May 25-26, 2012, Refo 500 Asia will have an Annual International Conference at Chongshin University, Seoul, Korea. You are invited to submit short paper proposals until March 31, 2012.

The Dordt College Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Bradley Miedema is traveling in Germany and the Netherlands May 7 - 18, 2012 and will give a number of concerts in collaboration with Refo500 partners in Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Eisleben, Nordhausen and Apeldoorn.

The publication of the Heidelberg Catechism in and the completion of the Council of Trent in 1563 gives rise to the 450-year anniversary of both events in 2013 and entails much preparation for full commemoration. A large number of partners from the international Refo 500 platform are working on various exhibitions, conferences, travels, and books.

June 21-22nd 2013, an international conference will take place in Apeldoorn on The Spirituality of the Heidelberg Catechism. Organizers are the Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn together with the Theologische Universiteit Kampen and the Hersteld Hervormd Seminarie at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Short paper proposals can be submitted until January 2013.

February 9, 2012, there will be an expert meeting in Leuven about 'History of the Councils in Leuven Research', organized by Refo500-partners Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII and the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit Leuven.

In an official meeting visited by some 50 professors and other scholars, the partnership agreement between the University of Warsaw and Refo500 was signed by Włodzimierz Lengauer, Vice Rector of the University, Jerzy Axer, founder and Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary studies "Artes Liberales" and Piotr Wilczek of this Institute. 

Thursday December 15th 2011, Prof. Włodzimierz Lengauer, Vice-Rector of the University of Warsaw and Prof. Jerzy Axer, Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies “Artes Liberales” of this university will sign the partnership contract with Refo500.

Revival & Reformation Press (RPP) in Seoul published a Korean version of the famous work of Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics (Gereformeerde Dogmatiek). Dr. Tae-Hyeun Park, who did his PhD at the Theological University Apeldoorn, completed the translation project.

The organization of the international symposium on the Confessio Belgica, November 28 in Brussel, announces that due to a technical failure, the registrations did not arrive at the correct place. In case you have registred, please read this news item in which you are requested friendly to register again.

The Europäische Melanchthon-Akademie (EMA) organizes with Refo500 an international symposium on "Wem gehört die Reformation? Nationale und konfessionelle Dispositionen der Reformationsdeutung”, from 1 to 3 March 2012 in Bretten, under the leadership of Dr. Günter Frank (EMA Bretten, FU Berlin), Prof. Dr. Volker Leppin (Universität Tübingen) and Prof. Dr. Herman J. Selderhuis (Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn).

What does the reformation have to say about the lives of Christians of the time? This question stood as the central focus of the conference at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham Alabama (USA). The conference attendees were offered many lectures, workshops, meditations, and music.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (October 31, 2011) – On the second anniversary of its public launch, the Post-Reformation Digital Library (PRDL) has become available in an upgraded form with its own domain. This new version of the library is powered by a database format, which allows detailed search queries and integrates findings of source material from a wide variety of digital libraries and digitization projects. After more than a year in development, the new website now covers more than double the number of authors and works as its previous iteration.

Conscience was the theme during the Refo500 session at the Sixteenth Century Study Conference in Fort Worth (Texas). This topic was approached from different traditions: that of Luther, Calvin and the Puritans.

The preliminary Program of the 2nd RefoRC Conference Oslo 2012 is now online available. Art in the sixteenth century as well as the plans various European museums have in relation to the Reformation jubilee, will receive special attention during the conference.

During the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference next week in Fort Worth (Texas), the first volume of the new series Refo500 Academic Studies (Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht) will be presented. The titel is 'Counsel and Conscience, Lutheran Casuistry and Moral Reasoning after the Reformation', by Benjamin Mayes.

This year it is 500 years ago that the French reformer Pierre Viret was born. That is why Southern Baptist Theological Seminary organizes on November 2nd a short conference (in Louisville, KY), titled La Réforme: Celebrating the French Reformation on the Quincentennial of Pierre Viret (1511–71). You can be there!

Are you looking for an antiquarian book about the reformation? Then you should see our new pages with antiquarian books. Several special antiquarian books about the Reformation have been selected by the theological antiquarian bookshop Wever Van Wijnen from Franeker (Netherlands).

The Annual Conference of Refo500 Asia will be held in October 31 in Seoul, Korea on the topic 'The renewal of the church'. Main speaker will be dr. Eric Peels of the Theological University of Apeldoorn about “A Christian Reading of the Old Testament from a Reformed Perspective”.

This year is the 450th year since the Dutch Profession of Faith, also named the Belgic Confession, was made public. That is the reason given for a journey, conferences, symposiums, and a new book on Guido de Brès, the author of this confession.

