1.
Protestantism
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Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists
2.
Lands of the Bohemian Crown
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Under the rule of Ferdinand I from 1526, the lands of the Boheman Crown became a constituent part of the Habsburg Monarchy. Later they passed to the Austrian Empire and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary, by the Czechoslovak declaration of independence in 1918, the remaining Czech lands became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic. The Bohemian Crown was neither a personal union nor a federation of equal members, rather, the Kingdom of Bohemia had a higher status than the other incorporated constituent countries. There were only some common institutions of the Bohemian Crown. The most important of them was the Bohemian Court Chancellery which was united with the Austrian Chancellery in 1749, the Lands of the Bohemian Crown are called země Koruny české or simply Koruna česká and České země in Czech language, the adjective český referring to both Bohemian and Czech. The German term Länder der Böhmischen Krone is likewise shortened to Böhmische Krone or Böhmische Kronländer, native names include Silesian, Korana Czeskigo Krůlestwa, Lower Sorbian, zemje Českeje krony, and Upper Sorbian, kraje Čěskeje Króny. The denotation lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas refers to the Crown of Saint Wenceslas, in the 10th and 11th century the Duchy of Bohemia, together with Moravia and Kłodzko Land were consolidated under the ruling Přemyslid dynasty. Duke Ottokar I gained the royal title in 1198 from the German king Philip of Swabia for his support. The regality was ultimately confirmed by Philips nephew King Frederick II in the Golden Bull of Sicily issued in 1212 and he also achieved the enfeoffment with the Upper Lusatian lands of Bautzen and Görlitz by the German king Louis IV. King Johns eldest son Charles IV was elected King of the Romans in 1346, Charles IV created the Bohemian Crown, together with the incorporated provinces in 1348. The Luxembourg dynasty reached its point, when Charles was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. By his Imperial authority he decreed that the united Bohemian lands should endure regardless of dynastic developments, in 1367 he purchased Lower Lusatia from his stepson Margrave Otto V of Brandenburg. With King Wenceslaus, the decline of the Luxembourg dynasty began, nevertheless, the joint rule of the Bohemian Lands outlived the Hussite Wars and the extinction of the Luxembourg male line upon the death of Emperor Sigismund in 1437. In 1479 both kings signed the Treaty of Olomouc, whereby the unity of the Bohemian crown lands was officially retained unchanged, upon the death of King Matthias in 1490, Vladislas ruled the Bohemian crown lands and the Kingdom of Hungary in personal union. Attempts by the Bohemian Protestant estates to build up an autonomous confederation dashed at the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, whereafter the administration was centralised at Vienna. In the modern era, the crown lands of Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia became constituent parts of the Austrian Empire in 1804. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, Austrian Silesia with the Hlučín Region is today known as Czech Silesia, with the exception of eastern Cieszyn Silesia which passed to the Second Polish Republic in 1920. The Brandenburg Electorate, acquired by Charles IV from Margrave Otto V in 1373, Charles son Sigismund lost Brandenburg in 1415 to Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
3.
Moravian Church
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The modern Unitas Fratrum, with about 750,000 members worldwide, continues to draw on traditions established during the eighteenth century. The Moravians continue their tradition of missionary work, for example in the Caribbean. This is reflected in their global distribution. The Church places a value on ecumenism, personal piety, missions. The Church’s emblem is the Lamb of God with the flag of victory, surrounded by the Latin inscription, Vicit agnus noster, eum sequamur. The Hussite movement that was to become the Moravian Church was started by Jan Hus in early 15th century Bohemia, since these actions predate the Protestant Reformation by a century, some historians claim the Moravian Church was the first Protestant church. The movement gained support in the Crown of Bohemia, however, Hus was summoned to attend the Council of Constance, which decided that he was a heretic and had him burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. In 1434, an army of Utraquists and Catholics defeated the Taborites at the Battle of Lipany, the Utraquists signed the Compacts of Basel on 5 July 1436. Within fifty years of Hus death, a contingent of his followers had become independently organised as the Bohemian Brethren or Unity of the Brethren, a brother known as Gregory the Patriarch was very influential in forming the group, as well as the teachings of Peter Chelcicky. This group held to a strict obedience to the Sermon on the Mount, which included non-swearing of oaths, non-resistance, because of this, they considered themselves separate from the majority Hussites that did not hold those teachings. They received episcopal ordination through the Waldensians in 1467 and these were some of the earliest Protestants, rebelling against Rome some fifty years before Martin Luther. By the middle of the 16th century as many as 90 per cent of the inhabitants of the Bohemian Crown were Protestant, the majority of nobility was Protestant, the schools and printing-shops established by the Moravian Church were flourishing. Protestantism had an influence to the education of the population. Even in the middle of the 16th century there was not a town without a Protestant school in the Bohemian crown lands. With the University of Prague also firmly in hands of Protestants, therefore, the Jesuits were invited, with the backing of the Catholic Habsburg rulers, to come to the Bohemian Crown and establish a number of Catholic educational institutions. One of these is the university in the Moravian capital of Olomouc, in 1582 they forced closure of local Protestant schools. The Revolt started by unplanned second Defenestrations of Prague and was defeated in 1620 in the Battle of White Mountain near Prague, as consequence the local Protestant noblemen were either executed or expelled from the country while the Habsburgs placed Catholic nobility in their place. The war, plague, and subsequent disruption led to a decline in the population from over 3 million to some 800,000 people, by 1622 the entire education system was in the hands of Jesuits and all Protestant schools were closed
4.
