Martin Luther
Martin Luther, was a German professor of theology, priest, a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507, he came to reject several practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Luther proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517, his refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor. Luther taught that salvation and eternal life are not earned by good deeds but are received only as the free gift of God's grace through the believer's faith in Jesus Christ as redeemer from sin, his theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge, opposed sacerdotalism by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. Those who identify with these, all of Luther's wider teachings, are called Lutherans, though Luther insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ.
His translation of the Bible into the German vernacular made it more accessible to the laity, an event that had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, influenced the writing of an English translation, the Tyndale Bible, his hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches. His marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry. In two of his works, Luther expressed antagonistic views towards Jews, his rhetoric was not directed at Jews alone, but towards Roman Catholics and nontrinitarian Christians. Luther died with his decree of excommunication by Pope Leo X still effective. Martin Luther was born to Hans Luder and his wife Margarethe on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben, County of Mansfeld in the Holy Roman Empire. Luther was baptized the next morning on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours.
His family moved to Mansfeld in 1484, where his father was a leaseholder of copper mines and smelters and served as one of four citizen representatives on the local council. The religious scholar Martin Marty describes Luther's mother as a hard-working woman of "trading-class stock and middling means" and notes that Luther's enemies wrongly described her as a whore and bath attendant, he had several brothers and sisters, is known to have been close to one of them, Jacob. Hans Luther was ambitious for himself and his family, he was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer, he sent Martin to Latin schools in Mansfeld Magdeburg in 1497, where he attended a school operated by a lay group called the Brethren of the Common Life, Eisenach in 1498. The three schools focused on the so-called "trivium": grammar and logic. Luther compared his education there to purgatory and hell. In 1501, at the age of 17, he entered the University of Erfurt, which he described as a beerhouse and whorehouse.
He was made to wake at four every morning for what has been described as "a day of rote learning and wearying spiritual exercises." He received his master's degree in 1505. In accordance with his father's wishes, he enrolled in law but dropped out immediately, believing that law represented uncertainty. Luther sought assurances about life and was drawn to theology and philosophy, expressing particular interest in Aristotle, William of Ockham, Gabriel Biel, he was influenced by two tutors, Bartholomaeus Arnoldi von Usingen and Jodocus Trutfetter, who taught him to be suspicious of the greatest thinkers and to test everything himself by experience. Philosophy proved to be unsatisfying, offering assurance about the use of reason but none about loving God, which to Luther was more important. Reason could not lead men to God, he felt, he thereafter developed a love-hate relationship with Aristotle over the latter's emphasis on reason. For Luther, reason could be used to question institutions, but not God.
Human beings could learn about God only through divine revelation, he believed, Scripture therefore became important to him. On 2 July 1505, while returning to university on horseback after a trip home, a lightning bolt struck near Luther during a thunderstorm. Telling his father he was terrified of death and divine judgment, he cried out, "Help! Saint Anna, I will become a monk!" He came to view his cry for help as a vow. He left university, sold his books, entered St. Augustine's Monastery in Erfurt on 17 July 1505. One friend blamed the decision on Luther's sadness over the deaths of two friends. Luther himself seemed saddened by the move; those who attended a farewell supper walked him to the door of the Black Cloister. "This day you see me, not again," he said. His father was furious over. Luther dedicated himself to the Augustinian order, devoting himself to fasting, long hours in prayer and frequent confession. Luther described this period of his life as one of deep spiritual despair, he said, "I lost touch with Christ the Savior and Comforter, made of him the jailer and hangman of my poor soul."
Johann von Staupitz, his superior, pointed
God in Christianity
God in Christianity is the eternal being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe God to be both immanent. Christian teachings of the immanence and involvement of God and his love for humanity exclude the belief that God is of the same substance as the created universe but accept that God's divine Nature was hypostatically united to human nature in the person of Jesus Christ, in an event known as the Incarnation. Early Christian views of God were expressed in the Pauline Epistles and the early creeds, which proclaimed one God and the divinity of Jesus in the same breath as in 1 Corinthians: "For if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live. "Although the Judeo-Christian sect of the Ebionites protested against this apotheosis of Jesus, the great mass of Gentile Christians accepted it." This began to differentiate the Gentile Christian views of God from traditional Jewish teachings of the time.
