How religious groups develop their own identities has been labelled the process of 'normative self-definition'. It is a process in which certain beliefs, customs, practices, and traditions are promoted and others excluded. The former become normative, the latter define boundaries.(1) It is a process which any collection of articles on the Reformation may be expected to address, but one which is particularly evident in this number of REFORMATION It is central to Helen L. Parish's article, "Then May the DeuyIs of Hell be Sayntes Also": The Medieval Church in the Sixteenth Century', in which she considers how reformers responded to their inherited medieval ideals. Peter Auksi in 'Reason and Feeling as Evidence: The Question of "Proof" in Tyndale's Thought' examines a parting of ways in the then-crucial question of the relationship between rhetoric and logic. The results of the new Protestant synthesis are looked at in two very different areas in Roger Kuin's 'Sir Philip Sidney's Model of the Statesman', and in Ralph Houlbrooke's 'Funeral Sermons and Assurance of Salvation: Conviction and Persuasion in the Case of William Lord Russell of Thornhaugh', which extends Goulbrooke's important recent monograph on the subject.(2) These issues of boundaries and selfdefinition were still very much alive in the mid-seventeenth century but had become more complex and reflexive, as evidenced by Sylvia Brown in her 'Converting the Lost Sons of Adam: National Identities and the First Publication of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England- and Claire Jowitt in "'Inward" and "Outward" Jews: Margaret Fell, Circumcision, and Women's Preaching'. Iconography, of course, is a very important aspect of self-definition, and J. B. Trapp in 'The Likeness of William Tyndale' examines the circuitous path by which we came by our image of William Tyndale.

In the Book Review Section, Andrew Hadfield has gathered together an impressive number of quality reviews. The books reviewed detail the multi-disciplinary nature of REFORMATION.

In the production of this volume, we are, as always, grateful to David Daniell and Priscilla Frost in England. The journal owes a debt to Richard Duerden and, most importantly, Linda Hunter Adams and her students at the Humanities Publications Center, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, where the copy-editing, design, and production were professionally carried out.

We are delighted to announce that REFORMATION is being published by Ashgate from this issue onwards. The editorship passes from Andrew Hope, who becomes historical advisor to the journal, to Andrew Hadfield. Our aim is to have the journal produced each September from now on. We apologize for the late appearance of the last few issues. Issue 5 will appear in December 2000 or January 2001 and issue 6 in September 2001 Articles should be between 6,000 and 10,000 words (including footnotes). We will try to give helpful feedback to all article submitted to the journal, whether they are accepted or not. We will attempt to give a decision within three to four months on all articles sent to us. We would also like to encourage scholars to send shorter notes (between 1,500 and 4,000 words, including footnotes) on significant aspects of the Reformation.

Professors Janel Mueller and John Court have decided to step down as advisory board editors. We would like to thank them for their help and support and wish them well. We are delighted that Professors Greg Walker and Alan Ford have agreed to join the editorial board. Dr Thomas Betteridge is taking over from Andrew Hadfield as reviews editor. All books for review should be sent to him.

One aim of the journal is to encourage fresh interest in the history, culture, and literature of the Reformation. We have established a Tyndale Society prize Of £150 to be awarded to the best essay submitted to REFORMATION by a young scholar. A panel of specialists will judge the essays. The winning essay will be published in REFORMATION, along with other essays submitted that the judges consider to be of publishable standard.

-Andrew Hadfield

-Andrew Hope

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(1) See E. P. Sanders, 'Preface', in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, vol. I of The Shaping of Christianity in the Second and Third Centuries, ed. E. P. Sanders (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980), esp. p. ix.

(2) Ralph A. Houlbrooke, Death, Religion and the Family in England, 1480-1750 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 19