Unity of the Brethren
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For the Moravian Church, see Unitas Fratrum. Hus was executed, but his preaching and writings were instrumental in the formation of the Hussite movement, the Hussite movement broke into several strands, one of which became known as the Unity of the Brethren. The roots of radical and pacifistic stream within the early Hussite movement go back to Petr Chelčický. The original theological foundation for the future Unity of the Brethren was laid by Petr Chelčický and Brother Řehoř, lukáš Pražský, whose theological ideas strongly shaped the movement after the passing of Chelčický and Řehoř, provided later leadership. Another important leader was Jan Augusta, who spent many years in horrible imprisonment, the last bishop of Unity of the Brethren, Comenius is known for his reforms in education. During the second half of the 16th century, members of the Unity of the Brethren translated the Bible from the languages into the Czech. After 1620, due to a counter-reformation by the Roman Catholic Church and they formed the church which is now known as the Moravian Church, Jednota bratrská and the Unity of Brethren. During the Thirty-Years War, the Unity of Brethren churches were severely persecuted and those who stayed in Bohemia and Moravia practiced their beliefs in secret and privately passed their beliefs from one generation to the next. Even after Emperor Joseph II proclaimed toleration in 1781, only Lutherans, many of the Brethren united with the Lutherans and Calvinists around that time. After the end of World War I and the formation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Czech Lutherans, after the imperial edict of 1861, which granted legal rights to Reformed churches, Unity of the Brethren missionaries from Germany were able to restore the church to its original Czech homeland. The first congregations was founded in 1870 in Potštejn, and in Dube in 1872, before the First World War, eight other churches had been planted. The Unity of the Brethren in the Czech Republic worked among the Czechs and the Germans, started orphanages in Čermná and Duba, the Czech-originated Unity of the Brethren should not be confused with the Unity of the Brethren Baptists, a Baptist organization in the Czech and Slovak Republics. From about the middle of the 19th century until the outbreak of the First World War, in most of the US they formed Czech churches within the Presbyterian Church. Those who settled as farmers in the state of Texas in the United States decided to form their own denomination, jindřich Juren came to Texas in 1876, and from 1881 through 1888 was the only minister to these Brethren congregations. Representatives of these congregations met in 1903 and formed the Evangelical Unity of the Bohemian-Moravian Brethren in North America, the early churches reflected their origin and worshipped in the Czech language. By the 1940s, most of the churches reflected assimilation into the surrounding culture, in 1959, the name Unity of the Brethren was adopted. This body accepts the Apostles Creed as an expression of their beliefs. The Unity practices two sacraments—water baptism and holy communion, Christian parents present their infant children for baptism
5.
Czechoslovak Hussite Church
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The Czechoslovak Hussite Church is a Christian church that separated from the Roman Catholic Church after World War I in former Czechoslovakia. It traces its tradition back to the Hussite reformers and acknowledges Jan Hus as its predecessor and it contains mixed Protestant, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and national elements. Classifying it as one is disputable. The radical movement that resulted in the foundation of a new Church began in the Christmas season of 1919, the CCH was established on January 8,1920 by Dr. Karel Farský, who became its first Patriarch and author of its liturgy. It was known until 1971 as the Czechoslovak Church, the head of the church continues to bear the title of Patriarch. Membership is estimated at between 100,000 and 180,000 adherents, mostly in the Czech Republic and some in Slovakia, there are approximately 266 priests in active ministry, of whom 130 are women. Candidates of ministry are prepared at the Hussite Faculty of Theology at Charles University in Prague, like Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, and Anglo-Catholics, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church recognizes seven sacraments. The celebration of the liturgy is the center of worship practice and it used to be two forms, which have much in common with the texts of the Catholic Mass, but there are also elements of Luthers German Mass and the tradition of the Utraquist mass. There is no veneration of saints as practiced in the Apostolic Churches, in the post-1920 period new churches were built, but only a few portraits were considered appropriate to place in them, particularly representations of Christ, and occasionally pictures of Jan Hus. In the iconography of the church the chalice plays a role, usually depicted in red. It is found in the church, to the sacerdotal, the bindings of liturgical books, church steeples, after a split from the Catholic Church, amidst the post-war atmosphere of anti-Catholic agitation and euphoria about the Czech independence, the Czechoslovak Churchs membership increased rapidly. In the 1921 Czechoslovak census, the first post-war census,523,232 people claimed to be adherents of this church in what is today the Czech Republic, in 1930, the membership further grew to 779,672. With 7. 3% of total population, it became the religion in several regions of Bohemia. At the beginning of the communist rule the 1950 census recorded 946,497 adherents of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. The church is a member of the World Council of Churches, the Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic, the Conference of European Churches, and the Leuenberg Community of Churches. Relations between the church and other members of the movement are cordial, but remained strained with the countrys Roman Catholic leadership. The first woman to become a bishop of the Czechoslovak Hussite church, in 2000, Catholic representatives attended the consecration of Jana Šilerová as the Hussite Church’s first woman to become a bishop. G. Herder-Institut, Marburg/Lahn, ISBN 3-87969-103-7, in German Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic Official Website of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church
6.