The theology of the attributes and nature of God has been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity, with Irenaeus writing in the 2nd century: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things". In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes which remain accepted; as time passed, theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in the Bible, others based on theological reasoning. The Kingdom of God is a prominent phrase in the Synoptic Gospels and while there is near unanimous agreement among scholars that it represents a key element of the teachings of Jesus, there is little scholarly agreement on its exact interpretation. Although the New Testament does not have a formal doctrine of the Trinity as such, "it does speak of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit... in such a way as to compel a Trinitarian understanding of God." This never becomes a tritheism. Around the year 200, Tertullian formulated a version of the doctrine of the Trinity which affirmed the divinity of Jesus and came close to the definitive form produced by the Ecumenical Council of 381.
The doctrine of the Trinity can be summed up as: "The One God exists in Three Persons and One Substance, as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit." Trinitarians, who form the large majority of Christians, hold it as a core tenet of their faith. Nontrinitarian denominations define the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit in a number of different ways. Early Christian views of God are reflected in Apostle Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians, written ca. AD 53-54, i.e. about twenty years after the crucifixion of Jesus: for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live. Apart from asserting that there is but one God, Paul's statement includes a number of other significant elements: he distinguishes Christian belief from the Jewish background of the time by referring to Jesus and the Father in the same breath, by conferring on Jesus the title of divine honor "Lord", as well as calling him Christ. In the Acts during the Areopagus sermon given by Paul, he further characterizes the early Christian understanding: The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth and reflects on the relationship between God and Christians: that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us for in him we live.
The Pauline Epistles include a number of references to the Holy Spirit, with the theme which appears in 1 Thessalonians "…God, the God who gives you his Holy Spirit" appearing throughout his epistles. In John 14:26 Jesus refers to "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name". By the end of the 1st century, Clement of Rome had referred to the Father and Holy Spirit, linked the Father to creation, 1 Clement 19.2 stating: "let us look steadfastly to the Father and creator of the universe". By the middle of the 2nd century, in Against Heresies Irenaeus had emphasized that the Creator is the "one and only God" and the "maker of heaven and earth"; these preceded the formal presentation of the concept of Trinity by Tertullian early in the 3rd century. The period from the late 2nd century to the beginning of the 4th century is called the "epoch of the Great Church" and the Ante-Nicene Period and witnessed significant theological development, the consolidation and formalization of a number of Christian teachings.
From the 2nd century onward, western creeds started with an affirmation of belief in "God the Father" and the primary reference of this phrase was to "God in his capacity as Father and creator of the universe". This did not exclude either the fact the "eternal father of the universe was the Father of Jesus the Christ" or that he had "vouchsafed to adopt as his son by grace". Eastern creeds began with an affirmation of faith in "one God" and always expanded this by adding "the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible" or words to that effect; as time passed and philosophers developed more precise understandin
Christ (title)
In Christianity, Christ is a title for the saviour and redeemer who would bring salvation to the whole House of Israel. Christians believe Jesus is the Israelite messiah foretold in both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Christ, used by Christians as both a name and a title, is synonymous with Jesus; the role of the Christ in Christianity originated from the concept of the messiah in Judaism. Although the conceptions of the messiah in each religion are similar, for the most part they are distinct from one another due to the split of early Christianity and Judaism in the 1st century. Though the original followers of Jesus believed Jesus to be the Jewish messiah, e.g. in the Confession of Peter, Jesus was referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth" or "Jesus, son of Joseph". Jesus came to be called "Jesus Christ" by Christians, who believe that his crucifixion and resurrection fulfill the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament; the Pauline epistles, the earliest texts of the New Testament refer to Jesus as "Christ Jesus" or "Christ".