The year 2011 marks 450 years since Guido de Brès (1522-1567) drafted the Confessio Belgica at Doornik (Tournai). November 28, 2011, scholars from four countries discuss in Brussels the origin, content, reception, and actual relevance of the Confessio Belgica in light of recent research.

During Reformation Week this year, Beeson Divinity School is pleased to offer a very special two-day Reformation Spirituality Conference. Several perspectives of this significant topic will be presented and discussed with an outstanding panel of important scholars.

Aarhus University invites for a Seminar about Melanchthon as the second reformer: Melanchthon on human freedom - Melanchthon and Paul, December 5-7, 2011. This seminar gathers leading international scholars for a discussion on these two important themes for both historical and contemporary theology.

On the night of November 1 and 2 in 1561, Guido de Brès threw a specimen of the Dutch Profession of Faith (Confessio Belgica) over the castle wall at Doornik. The Theological University of Kampen will commemorate that event on Tuesday November 1 with a symposium.

On October 30th, there are a church service and a concert of the International Choir Frankfurt in the Evangelisch-reformierte Gemeinde of Frankfurt, Germany; the choir is going to sing well-known songs form the Reformation-tradition. After that, you can listen to Dr. Jan R. Luth, expert of churchmusic, about Calvin and calvinists and sacred Music. 

Witte Travel & Tours, partner of Refo500, organizes a Reformation Tour from June 26 - July 6, 2012. Led by Dr. Sean Michael Lucas, you will learn about Luther, Calvin, J.S. Bach, Zwingli, etc.

Since July 2011, Refo500 became an affiliated partner with Sixteenth Century Society & Conference (SCSC). The SCSC is a yearly meeting of experts on the field of history and culture from the sixteenth century. The conference always takes place in a North American city and averages about 800 participants, and is seen as the most important platform for the research of the early modern times.

The Protestant Theological University organizes from November 7-10, 2011 an international conference on Protestant Church Polity in Changing Contexts.

Refo500-partners from three different continents met in Geneva on Thursday, June 30. Representatives of Chongshin University in Seoul, Korea, as well as a group traveling from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, USA, visited the Musée International de la Réforme in Calvin’s city.

The Catholic University of Leuven organizes with a number of other institutions an international conference about 'Vernacular Bible and Religious Reform' and invites you to submit proposals for papers. The conference will take place in Leuven November 29th – December 1st 2012.

The International Museum of the Reformation in Geneva will host from 15 June to 18 September 2011 an exhibition of 40 photographs by Nicolas Righetti, a fascinating series of portraits of men and women, living on the five continents, who are all named Calvin.

According to the attendees of the first RefoRC conference on the topic ‘The Myth of the Reformation’, RefoRC had a perfect start. The conference was received with enthusiasm and expectations for the future.

About 70 interested parties, a.o. presidents and chairmen of Universities, leading persons of academic associations, newspapers and publishing companies visited Monday May 30th the Refo500 presentation in Seoul, Korea. Dr. In-Sub Ahn, project manager Refo500 Asia at Chongshin University presented the platform and the possibilities for Asian partners.

On June 8-10 the first conference of RefoRC, the Reformation Research Consortium,  will take place at the Institute for Swiss Reformation History (University of Zurich). RefoRC is the academic section of Refo500, the international platform that develops a great variety of activities worldwide related to the 2017 quincentennial commemoration of the Reformation, focusing on the contemporary relevance of the reformations of the 16th century.

The Luther 500 Festival is an eight-day cultural immersion experience that brings the Reformation to life as you serve, learn, and celebrate in the places where Martin Luther did the same 500 years ago. The Festival is organized by Lost and Found in close cooperation with Refo500 partner Terra Lu Travel.

Angelika Müller-Tischer, deputy chief of the cultural department of the city of Pforzheim, attended the two day Refo500 conference on Reformation cities along with about 50 representatives from 15 cities in Germany in Lutherstadt Eisleben, Germany. “I am encouraged and now know better how to make the reformation relevant.”

"Inspiring and Informing," is how Ineke Middag, director of Erfgoedcentrum DiEP of Dordrecht, characterized the conference "450th Anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism," which was held March 3-5 in Emden in preparation for the three exhibitions in 2013.

On the occasion of the opening of Refo500 October 30th 2010 in Gouda - REWIND FORWARD - Zendtijd voor Kerken broadcasts on May 4th and May 11 on television, Nederland 2.

RefoRC, the recently founded academic department of Refo500, organizes annual conferences. That idea seems to be well received, according to the number of people who registred for the conference in Zurich, June 2011. Because of this large number of registrations it was needed to close down the possibility of attending the conference and a waiting list was created.

As part of the 8th Emden Conference on the history of Reformed Protestantism, with this year the main theme "Church, theology and politics in Reformed Protestantism" Nicholas Schneider held on March 21st a public lecture on the topic "The political responsibility of the Church". Schneider is Council President of the Evangelical Church of Germany and President of the Evangelical Church in Rhineland.