Hussite Wars
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These wars lasted from 1419 to approximately 1434. The Hussite community included most of the Czech population of the Kingdom of Bohemia and they defeated five crusades proclaimed against them by the Pope, and intervened in the wars of neighboring countries. The Hussite Wars were notable for the use of early hand-held firearms such as hand cannons. The fighting ended after 1434, when the moderate Utraquist faction of the Hussites defeated the radical Taborite faction, the Hussites agreed to submit to the authority of the King of Bohemia and the Church, and were allowed to practice their somewhat variant rite. Starting around 1402, priest and scholar Jan Hus denounced what he judged as the corruption of the Church and the Papacy and his preaching was widely heeded in Bohemia, and provoked suppression by the Church, which had declared Wycliffe a heretic. In 1411, in the course of the Western Schism, Antipope John XXIII proclaimed a crusade against King Ladislaus of Naples, to raise money for this, he proclaimed indulgences in Bohemia. Hus bitterly denounced this and explicitly quoted Wycliffe against it, provoking further complaints of heresy, in 1414, Sigismund of Hungary convened the Council of Constance to end the Schism and resolve other religious controversies. Hus went to the Council, under a safe-conduct from Sigismund, but was imprisoned, tried and this angered Sigismund, who was King of the Romans, and brother of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia. He had been persuaded by the Council that Hus was a heretic and he sent threatening letters to Bohemia declaring that he would shortly drown all Wycliffites and Hussites, greatly incensing the people. Disorder broke out in parts of Bohemia, and drove many Catholic priests from their parishes. Almost from the beginning the Hussites divided into two groups, though many minor divisions also arose among them. This doctrine became the watchword of the moderate Hussites known as the Utraquists or Calixtines, from the Latin calix, in Czech kališníci. The more extreme Hussites became known as Taborites, after the city of Tábor that became their center, or Orphans, under the influence of Sigismund, Wenceslaus endeavoured to stem the Hussite movement. A number of Hussites led by Mikuláš of Hus — no relation of Jan Hus — left Prague and they held meetings in various parts of Bohemia, particularly at Sezimovo Ústí, near the spot where the town of Tábor was founded soon afterwards. At these meetings they violently denounced Sigismund, and the people prepared for war. In spite of the departure of many prominent Hussites, the troubles at Prague continued and it has been suggested that Wenceslaus was so stunned by the defenestration that it caused his death on 16 August 1419. The death of Wenceslaus resulted in renewed troubles in Prague and in almost all parts of Bohemia, many Catholics, mostly Germans — mostly still faithful to the Pope — were expelled from the Bohemian cities. Wenceslaus widow Sophia of Bavaria, acting as regent in Bohemia, hurriedly collected a force of mercenaries and tried to control of Prague
7.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
8.
Kingdom of Bohemia
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The Kingdom of Bohemia, sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czech Republic. It was an Imperial State in the Holy Roman Empire, the kings of Bohemia, besides Bohemia ruled also the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, which at various times included Moravia, Silesia and parts of Saxony, Brandenburg and Bavaria. Numerous kings of Bohemia were also elected Holy Roman Emperors and the capital Prague was the seat in the late 14th century. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the became part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire. The Czech language was the language of the Diet and the nobility until 1627. German was then formally made equal with Czech and eventually prevailed as the language of the Diet until the Czech national revival in the 19th century. German was also used as the language of administration in many towns after Germans immigrated and populated some areas of the country in the 13th century. The royal court used the Czech, Latin, and German languages, depending on the ruler, following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, both the Kingdom and Empire were dissolved. Bohemia became the part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic. In 1204 Ottokars royal status was accepted by Otto IV as well as by Pope Innocent III and it was officially recognized in 1212 by the Golden Bull of Sicily issued by Emperor Frederick II, elevating the Duchy of Bohemia to Kingdom status. Under these terms, the Czech king was to be exempt from all obligations to the Holy Roman Empire except for participation in the imperial councils. The imperial prerogative to ratify each Bohemian ruler and to appoint the bishop of Prague was revoked, the kings successor was his son Wenceslaus I, from his second marriage. Corresponding with the Pope, she established the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star in 1233, four other military orders were present in Bohemia, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from c. 1160, the Order of Saint Lazarus from the late 12th century, 1200–1421, and the Knights Templar from 1232–1312. The 13th century was the most dynamic period of the Přemyslid reign over Bohemia, at the same time, the Mongol invasions absorbed the attention of Bohemias eastern neighbors, Hungary and Poland. Přemysl Ottokar II married a German princess, Margaret of Babenberg and he thereby acquired Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and part of Styria. He conquered the rest of Styria, most of Carinthia, and he was called the king of iron and gold. He campaigned as far as Prussia, where he defeated the natives and in 1256, founded a city he named Královec in Czech
9.
Reformation
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The period is usually considered to have begun with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Luther in 1517 to the Thirty Years War and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Protestant position, however, would come to incorporate doctrinal changes such as sola scriptura, the initial movement within Germany diversified, and other reform impulses arose independently of Luther. The spread of Gutenbergs printing press provided the means for the dissemination of religious materials in the vernacular. The largest groups were the Lutherans and Calvinists, Lutheran churches were founded mostly in Germany, the Baltics and Scandinavia, while the Reformed ones were founded in Switzerland, Hungary, France, the Netherlands and Scotland. The new movement influenced the Church of England decisively after 1547 under Edward VI and Elizabeth I, there were also reformation movements throughout continental Europe known as the Radical Reformation, which gave rise to the Anabaptist, Moravian and other Pietistic movements. The Roman Catholic Church responded with a Counter-Reformation initiated by the Council of Trent, much work in battling Protestantism was done by the well-organised new order of the Jesuits. In general, Northern Europe, with the exception of most of Ireland, southern Europe remained Roman Catholic, while Central Europe was a site of a fierce conflict, culminating in the Thirty Years War, which left it devastated. The oldest Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum and Moravian Church, the later Protestant Churches generally date their doctrinal separation from the Roman Catholic Church to the 16th century. The Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church, by priests who opposed what they perceived as false doctrines and ecclesiastic malpractice. They especially objected to the teaching and the sale of indulgences, and the abuses thereof, and to simony, the reformers saw these practices as evidence of the systemic corruption of the Churchs hierarchy, which included the pope. Unrest due to the Great Schism of Western Christianity excited wars between princes, uprisings among the peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the Church, New perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University and from Jan Hus at the Charles University in Prague. Hus rejected indulgences and adopted a doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, the Roman Catholic Church officially concluded this debate at the Council of Constance by condemning Hus, who was executed by burning despite a promise of safe-conduct. Wycliffe was posthumously condemned as a heretic and his corpse exhumed and burned in 1428, the Council of Constance confirmed and strengthened the traditional medieval conception of church and empire. The council did not address the national tensions or the theological tensions stirred up during the century and could not prevent schism. Pope Sixtus IV established the practice of selling indulgences to be applied to the dead, Pope Alexander VI was one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes. He was the father of seven children, including Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia, in response to papal corruption, particularly the sale of indulgences, Luther wrote The Ninety-Five Theses. The Reformation was born of Luthers dual declaration – first, the discovering of Jesus and salvation by faith alone, the Protestant reformers were unanimous in agreement and this understanding of prophecy furnished importance to their deeds. It was the point and the battle cry that made the Reformation nearly unassailable
10.