The word Christ was a title, but became part of the name "Jesus Christ". It is used as a title, in the reciprocal use "Christ Jesus", meaning "the Messiah Jesus", independently as "the Christ"; the followers of Jesus became known as Christians because they believed Jesus to be the Khristós or Mashiach prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Religious Jews still await their messiah's first coming and the messianic prophecies of Jewish tradition to be accomplished. Religious Christians believe in the Second Coming of Christ, they await the rest of Christian messianic prophecies to be fulfilled. One of those prophecies, distinctive in both the Jewish and Christian concept of the messiah, is that a Jewish king from the Davidic line, who will be "anointed" with holy anointing oil, will be king of God's kingdom on earth, rule the Jewish people and mankind during the Messianic Age and World to come. Jesus is not accepted as the Jewish messiah in modern Judaism. Muslims accept Jesus as al-Masih, the messiah in Islam, believe he will come again, but don't believe that the messiah is divine or the Son of God.
The area of Christian theology called Christology is concerned with the nature and person of Jesus Christ as recorded in the canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. Christ comes from Χριστός, meaning "anointed one". In the Greek Septuagint, christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ, meaning " anointed.", a title adopted from the term for the tradition of anointing the Egyptian pharaoh during coronation or marriage with oil drawn from the fat of messeh, the sacred crocodile or crocodile star in the spells and the same anointing ritual may be traced to earlier Mesopotamian Mušḫuššu. In coffins of Egyptian mummies the word krst is found as a blessing and anointing from Horus and Osiris, hence the word Christos is thought as loaned. Krst denoted the process of preparation of the mummy by embalming and anointing, can mean anointed, buried or covered in oil.. In the Old Testament, anointing was reserved to the Kings of Israel, to the High Priest, to the prophets; the word Christ appears in most European languages.
English-speakers now use "Christ" as if it were a name, one part of the name "Jesus Christ", though it was a title. Its usage in "Christ Jesus" emphasizes its nature as a title. Compare the usage "the Christ"; the spelling Christ in English became standardized in the 18th century, when, in the spirit of the Enlightenment, the spelling of certain words changed to fit their Greek or Latin origins. Prior to this, scribes writing in Old and Middle English used the spelling Crist - the i being pronounced either as, preserved in the names of churches such as St Katherine Cree, or as a short, preserved in the modern pronunciation of "Christmas"; the spelling "Christ" in English is attested from the 14th century. In modern and ancient usage in secular terminology, "Christ" refers to Jesus, based on the centuries-old tradition of such usage. Since the Apostolic Age, the use of the definite article before the word Christ and its gradual development into a proper name show the Christians identified the bearer with the promised Messias of the Jews.
In the Ancient Greek text of the deuterocanonical books, the term "Christ" is found in 2 Maccabees 1:10 and in the Book of Sirach 46:19, in relation to Samuel and institutor of the kingdom under Saul. At the time of Jesus, there was no single form of Second Temple Judaism, there were significant political and religious differences among the various Jewish groups. However, for centuries the Jews had used the term moshiach to refer to their expected deliverer. A large number of Old Testament passages were regarded as messianic by the Jews, many more than are considered messianic by Christians, different groups of Jews assigned varying degrees of significance to them; the Greek word messias appears only twice in the Septuagint of the promised prince. This title was used when a name was wanted for the promised one, to be at once King and Savior; the New Testament states that the long-awaited messiah had come and describes this savior as "the Christ". In Matt 16:16, the apostle Peter said, in what has become a famous proclamation of faith among Christians since the first centur
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition which has developed from the practices and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation. Adherents of Anglicanism are called "Anglicans"; the majority of Anglicans are members of national or regional ecclesiastical provinces of the international Anglican Communion, which forms the third-largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. They are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom the communion refers to as its primus inter pares, he calls the decennial Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, the Anglican Consultative Council. Some churches that are not part of the Anglican Communion or recognized by the Anglican Communion call themselves Anglican, including those that are part of the Continuing Anglican movement and Anglican realignment. Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession and the writings of the Church Fathers.
Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having definitively declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded to those of contemporary Protestantism; these reforms in the Church of England were understood by one of those most responsible for them, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, others as navigating a middle way between two of the emerging Protestant traditions, namely Lutheranism and Calvinism. In the first half of the 17th century, the Church of England and its associated Church of Ireland were presented by some Anglican divines as comprising a distinct Christian tradition, with theologies and forms of worship representing a different kind of middle way, or via media, between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism – a perspective that came to be influential in theories of Anglican identity and expressed in the description of Anglicanism as "Catholic and Reformed".
The degree of distinction between Protestant and Catholic tendencies within the Anglican tradition is a matter of debate both within specific Anglican churches and throughout the Anglican Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services in one Book used for centuries; the Book is acknowledged as a principal tie that binds the Anglican Communion together as a liturgical rather than a confessional tradition or one possessing a magisterium as in the Roman Catholic Church. After the American Revolution, Anglican congregations in the United States and British North America were each reconstituted into autonomous churches with their own bishops and self-governing structures. Through the expansion of the British Empire and the activity of Christian missions, this model was adopted as the model for many newly formed churches in Africa and Asia-Pacific. In the 19th century, the term Anglicanism was coined to describe the common religious tradition of these churches.
The word Anglican originates in Anglicana ecclesia libera sit, a phrase from the Magna Carta dated 15 June 1215, meaning "the Anglican Church shall be free". Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans; as an adjective, "Anglican" is used to describe the people and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion; the word is used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is considered as a misuse by the Anglican Communion. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century; the word referred only to the teachings and rites of Christians throughout the world in communion with the see of Canterbury, but has come to sometimes be extended to any church following those traditions rather than actual membership in the modern Anglican Communion. Although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century.
In British parliamentary legislation referring to the English Established Church, there is no need for a description. When the Union with Ireland Act created the United Church of England and Ireland, it is specified that it shall be one "Protestant Episcopal Church", thereby distinguishing its form of church government from the Presbyterian polity that prevails in the Church of Scotland; the word Episcopal is preferred in the title of the Episcopal Church and the Scottish Episcopal Church, though the full name of the former is The Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America. Elsewhere, the term "Anglican Church" came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity. Anglicanism, in its structures and forms of worship, is understood as a distinct Christian tradition representing a middle ground between what are perceived to be the extremes of the claims of 16th-century Roman Ca
Resurrection of Jesus
The resurrection of Jesus is the Christian belief that God raised Jesus from the dead after his crucifixion. According to the Apostle Paul, as stated by Newbigin, "in the ministry and resurrection of Jesus God has acted decisively to reveal and effect his purpose of redemption for the whole world." According to the Bible, "God raised him from the dead", he ascended to heaven, to the "right hand of God", will return again to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment and establishment of the Kingdom of God. The earliest surviving Christian writings are the letters of Paul, written between 50-57 AD. In one of these, his First Epistle to the Corinthians, he passes on what he has been told of how, after his death and burial, the resurrected Jesus appeared to Peter to "the Twelve," to five hundred followers to James to "all the Apostles." He claims that Jesus subsequently appeared to him in the same way he did to the others, in 2 Corinthians 12 he tells of "a man in Christ who... was caught up to the third heaven", while the language is obscure it is plausible that he saw Jesus enthroned at the right hand of God.
In the Epistle to the Philippians he describes how the body of the resurrected Christ is utterly different to the one he wore when he had "the appearance of a man," and holds out a similar glorified state, when Christ "will transform our lowly body," as the goal of the Christian life - "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," and Christians entering the kingdom will be "putting off the body of the flesh". According to N. T. Wright in his book The Resurrection of the Son of God, "There can be no question: Paul is a firm believer in bodily resurrection, he stands with his fellow Jews against the massed ranks of pagans. Habermas argues three facts in support of Paul's belief in a physical resurrection body: Paul is a Pharisee and therefore believes in a physical resurrection. In Philippians 3:11 Paul says "That I may attain to the ek anastasis" from the dead, which according to Habermas means that "What goes down is what comes up". In Philippians 3:20–21 "We look from heaven for Jesus who will change our vile soma to be like unto his soma".
