Wang, Qian2019-09-252019-09-252017-10-182016http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/166663Love was a central theme in early Christian tradition,though it was largely distorted during the Medieval Period. This was principally due to the Catholic Church's intrusion into the love relationship between God and man,which imposed such burdens upon Christians that it forbade them from feeling God's love. At the same time,the Church itself became increasingly secularized and deviated far from the principle of love. To correct these abuses,Martin Luther's Reformation contributed greatly to reviving early Christian love tradition at the doctrinal level. Luther's contribution was not limited to religion. He also tried to improve secular society based on love. His Reformation even inspired German peasants in 1525 to practice a radical version of Christian love. Thus,the early Christian love tradition was greatly recovered and promoted during the Reformation, releasing explosive energy to improve the social order.chiWith permission of the license/copyright holderChristian loveReformationLutherThe German Peasants' WarIntercultural and contextual theologiesAsian theologiesArticle