Great Awakening
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The term Great Awakening can refer to several periods of religious revival in American religious history. Historians and theologians identify three or four waves of increased religious enthusiasm occurring between the early 18th century and the late 19th century, the Awakenings all resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of personal guilt and of their need of salvation by Christ. It brought Christianity to African-American slaves and was an event in New England that challenged established authority. It had little impact on Anglicans, and Quakers, unlike the Second Great Awakening, which began about 1800 and reached out to the unchurched, the First Great Awakening focused on people who were already church members. It changed their rituals, their piety, and their self-awareness, edwardss congregation was involved in a revival later called the Frontier Revivals in the mid-1730s, though this was on the wane by 1737. But as American religious historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom noted, the Great Awakening was still to come, ushered in by the Grand Itinerant, the great British Evangelist George Whitefield. Whitefield arrived in Georgia in 1738, and returned in 1739 for a visit of the Colonies, making a triumphant campaign north from Philadelphia to New York. In 1740, he visited New England, and at every place he visited, ministers from various evangelical Protestant denominations supported the Great Awakening. In the middle colonies, he influenced not only the British churches, additionally, pastoral styles began to change. In the late period, most pastors read their sermons. Nathan Hatch argues that the movement of the 1740s played a key role in the development of democratic thought. As well as the belief of the press and the belief that information should be shared. These concepts ushered in the period of the American Revolution and this contributed to create a demand for religious freedom. The Great Awakening represented the first time African Americans embraced Christianity in large numbers, the Second Great Awakening was a religious revival that occurred in the United States beginning in the late eighteenth century and lasting until the middle of the nineteenth century. While it occurred in all parts of the United States, it was strong in the Northeast. This awakening was unique in that it moved beyond the elite of New England to those who were less wealthy. The center of revivalism was the so-called Burned-over district in western New York, named for its overabundance of hellfire-and-damnation preaching, the region produced dozens of new denominations, communal societies, and reform. Closely related to the Second Great Awakening were other reform movements such as temperance, abolition, the temperance movement encouraged people to abstain from consuming alcoholic drinks in order to preserve family order
11.
History of Protestantism
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Protestantism originated from the ideas of several theologians starting in the 12th century, although there could have been earlier cases of which there is no surviving evidence. However, these ideas were a subject to persecution by the Roman Catholic Church, one of the early Protestant reformers was John Wycliffe, a theologian and an early proponent of reform in the 14th century. He influenced Jan Hus, a Czech priest from Prague, who in turn influenced German Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformation began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther wrote Ninety-Five Theses on the sale of indulgences in 1517, at the same time, a movement began in Switzerland under the leadership of Huldrych Zwingli. The political separation of the Church of England from Rome under Henry VIII brought England alongside the broad Reformation movement, the Scottish Reformation of 1560 decisively shaped the Church of Scotland. Following the excommunication of Luther, the Pope condemned the Reformation, the work and writings of John Calvin helped establish a loose consensus among various groups in Switzerland, Scotland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Germany and elsewhere. In the course of religious upheaval, the German Peasants War of 1524–1525 swept through Bavaria, Thuringia and Swabia. The confessional division of the states of the Holy Roman Empire eventually erupted in the Thirty Years War of 1618–1648, nonconforming Protestants along with the Protestant refugees from continental Europe were the primary founders of the United States of America. The Great Awakenings were periods of rapid and dramatic religious revival in American religious history, the result was a multitude of strong Protestant denominations, many quite new. In the 20th century, Protestantism, especially in the United States, was becoming increasingly fragmented, both liberal and conservative splinter groups asrose, as well as a general secularization of Western society. Notable developments in the 20th century US Protestantism include the rise of Pentecostalism, while these movements spilled over to Europe to a limited degree, the development of Protestantism in Europe was more dominated by secularization, leading to an increasingly post-Christian Europe. Protestants generally trace to the 16th century their separation from the Catholic Church, mainstream Protestantism began with the Magisterial Reformation, so called because it received support from the magistrates. The Radical Reformation, had no state sponsorship, older Protestant churches, such as the Unitas Fratrum, Moravian Brethren or the Bohemian Brethren trace their origin to the time of Jan Hus in the early 15th century. As the Hussite movement was led by a majority of Bohemian nobles and recognized for a time by the Basel Compacts, to some degree, these protests can be explained by the events of the previous two centuries in Europe and particularly in Bohemia. These also spread later to other parts of Europe, unrest due to the Avignon Papacy and the Papal Schism in the Roman Catholic Church sparked wars between princes, uprisings among peasants, and widespread concern over corruption in the Church. A new nationalism also challenged the relatively internationalist medieval world, the first of a series of disruptive and new perspectives came from John Wycliffe at Oxford University, then from Jan Hus at the University of Prague. The Catholic Church officially concluded debate over Hus teachings at the Council of Constance, the conclave condemned Jan Hus, who was executed by burning in spite of a promise of safe-conduct. At the command of Pope Martin V, Wycliffe was exhumed and burned as a twelve years after his burial
12.