Reformation Heritage Books published a new book: Introduction to Reformed Scholasticism, by Willem J. van Asselt and with contributions by T. Theo J. Pleizier, Pieter L. Rouwendal and Maarten Wisse. This work supplies a long-standing need in the field of early modern studies by providing a basic introduction to Reformed Scholasticism.

The partnership with the Fondazione per le scienze religiose Giovanni XXIII in Bologna (Italy) last Monday has been confirmed by the signing of the contract. Director Alberto Melloni signed the contract for the Fondazione and then reported that the University of Modena-Reggio also wants to become a partner, so that the contract with this university was signed as well.

“The Protestant Reformation brought a revolution to the life of prayer. This book opens up the story of how the Reformers like Luther and Calvin, followed by the Puritans like William Perkins and Matthew Henry, teach us a surprisingly new approach to the life of prayer.”
—Hughes Oliphant Old.

From 21st March to 21st April 2011, the University Library of Erfurt shows an exhibition on the 'Erfurt Almanac on Luther 1511-2011'. The Almanac was commissioned by the City of Erfurt to commemorate Luther’s move from Erfurt to Wittenberg in 1511 and designed as an artist’s book with essays and illustrations by the Erfurt graphic artist Uta Huenniger.

The Reformierte Bund in Germany has launched a new website on the occasion of the 450th birthday of the Heidelberg Catechism in 2013.

The video of the public evening lecture of Prof. Dr. Herman J. Selderhuis March 4, during the conference '450 Jahre Heidelberger Katechismus' is now online on the websites of Refo500-partners Johannes a Lasco Library and Reformierter Bund.

Always wanted to learn more about the Reformers and to visit places in Europe, pursuing the Reformed traditions in the footsteps of Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and Knox?

The city of Eisleben, Martin Luther’s birthplace, has invited Reformation cities in German speaking countries to a conference on May 18-19, 2011 in Eisleben.

If suddenly there were no longer any church buildings, would we miss them? Until recently, knowledge of the religious buildings in the Netherlands was incomplete, scattered and sometimes inaccessible.

During the 11th Asian Congress on Calvin Research that took place in Seoul (Korea) this week, Refo500 Asia got started.

The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty in Grand Rapids, MI USA, is joining forces with Refo500.

From March 3-5, 2011 an international conference Heidelberg Cathechism will be held in the Johannes a Lasco Library Emden (Germany), in view of the planned exhibitions in Heidelberg and Apeldoorn in 2013.

Witte Travel & Tours in Grand Rapids is proud to be the North American travel partner for Refo500. For more than three decades, Witte has custom-designed and operated exceptional tours for groups wanting to add a religious dimension to their travels. Dan Hermen, Group sales director of Witte Travel & Tours, informs us about his company:

Refo500 partner Chongshin University in Seoul will be hosting the 11th Asian Congress on Calvin Research which will take place January 17th to 19th 2011.

Zendtijd voor Kerken had the opening of Refo500 on October 30th directly streaming from 12:00 PM to 10:30 PM.

The first part of the evening program can be seen here.

The second part of the evening program can be seen here.

Last Tuesday in the German city of Wittenberg, a partnership agreement was signed between the LEUCOREA Foundation and Refo500. The LEUCOREA Foundation is a branch of the University of Halle-Wittenberg and has as its goal the promotion of research activities in the Leucorea, the building where Luther and Melanchthon worked as professors.

The Johannes a Lasco library in Emden (Germany) gave a positive assessment at the academic conference upon the reformer Philipp Melanchthon. During the conference Wednesday, November 10 through Friday, November 12, more than 30 researchers from 7 countries, including many researchers from the neighboring Netherlands came to Emden, Germany. In lectures and discussions, they discussed the importance of Melanchthon for the reformed tradition. This year marks the death of Philip Melanchthon 450 years ago.

“Because of reform: progress; because of the schism: a mistake,” that was the answer of Dr. Antoine Bodar Saturday evening to the question whether the Reformation was a mistake or progress. He spoke these words in St. John’s Church in Gouda where over 500 people had come for the evening program “Rewind Forward,” the opening of Refo500.

During the opening of Refo500 on October 30 in and around St. John’s Church in Gouda, photos, video, and radio recordings respectively were made. For anyone who wants to look at or listen to them, the materials are collected here.

By signing the contract, Prof. Andreas Mühling made the partnership with the Ökumenisches Institut für interreliösen Dialog an der Universität Trier (Ecumenical Institute for Inter-Religious Dialogue of the University of Trier) and Refo500 official on Tuesday, November 2.

Dr. Erik de Boer, Chairman of the Board of Refo500 Foundation, made a discovery in the archives of Geneva. He found ten accounts of the exegesis of John Calvin in the last year of his life. The manuscript was archived in the wrong place for a long time and therefore escaped attention.