According to Habermas, if Paul meant that we would change into a spiritual body Paul would have used the Greek pneuma instead of soma. According to Gary Habermas, "Many other scholars have spoken in support of a bodily notion of Jesus’ resurrection."Many scholars have contended that in discussion on the resurrection, the apostle Paul refers to a rabbinic style transmission of an early authoritative tradition that he received and has passed on to the church at Corinth. For this and other reasons, it is believed that this creed is of pre-Pauline origin. Geza Vermes writes that the creed is "a tradition he has inherited from his seniors in the faith concerning the death and resurrection of Jesus"; the creed's ultimate origins are within the Jerusalem apostolic community having been formalised and passed on within a few years of the resurrection. Paul Barnett writes that this creedal formula, others, were variants of the "one basic early tradition that Paul "received" in Damascus from Ananias in about 34 " after his conversion.
All four gospels climax with the resurrection, preparing the reader by having Jesus predict it, or through allusions that only the reader will understand. The moment of resurrection is not described; the body of Jesus was buried in a new tomb by Joseph of Arimathea in accordance with Mosaic Law, which stated that a person hanged on a tree must not be allowed to remain there at night, but should be buried before sundown. When women followers of Jesus came to the tomb early on the third day they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. An angel told them that they should inform the remaining disciples. In Matthew and John, although not in Mark, the resurrection announcement is followed by post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to his followers - the number and location of these varies, from a single appearance in Galilee in Matthew to several appearances in Jerusalem in Luke to appearances in both Jerusalem and Galillee in John; the Apostle Paul records a series of post-resurrection appearances, the last being to himself - an appearance to Paul is recorded in detail in Acts, but it differs from that in the Pauline epistles.
These end with the ascension of Jesus to heaven - this is assumed in all the gospels and in other New Testament literature but described only in Acts, where it prepares the reader for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and for the missionary task of the early church. Paul's proof of the resurrection is the appearances of the risen Lord to himself. At some point such appearances ceased - after a single day according to Luke, after forty according to Acts, although the Paul's experience was many years after that. In any event, the end of personal appearances meant that for the gospel-authors alternative proofs were needed; these were found in the narratives of the empty tomb, angelic announcement, witnesses to post-resurrection appearances on Earth rather than in heaven. In the process they moved from a Jewish to a Hellenistic and Roman paradigm in which Jesus dies and is buried, his body disappears, he returns in an immortalised physical body, able to appear and disappear at will like a
Virgin birth of Jesus
The virgin birth of Jesus is the doctrine that Jesus was conceived and born by his mother Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit and without a human father. The Catholic church holds it authoritative for faith and Protestants regard it as an explanation of the mixture of the human and divine natures of Jesus, but although it is enshrined in the Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed, the scholarly consensus is that its historical foundations are flimsy. Matthew underlines the virginity of Mary by references to the Book of Isaiah and by his narrative statement that Joseph had no sexual relations with her until after the birth. 18: Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19: Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20: But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21: She will bear a son, you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22: All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23: "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." 24: When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. Luke introduces Mary as a virgin, describes her puzzlement at being told she will bear a child despite her lack of sexual experience, informs the reader that this pregnancy is to be effected through God's Holy Spirit. 26: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27: to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28: And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29: But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30: The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God.
31: And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, you will name him Jesus. 32: He will be great, will be called the Son of the Most High, the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33: He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, of his kingdom there will be no end." 34: Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35: The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 36: And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has conceived a son. 37: For nothing will be impossible with God." 38: Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord. The angel departed from her; the modern scholarly consensus is that the virgin birth rests on slender historical foundations. In the entire Christian corpus it is found only in the Gospel of Luke. Both date from the period AD 80-100, both are anonymous, it is certain that neither was the work of an eyewitness; the two agree that Mary's husband was named Joseph, that he was of Davidic descent, that he played no role in Jesus's divine conception, but beyond this they are different.