Protestant culture
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All Protestant churches allow their clergy to marry, in contrast to the Roman Catholic church. Historically, the role of women in church life, the Protestant clergy, the role of women expanded over time and was closely associated with the movements for universal education and womens suffrage. Since about 1990, many women have assumed senior leadership roles in several Protestant churches, including the Anglican Communion. Since the 1990s Protestant churches have encountered controversy regarding the Churchs response to persons of minority sexual orientations, compulsory education for both boys and girls was introduced. For example, the Puritans who established Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1628 founded Harvard College only eight years later, about a dozen other American colleges followed in the 18th century, including Yale University. Pennsylvania also became a centre of learning, by initiating translations of the Bible into various national languages, Protestantism supported the development of national literatures. The Protestant concept of God and man allows believers to use all their God-given faculties and that means that Protestant believers are encouraged to explore Gods creation and, according to Genesis 2,15, make use of it in a responsible and sustainable way. Thus a cultural climate was created that greatly enhanced the development of the humanities, another consequence of the Protestant understanding of man is that the believers, in gratitude for their election and redemption in Christ, are to follow Gods commandments. Industry, frugality, calling, discipline, and a sense of responsibility are at the heart of their moral code. In particular, John Calvin rejected luxury, as a result, productivity grew, which led to increased profits and enabled employers to pay higher wages. In this way, the economy, the sciences, and technology reinforced each other, the chance to participate in the economic success of technological inventions was a strong incentive to both inventors and investors. The Protestant work ethic was an important force behind the unplanned and uncoordinated mass action that influenced the development of capitalism and this idea is also known as the Protestant ethic thesis. Protestants are disproportionately represented in the reaches of American business, law and politics. According to the study there is correlation between education and income, about 59% of American Anglican have a graduate and post-graduate degree. Protestantism had an important influence on science, according to the Merton Thesis, there was a positive correlation between the rise of Puritanism and Protestant Pietism on the one hand and early experimental science on the other. In his theory, Robert K. Merton focused on English Puritanism, Merton explained that the connection between religious affiliation and interest in science was the result of a significant synergy between the ascetic Protestant values and those of modern science. Protestant values encouraged scientific research by allowing science to study Gods influence on the world, according to Harriet Zuckermans review of American Nobel prize laureates from 1901 to 1972, 72% were of Protestant background. According to Zuckerman, Protestants featured among the American laureates in a greater proportion than their prevalence within the general population
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Protestantism by country
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There are between 800 and more than 900 million Protestants worldwide, among approximately 2.4 billion Christians. Protestants account for nearly forty percent of Christians worldwide and more than one tenth of the human population. Various estimates put the percentage of Protestants in relation to the number of worlds Christians at 33%, 36%,36. 7%. In European countries which were most profoundly influenced by the Reformation and these include the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom. In other historical Protestant strongholds such as Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary, over the last several decades, religious practice has been declining as secularization has increased. According to a 2012 study about Religiosity in the European Union in 2012 by Eurobarometer, according to Pew Research Center, Protestants constituted nearly one fifth of the continents Christian population in 2010. Clarke and Beyer estimate that Protestants constituted 15% of all Europeans in 2009, changes in worldwide Protestantism over the last century have been significant. Since 1900, Protestantism has spread rapidly in Africa, Asia, Oceania and that caused Protestantism to be called a primarily non-Western religion. Much of the growth has occurred after World War II, when decolonization of Africa, according to one source, Protestants constituted respectively 2. 5%, 2%,0. 5% of Latin Americans, Africans and Asians. In 2000, percentage of Protestants on mentioned continents was 17%, more than 27% and 5. 5%, respectively. According to Mark A. Noll, 79% of Anglicans lived in the United Kingdom in 1910, while most of the remainder was found in the United States, by 2010, 59% of Anglicans were found in Africa. China is home to worlds largest Protestant minority, according to some, Russia is another country to see Protestant growth. Other denominations accounted for 38. 2% of Protestants, United States is home to approximately 20% of Protestants. According to a 2012 study, Protestant share of U. S. population dropped to 48%, the decline is attributed mainly to the dropping membership of the Mainline Protestant churches, while Evangelical Protestant and Black churches are relatively stable or continue to grow. Overall, Protestants have won a total of 84. 2% of all the American Nobel Prizes in Chemistry, 60% in Medicine,58. 6% in Physics, by 2050, Protestantism is projected to rise to slightly more than half of the worlds total Christian population. According to other such as Hans J. Hillerbrand, Protestants will be as numerous as Catholics. According to Mark Jürgensmeyer of the University of California, popular Protestantism is the most dynamic religious movement in the contemporary world, evangelicals, Charismatics, Neo-charismatics and other Revivalists are found virtually across every Protestant branch. Nondenominationals, various independents and Protestants from other denominations, not easily fitting in the classification, are also taken into account
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Anti-Protestantism
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Anti-Protestantism is bias, hatred or distrust against some or all branches of Protestantism and its followers. The Reformed faith was not recognized until the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, other states, such as France, made similar agreements in the early stages of the Reformation. Poland-Lithuania had a history of religious tolerance. Anabaptism arose as a part of the Radical Reformation, lacking support of the state Lutheranism and Calvinism enjoyed, theological disagreement initially led to a Lutheran-Reformed rivalry in the Reformation. Protestantism in Latin America was largely ostracized until the abolishment of certain restrictions in the 20th century and it spreads with Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism gaining the majority of followers. North America became a shelter for Protestants who were fleeing Europe after the persecution increased, persecution of Protestants in Asia can be put under a common shild of the persecution Christians in the Middle East and northern Africa, dominated by Islam is also a part of this phenomenon. Martin Luthers Proclamation occurred in 1517, by 1540, Pope Paul III had sanctioned the first society pledged to extinguish Protestantism. Christian Protestantism was denounced as heresy, and those supporting these doctrines excommunicated as heretics and this movement was started by the reigning Pope at that time and various political rulers with a more political stake in the controversy then a religious one. Eastern Orthodoxy had comparatively little contact with Protestantism for geographic, linguistic, Protestant attempts to ally with Eastern Orthodoxy proved problematic. In general, most Orthodox had the impression that Protestantism was a new heresy that arose from various previous heresies, the book forecast the end of Protestantism by 1825 and was published in at least 15 editions and several languages. In recent eras Orthodox