On October 15th, during the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference in Montreal, it was announced that the Refo500 academic partners are closer to organizing through the Reformation Research Group (RefoRG). In this way, research institutions within Refo500 can more effectively cooperate and still make use of cooperation with partners outside of Refo500, which was a problem for some academic partners until recently.

A growing international network of leaders, scholars, and pastors, focusing on the abiding significance of the Reformation, held an enthusiastic conference at the campus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, September 27-28. The first North American Conference assembled numerous speakers to launch the movement, which will sponsor a robust series of events through 2017 (the anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses). The meetings were held in The Legacy Hotel and Conference center on the beautiful Southern Baptist Seminary campus.

Last Tuesday a consultation for academic organizations from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden was held in the university of Oslo. It appears that a great interest in the project Refo500 exists in Scandinavia, that has been characterized since the Reformation by a Lutheran tradition and where the majority of the inhabitants belong to the Lutheran church.

Refo500's partner Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, is hosting the first Refo500 Conference in North America on September 27th and 28th 2010, under the title: Celebration Reformation: Challenges and Chances between now and 2017. Read here more about the conference schedule, the presenters, speakers and seminars.

The famous Musée international de la Réforme of Geneva has become a project partner of Refo500. Mrs. Isabelle Graesslé, director of the Museum, signed today the contract with Refo500 Foundation today.

On Saturday 30, October will be the opening of Refo500 REWIND FORWARD at St. John’s Church (Sint-Janskerk) in Gouda, the Netherlands. There is a varied program with a high level of content—Don’t miss it!—and also many Dutch celebrities.

Leuven Catholic University has organized an international colloquium on 30 September and 1 October 2010 on 'De opleiding van de seculiere geestelijkheid aan grootseminaries en universiteiten in de Lage Landen tijdens de Nieuwe Tijd' ('The training of the secular clergy in major seminaries and universities in the Low Countries during the early Modern period').

This week the renowned Chongshin University (Seoul, Korea) became a project partner of Refo500 and has taken the position of academic coordinator for Asia. Refo500 in this way is expanding its activities further, already in June of this year a North American section was established.

The Reformation led to a re-evaluation of Hebrew, the language of the Jewish Torah and the Christian Old Testament. That fact inspired the Synagogue Foundation at Enschede (Stichting Synagoge Enschede) and the Theological University at Apeldoorn (Theologische Universiteit Apeldoorn) to offer a joint course in classical Hebrew for beginners within the framework of Refo500.

Historizon has a wide range of group travels but has also customized packages. So you can design a trip to Wittenberg and book through Historizon.

On the 4th of December 2013, we will commemorate the fact that 450 years ago, the Council of Trent (1545-1563) was solemnly brought to a close. This Council had an enormous impact on developments in religion, politics, art and culture, in Europe and beyond.

The North American arm of Refo500 was launched in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 21-22, 2010. Meeting at the Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Dr. Herman Selderhuis, the International Director of the Refo500 project, introduced staff and key North American leaders.

Now that so many North American institutions have indicated their desire to play active roles in Refo500, a council for Refo500 North America has been established, which will have its first meeting on June 21st and 22nd at Emory Law School in Atlanta, Georgia.

Refo500's first Conference in North America will be held at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 27th and 28th 2010, under the title:

Celebration Reformation: Challenges and Chances between now and 2017.

Read more information on the website of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and in the program.

The German city Heidelberg, well known by the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563, has become Project Partner of Refo500. In a few weeks, Refo500 speaks with representatives of this city about the cooperation in the field of tourism and culture.

The Council of Trent (closed 1563) is one of the milestones in the history of the Catholic Church. As part of the Catholic reform and counter-Reformation there was a greater emphasis on the training of secular priests.

The German Foundation of Luther Memorials has purchased a rare letter of the reformer Martin Luther. The letter from the year 1517 was discovered in a Swiss auction catalog.

On October 31, 1517, the German professor Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses about the abuses in the church on the door of the castle Church at Wittenberg. This act became known as the start of what was later called the Reformation.

Protestant churches are indeed derived from the Reformation of the 16th century. This movement, however, has also had a great influence on the Roman Catholic church.

From 2010 until the 500th anniversaty of the Reformation in 2017, Refo500 will focus it attention upon the Reformation trough nine themes: Education and Learning, Confession and Conflict, Money and Power, Doctrine and Church, Living and Dying, Art and Culture, Freedom and Preaching, Renewal and Piety, Bible and Language.

See also the flyer of Refo500 to learn more about the nine themes.

With an ambitious exhibition project, the cities of Heidelberg and Apeldoorn will celebrate in 2013 the 450th anniversary of the Heidelberg Catechism.