Dr. Leonard Smith, emeritus professor of history at California Lutheran University and a former professor at Luther College, is scheduled to deliver two presentations on the Gustavus campus as part of a publicity tour for his new book Religion and the Rise of History: Martin Luther and the Cultural Revolution in Germany, 1760-1810, available in the Book Mark.

The first lecture, titled “Teaching the Idea of History and How to Write a History Paper in a Useful, Delightful, and Lutheran Way,” will be held from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Phi Beta Kappa room. The second lecture will be the presentation of Smith’s paper “Martin Luther and the Cultural Revolution: 1760-1810” and will take place from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in Confer Hall 126.

Dr. Smith said that the idea for his new book has existed in some form since 1971. Quoted in a press release from the publisher, Cascade Books (a division of Wipf and Stock), Thomas A. Brady Jr. of the University of California, Berkeley, calls Dr. Smith’s book “a splendid marriage of classical themes with new and original insights”, and adds that “everyone interested in the evolution of European historical thought should read it.”

In the book, Dr. Smith suggests that the “cultural revolution,” a “formative period for modern German thought” was fueled by Luther’s writings and deeply changed the world by culminating in the establishment of the modern liberal arts educational tradition.

Gustavus Professor of Religion Garrett Paul suggested that students of all disciplines attend Dr. Smith’s presentations, but added that any student with an interest in history, religion, or philosophy would find the lectures especially intriguing.

Smith’s lectures will focus in part on the influence of Martin Luther’s writings on the development of historicism, a school of thought that stresses the importance of looking at change and historical context when studying history.

When speaking of Luther’s influence on Western historical thought, Smith focuses on Luther’s use of “simul” or “at-the-same-time” comparisons, as well as “in-with-and-under,” a concept for teaching general ideas of religion and history “in, with, under and through the particular.”

“Lutheran ethos is second to none for historical thought,” Smith said. “In-with-and-under [is] the best way to write. Abstract thinking is always boring.”

But don’t fret—all this writing theory isn’t as dry as it sounds. Smith promised to cover “2,000 years of Western historical thought in 15 minutes,” and added that “I put on quite a show.”