anti-Protestantism has grown due to aggressive Protestant proselytization in predominantly Orthodox countries, anti-Protestantism originated in a reaction by the Catholic Church against the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Protestants were denounced as heretics and subject to persecution in those territories, such as Spain, Italy and this movement was orchestrated by Popes and Princes as the Counter Reformation. This resulted in wars and eruptions of sectarian hatred such as the St Bartholomews Day Massacre of 1572. In Francos authoritarian Spanish State, Protestantism was deliberately marginalized and persecuted, during the Civil War, Francos regime persecuted the countrys 30,000 Protestants, and forced many Protestant pastors to leave the country. Once authoritarian rule was established, non-Catholic Bibles were confiscated by police and these perceptions are often linked to highly publicized events, such as the decision to endorse same-sex marriage by the United Church of Christ. Some critics have suggested that evangelicals are a kind of fifth column aimed at turning the United States or other nations into Christian theocracies. Cultural progressive activists have indicated fear of a potential Christian theocracy as one of the reasons for their opposition to the Christian Right, many evangelicals reject Dispensationalism and support peace efforts in the Middle East, however. Some Christian groups focused on the Bible have been derided as Bible thumpers, depictions of evangelicals as uneducated rubes or hypocrites are common in Hollywood movies and television shows, such as Saved
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Criticism of Protestantism
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Anti-Protestantism is bias, hatred or distrust against some or all branches of Protestantism and its followers. The Reformed faith was not recognized until the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, other states, such as France, made similar agreements in the early stages of the Reformation. Poland-Lithuania had a history of religious tolerance. Anabaptism arose as a part of the Radical Reformation, lacking support of the state Lutheranism and Calvinism enjoyed, theological disagreement initially led to a Lutheran-Reformed rivalry in the Reformation. Protestantism in Latin America was largely ostracized until the abolishment of certain restrictions in the 20th century and it spreads with Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism gaining the majority of followers. North America became a shelter for Protestants who were fleeing Europe after the persecution increased, persecution of Protestants in Asia can be put under a common shild of the persecution Christians in the Middle East and northern Africa, dominated by Islam is also a part of this phenomenon. Martin Luthers Proclamation occurred in 1517, by 1540, Pope Paul III had sanctioned the first society pledged to extinguish Protestantism. Christian Protestantism was denounced as heresy, and those supporting these doctrines excommunicated as heretics and this movement was started by the reigning Pope at that time and various political rulers with a more political stake in the controversy then a religious one. Eastern Orthodoxy had comparatively little contact with Protestantism for geographic, linguistic, Protestant attempts to ally with Eastern Orthodoxy proved problematic. In general, most Orthodox had the impression that Protestantism was a new heresy that arose from various previous heresies, the book forecast the end of Protestantism by 1825 and was published in at least 15 editions and several languages. In recent eras Orthodox anti-Protestantism has grown due to aggressive Protestant proselytization in predominantly Orthodox countries, anti-Protestantism originated in a reaction by the Catholic Church against the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Protestants were denounced as heretics and subject to persecution in those territories, such as Spain, Italy and this movement was orchestrated by Popes and Princes as the Counter Reformation. This resulted in wars and eruptions of sectarian hatred such as the St Bartholomews Day Massacre of 1572. In Francos authoritarian Spanish State, Protestantism was deliberately marginalized and persecuted, during the Civil War, Francos regime persecuted the countrys 30,000 Protestants, and forced many Protestant pastors to leave the country. Once authoritarian rule was established, non-Catholic Bibles were confiscated by police and these perceptions are often linked to highly publicized events, such as the decision to endorse same-sex marriage by the United Church of Christ. Some critics have suggested that evangelicals are a kind of fifth column aimed at turning the United States or other nations into Christian theocracies. Cultural progressive activists have indicated fear of a potential Christian theocracy as one of the reasons for their opposition to the Christian Right, many evangelicals reject Dispensationalism and support peace efforts in the Middle East, however. Some Christian groups focused on the Bible have been derided as Bible thumpers, depictions of evangelicals as uneducated rubes or hypocrites are common in Hollywood movies and television shows, such as Saved
16.
Adventism
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Adventism is a branch of Protestantism with origins in the 19th century American Protestant revival known as the Second Great Awakening. The name refers to belief in the imminent Second Coming of Jesus Christ, William Miller started the Adventist movement in the 1830s. His followers became known as Millerites, the movement has encouraged the examination of the whole Bible, leading Seventh-day Adventists and some smaller Adventist groups to observe the Sabbath. The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has compiled that churchs core beliefs in the 28 Fundamental Beliefs, in 2010, Adventism claimed some 22 million believers scattered in various independent churches. The largest church within the movement — the Seventh-day Adventist Church — is one of the largest Christian churches in the world, Adventism began as an inter-denominational movement. Its most vocal leader was William Miller, between 50,000 and 100,000 people in the United States supported Millers predictions of Christs return. After the Great Disappointment of October 22,1844 many people in the movement gave up on Adventism, of those remaining Adventist, the majority gave up believing in any prophetic significance for the October 22 date, yet they remained expectant of the near Advent. Of those who retained the October 22 date, many maintained that Jesus had come not literally but spiritually, a small minority held that something concrete had indeed happened on October 22, but this event had been misinterpreted. This viewpoint later emerged and crystallized with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Albany Conference in 1845, attended by 61 delegates, was called to attempt to determine the future course and meaning of the Millerite movement. Following this meeting, the Millerites then became known as Adventists or Second Adventists, however, the delegates disagreed on several theological points. Four groups emerged from the conference, The Evangelical Adventists, The Life and Advent Union, the Advent Christian Church, the largest group was organized as the American Millennial Association, a portion of which was later known as the Evangelical Adventist Church. Unique among the Adventists, they believed in an eternal hell and they declined in numbers, and by 1916 their name did not appear in the United States Census of Religious Bodies. It has diminished to almost non-existence today and their main publication was the Advent Herald, of which Sylvester Bliss was the editor until his death in 1863. It was later called the Messiah’s Herald, the Life and Advent Union was founded by George Storrs in 1863. He had established The Bible Examiner in 1842 and it merged with the Adventist Christian Church in 1964. The Advent Christian Church officially formed in 1861 grew rapidly at first and it declined a little during the 20th century. The Advent Christians publish the four magazines The Advent Christian Witness, Advent Christian News, Advent Christian Missions and they also operate a liberal arts college at Aurora, Illinois, and a one-year Bible College in Lenox, Massachusetts called Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies. The Primitive Advent Christian Church later separated from a few congregations in West Virginia, the Seventh-day Adventist Church officially formed in 1863
