SOCIAL DYNAMICS AND ECCLESIOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS: REFORMATION AND ITS CENTRAL-EAST-EUROPEAN PRELIMINARIES

The developments which generated the downfall of the unity of Roman Christianity and the building of protestant churches are considered a turning point in the history of civilisation. The historical writing continues to debate on their meanings and consequences, and their dialogues with social sciences and with theology stimulates the genesis of new concepts and theories. The history of the first phases of the Reformation is equally the history of various confessional and political experiences involving the nations and churches from East-Central Europe and their importance for the general dynamics of religious pluralism are illustrated by three issues: the Hussite revolution, the genesis of a strategy regarding the Orthodox communities from Transylvania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and a possible Orthodox Reformation.