This raises sources of the virgin birth stories in Matthew and Luke. They did not find it in Mark, nor did one of them derive it from the other, nor did they find it in a common source. Raymond E. Brown suggested in 1973 that Joseph was the source of Matthew's account and Mary of Luke's, but modern scholars consider this "highly unlikely", given that the story emerged so late, it follows that the two narratives were created by the two writers, drawing on ideas in circulation in some Christian circles by around 65 AD. In 1st-century Judea, Jewish girls were betrothed around a half. During the betrothal period, which lasted about a year, the marriage was not consummated and the bride remained in her parents' house. Betrothal was formalised by a contract, voiding the contract required a divorce document freeing the girl to remarry; the ancient world had no idea that female ovum were both needed to form a fetus. This cultural milieu was conducive to miraculous birth stories - they were common in biblical tradition going back to Abraham and Sarah.
They may have roots in Hellenistic mythology, although there is no emphasis in Hellenistic stories on the virginity of the women giving birth by the gods
Methodism
Methodism known as the Methodist movement, is a group of related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were significant early leaders in the movement, it originated as a revival movement within the 18th-century Church of England and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States, beyond because of vigorous missionary work, today claiming 80 million adherents worldwide. Wesley's theology focused on the effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing Methodist doctrines include the new birth, an assurance of salvation, imparted righteousness, the possibility of perfection in love, the works of piety, the primacy of Scripture. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is available for all; this teaching rejects the Calvinist position that God has pre-ordained the salvation of a select group of people.
However and several other early leaders of the movement were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the Calvinist position. Methodism emphasises charity and support for the sick, the poor, the afflicted through the works of mercy; these ideals are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, soup kitchens, schools to follow Christ's command to spread the gospel and serve all people. The movement has a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage. Denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are less ritualistic, while American Methodism is more so, the United Methodist Church in particular. Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition, Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. Early Methodists were drawn from all levels of society, including the aristocracy, but the Methodist preachers took the message to labourers and criminals who tended to be left outside organised religion at that time.
In Britain, the Methodist Church had a major effect in the early decades of the developing working class. In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves who formed black churches in the Methodist tradition; the Methodist revival began with a group of men, including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles, as a movement within the Church of England in the 18th century. The Wesley brothers founded the "Holy Club" at the University of Oxford, where John was a fellow and a lecturer at Lincoln College; the club met weekly and they systematically set about living a holy life. They were accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury and visited the sick and the poor, as well as prisoners; the fellowship were branded as "Methodist" by their fellow students because of the way they used "rule" and "method" to go about their religious affairs. John, leader of the club, took the attempted mockery and turned it into a title of honour.
In 1735, at the invitation of the founder of the Georgia Colony, General James Oglethorpe, both John and Charles Wesley set out for America to be ministers to the colonists and missionaries to the Native Americans. Unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith, they looked for help to other members of the Moravian Church. At a Moravian service in Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, John experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his "heart strangely warmed", he records in his journal: "I felt I did trust in Christ alone, for salvation. Charles had reported a similar experience a few days previously. Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. Burnett writes: "The significance of Wesley's Aldersgate Experience is monumental … Without it the names of Wesley and Methodism would be nothing more than obscure footnotes in the pages of church history."The Wesley brothers began to preach salvation by faith to individuals and groups, in houses, in religious societies, in the few churches which had not closed their doors to evangelical preachers.
John Wesley came under the influence of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius. Arminius had rejected the Calvinist teaching that God had pre-ordained an elect number of people to eternal bliss while others perished eternally. Conversely, George Whitefield, Howell Harris, Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon were notable for being Calvinistic Methodists. George Whitefield, returning from his own mission in Georgia, joined the Wesley brothers in what was to become a national crusade. Whitefield, a fellow student of the Wesleys at Oxford, became well known for his unorthodox, itinerant ministry, in which he was dedicated to open-air preaching—reaching crowds of thousands. A key step in the development of John Wesley's ministry was, like Whitefield, to preach in fields and churchyards to those who did not attend parish church services. Accordingly, many Methodist converts were those disconnected from the Church of England. Faced with growing evangelistic and pastoral responsibilities and Whitefield appointed lay preachers and leaders.
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