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Anabaptism
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Anabaptism is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation in Europe. Traditionally this movement is seen as an offshoot of European Protestantism, Anabaptists are Christians who believe that baptism is only valid when the candidate confesses his or her faith in Christ and wants to be baptized. This believers baptism is opposed to baptism of infants, who are not able to make a decision to be baptized. Anabaptists are those who are in a line with the early Anabaptists of the 16th century. Other Christian groups, like Baptists, who practice believers baptism but have different roots, are not seen as Anabaptist. The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are direct descendants of the early Anabaptist movement, schwarzenau Brethren, Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are considered later developments among the Anabaptists. The name Anabaptist means one who baptizes again and their persecutors named them this, referring to the practice of baptizing persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ, even if they had been baptized as infants. Anabaptists required that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen, the early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed believers was their first true baptism, but the right baptism of Christ, which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of faith, I teach, and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the right baptism of Christ. Anabaptists were persecuted largely because of their interpretation of scripture that put them at odds with official state church interpretations, most Anabaptists adhered to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, which precluded taking oaths, participating in military actions, and participating in civil government. Some groups that are now extinct, who practised rebaptism, however, felt otherwise and they were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites and some historians tend to consider them as being outside of true Anabaptism. Conrad Grebel wrote in a letter to Thomas Müntzer in 1524, True Christian believers are sheep among wolves, Neither do they use worldly sword or war, since all killing has ceased with them. For instance, Petr Chelčický, a 15th-century Bohemian reformer, taught most of the beliefs considered integral to Anabaptist theology, medieval antecedents may include the Brethren of the Common Life, the Hussites, Dutch Sacramentists, and some forms of monasticism. The Waldensians also represent a similar to the Anabaptists. The believer must not bear arms or offer forcible resistance to wrongdoers, no Christian has the jus gladii. Matthew 5,39 Civil government belongs to the world, the believer belongs to Gods kingdom, so must not fill any office nor hold any rank under government, which is to be passively obeyed. But no force is to be used towards them, on December 27,1521, three prophets appeared in Wittenberg from Zwickau who were influenced by Thomas Müntzer—Thomas Dreschel, Nicholas Storch, and Mark Thomas Stübner. They preached an apocalyptic, radical alternative to Lutheranism and their preaching helped to stir the feelings concerning the social crisis which erupted in the German Peasants War in southern Germany in 1525 as a revolt against feudal oppression
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Anglicanism
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Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to the Magna Carta and before, adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As the name suggests, the churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by bonds of tradition, affection and they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession, and writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having 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 closely to those of contemporary Protestantism, the word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans, as an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions 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 also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is sometimes considered as a misuse. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century, 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. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity, as such, it is often referred to as being a via media between these traditions. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as containing all necessary for salvation and as being the rule. Reason and Tradition are seen as means to interpret Scripture. Anglicans understand the Apostles Creed as the symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans celebrate the sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries and it was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world, in 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, Saint Alban, who was executed in 209 AD, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core, what resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices
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Baptists
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Other tenets of Baptist churches include soul competency, salvation through faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local congregation. Baptists recognize two ministerial offices, elders and deacons, Baptist churches are widely considered to be Protestant churches, though some Baptists disavow this identity. Historians trace the earliest church labeled Baptist back to 1609 in Amsterdam, in accordance with his reading of the New Testament, he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults. Baptist practice spread to England, where the General Baptists considered Christs atonement to extend to all people, while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only to the elect. Thomas Helwys formulated a distinctively Baptist request that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, Helwys died in prison as a consequence of the religious persecution of English dissenters under King James I. In 1638, Roger Williams established the first Baptist congregation in the North American colonies, in the mid-18th century, the First Great Awakening contributed to Baptist growth in both New England and the South. Baptist missionaries have spread their church to every continent, the largest Baptist denomination is the Southern Baptist Convention, with the membership of associated churches totaling more than 15 million. Modern Baptist churches trace their history to the English Separatist movement in the century after the rise of the original Protestant denominations and this view of Baptist origins has the most historical support and is the most widely accepted. Adherents to this position consider the influence of Anabaptists upon early Baptists to be minimal and it was a time of considerable political and religious turmoil. Both individuals and churches were willing to give up their theological roots if they became convinced that a more biblical truth had been discovered, during the Protestant Reformation, the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church. There were some Christians who were not content with the achievements of the mainstream Protestant Reformation, there also were Christians who were disappointed that the Church of England had not made corrections of what some considered to be errors and abuses. Of those most critical of the Churchs direction, some chose to stay and they became known as Puritans and are described by Gourley as cousins of the English Separatists. Others decided they must leave the Church because of their dissatisfaction, historians trace the earliest Baptist church back to 1609 in Amsterdam, with John Smyth as its pastor. Three years earlier, while a Fellow of Christs College, Cambridge, reared in the Church of England, he became Puritan, English Separatist, and then a Baptist Separatist, and ended his days working with the Mennonites. He began meeting in England with 60–70 English Separatists, in the face of great danger, Smyth and his lay supporter, Thomas Helwys, together with those they led, broke with the other English exiles because Smyth and Helwys were convinced they should be baptized as believers. In 1609 Smyth first baptized himself and then baptized the others, in 1609, while still there, Smyth wrote a tract titled The Character of the Beast, or The False Constitution of the Church. In it he expressed two propositions, first, infants are not to be baptized, and second, Antichristians converted are to be admitted into the true Church by baptism. Hence, his conviction was that a church should consist only of regenerate believers who have been baptized on a personal confession of faith
