Brad Gregory's 'The Unintended Reformation' has garnered enough attention from the literary circle for its take on the inadvertent consequences of reformation of the modern world.

Valparaiso University along with the University of Notre Dame will sponsor "A Round Table Conference on Brad Gregory's 'The Unintended Reformation'" Sept. 15 at the Harre Union Brown & Gold Room on the Valparaiso University campus.

Brad Gregory , an associate professor of History at the University of Notre Dame, has triggered debates through his book 'about the root causes of current divisions over secularism, morality, government, economic life, and academic knowledge.'

His previous book "Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe" has won six awards, including the 1999 Thomas J. Wilson Prize as the best first book published by the Harvard University Press and the California Book Award Silver Medal for Nonfiction.

According to the book review by Wall Street Journal The Unintended Reformation "describes six ways in which the West has lost its moral and intellectual bearings' and in all six cases he traces the loss to Protestant Reformation of 16th century."

"Could a book about the many-centuries-old division of Christianity shed fresh light on the most heated issues in modern American life, including some of those being debated in the 2012 presidential campaign?" asks Mel Piehl, dean of Christ College at Valparaiso University.

"Some scholars have suggested that it could. Our discussions will address this and other topics relevant to today."

Gregory's book and the Sept. 15 Reformation summit represent the opening foray of the five-year countdown to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.

The conference will feature presentations by:

  • John Hare -- Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale University
  • Susan Schreiner -- Professor of the History of Christianity and Theology, University of Chicago
  • Francis Oakley -- Former President, Williams College and current Edward Dorr Griffin Professor of the History of Idea, Emeritus, Williams College