today.

The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt is the Franklin S. Dyrness Associate Professor in Biblical and Theological Studies at Wheaton College, a Fellow in the Royal Historical Society, and a Parish Associate at First Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn. Dr. McNutt received her Ph.D. in History from the University of St. Andrews (Reformation Studies Institute, 2008), M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary (2003), and a B.A. in Religious Studies from Westmont College (2000). She is the recipient of several academic awards including the Overseas Research Student Award (Universities, U.K.) for her doctoral research and the Sidney E. Mead Prize (American Society of Church History) for her first published article. Her first monograph, “Calvin Meets Voltaire: The Clergy of Geneva in the Age of Enlightenment, 1685-1798” (Ashgate, 2014), was awarded the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize by the American Society of Church History. In 2013-2014, Dr. McNutt was awarded Wheaton’s Leland Ryken Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities (2013) for exemplifying excellence in the classroom, a deep commitment to inspiring students to realize the ideals of careful scholarship in their own work, and the integration of the Christian faith and learning in the Humanities. In 2017, Westmont College honored Dr. McNutt with an 80th Anniversary Alumni Award for her work as a professor at Wheaton in cultivating “thoughtful scholars, grateful servants and faithful leaders for global engagement with the academy, church and the world.” In 2017, she was one of the Reformation experts interviewed for “A Call to Freedom” documentary that was produced to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In 2018, that documentary was awarded three regional Emmys including Outstanding Historical Documentary.

Dr. McNutt’s research specializes in the history of the church and Christian Theology from the Reformation through the Enlightenment with particular expertise in John Calvin and his clerical legacy, the Reformed tradition, the relationship between Christianity and science, and the history of the Bible and its interpretation. Current contracted projects include co-editing The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and the Reformation (OUP) with Prof. Herman Selderhuis and editing the 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude volume for the Reformation Commentary on Scripture series (InterVarsity Press Academic). She recently published the co-edited volume, The People’s Book: The Reformation and the Bible (IVP, 2017), for the Wheaton Theology Conference series. She is currently researching and writing two monographs: the history of the French Bible from the early-modern period through the Enlightenment and a social history of John Calvin’s thought. Her research has received international grants including the Andrew Mellon Research Fellowship (2015-2016) at the Huntington Library and the Huntington Trinity Hall Exchange Fellowship at the University of Cambridge (2015-2016). Her publications include academic journal articles and book chapters as well as popular ecclesiastical pieces for Christianity Today and Christian History Magazine. In 2017, Dr. McNutt was awarded first place in Christianity Today’s essay contest for her article on how clergy during the Enlightenment contributed to the advancement of modern science.

This lecture will be free and open to the public with a reception to follow. If you have any questions please contact bts.graduate.studies@wheaton.edu.