ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to the historiographical, methodological, and conceptual aspects of the study of incombustible books. Earlier studies have emphasised the miraculous aspect of such books and the Lutherans’ belief in miracles. Thus, they have substantiated a critique of Max Weber’s disenchantment theory. No matter what theologians taught the population, early modern Lutheranism was never entirely purged of the miraculous. While this is uncontested, the chapter suggests that the study of unburnt books requires a different perspective. References to the miraculous must be understood in relation to practices of storytelling, inter- and intraconfessional polemics, and a reliance on traditional vocabulary. Furthermore, incombustible books were not only discursive, they were objects worthy of keeping, displaying, and using in ceremonies and religious rituals. Incombustible books should therefore also be studied as material objects, as unique early modern Lutheran things.