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Calvinism
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Calvinism is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice of John Calvin and other Reformation-era theologians. The term Calvinism can be misleading, because the tradition which it denotes has always been diverse. The movement was first called Calvinism by Lutherans who opposed it, early influential Reformed theologians include Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, William Farel, Heinrich Bullinger, Peter Martyr Vermigli, Theodore Beza, and John Knox. In the twentieth century, Abraham Kuyper, Herman Bavinck, B. B, Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, Karl Barth, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Cornelius Van Til, and Gordon Clark were influential. Contemporary Reformed theologians include J. I, sproul, Timothy J. Keller, John Piper, David Wells, and Michael Horton. Reformed churches may exercise several forms of polity, most are presbyterian or congregationalist. Calvinism is largely represented by Continental Reformed, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist traditions, the biggest Reformed association is the World Communion of Reformed Churches with more than 80 million members in 211 member denominations around the world. There are more conservative Reformed federations such as the World Reformed Fellowship, Calvinism is named after John Calvin. It was first used by a Lutheran theologian in 1552 and it was a common practice of the Catholic Church to name what they perceived to be heresy after its founder. Nevertheless, the term first came out of Lutheran circles, Calvin denounced the designation himself, They could attach us no greater insult than this word, Calvinism. It is not hard to guess where such a deadly hatred comes from that they hold against me, despite its negative connotation, this designation became increasingly popular in order to distinguish Calvinists from Lutherans and from newer Protestant branches that emerged later. Moreover, these churches claim to be—in accordance with John Calvins own words—renewed accordingly with the order of gospel. Since the Arminian controversy, the Reformed tradition—as a branch of Protestantism distinguished from Lutheranism—divided into two groups, Arminians and Calvinists. However, it is now rare to call Arminians a part of the Reformed tradition, some have also argued that Calvinism as a whole stresses the sovereignty or rule of God in all things including salvation. First-generation Reformed theologians include Huldrych Zwingli, Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, John Oecolampadius, scripture was also viewed as a unified whole, which led to a covenantal theology of the sacraments of baptism and the Lords Supper as visible signs of the covenant of grace. Another Reformed distinctive present in these theologians was their denial of the presence of Christ in the Lords supper. Each of these also understood salvation to be by grace alone. Martin Luther and his successor Philipp Melanchthon were undoubtedly significant influences on these theologians, the doctrine of justification by faith alone was a direct inheritance from Luther
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Lutheranism
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Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestant Christianity which identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German friar, ecclesiastical reformer and theologian. Luthers efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched the Protestant Reformation in the German-speaking territories of the Holy Roman Empire. Lutheranism advocates a doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Scripture alone and this is in contrast to the belief of the Catholic Church, defined at the Council of Trent, concerning authority coming from both the Scriptures and Tradition. In addition, Lutheranism accepts the teachings of the first seven ecumenical councils of the undivided Christian Church, unlike Calvinism, Lutherans retain many of the liturgical practices and sacramental teachings of the pre-Reformation Church, with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist, or Lords Supper. Lutheran theology differs from Reformed theology in Christology, the purpose of Gods Law, the grace, the concept of perseverance of the saints. Today, Lutheranism is one of the largest denominations of Protestantism, with approximately 80 million adherents, it constitutes the third most common Protestant denomination after historically Pentecostal denominations and Anglicanism. The Lutheran World Federation, the largest communion of Lutheran churches, Other Lutheran organizations include the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as independent churches. The name Lutheran originated as a term used against Luther by German Scholastic theologian Dr. Johann Maier von Eck during the Leipzig Debate in July 1519. Eck and other Catholics followed the practice of naming a heresy after its leader. Martin Luther always disliked the term Lutheran, preferring the term Evangelical, which was derived from euangelion, the followers of John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, and other theologians linked to the Reformed tradition also began to use that term. To distinguish the two groups, others began to refer to the two groups as Evangelical Lutheran and Evangelical Reformed. As time passed by, the word Evangelical was dropped, Lutherans themselves began to use the term Lutheran in the middle of the 16th century, in order to distinguish themselves from other groups such as the Philippists and Calvinists. In 1597, theologians in Wittenberg defined the title Lutheran as referring to the true church, Lutheranism has its roots in the work of Martin Luther, who sought to reform the Western Church to what he considered a more biblical foundation. Lutheranism spread through all of Scandinavia during the 16th century, as the monarch of Denmark–Norway, through Baltic-German and Swedish rule, Lutheranism also spread into Estonia and Latvia. Since 1520, regular Lutheran services have been held in Copenhagen, under the reign of Frederick I, Denmark-Norway remained officially Catholic. Although Frederick initially pledged to persecute Lutherans, he adopted a policy of protecting Lutheran preachers and reformers. During Fredericks reign, Lutheranism made significant inroads in Denmark, at an open meeting in Copenhagen attended by the king in 1536, the people shouted, We will stand by the holy Gospel, and do not want such bishops anymore. Fredericks son Christian was openly Lutheran, which prevented his election to the throne upon his fathers death, however, following his victory in the civil war that followed, in 1537 he became Christian III and advanced the Reformation in Denmark-Norway
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Methodism
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Methodism, or the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and Johns brother Charles Wesley were also significant leaders in the movement and it originated as a revival within the 18th century Church of England and became a separate Church after Wesleys death. Because of vigorous missionary work, the movement spread throughout the British Empire, Wesleys theology focused on sanctification and the effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing Methodist doctrines include an assurance of salvation, imparted righteousness, the possibility of perfection in love, the works of piety and 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, in theology and this teaching rejects the Calvinist position that God has pre-ordained the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several others were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the latter position, Methodism emphasises charity and support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the works of mercy. These ideals are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens and schools to follow Christs command to spread the gospel, 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 generally less ritualistic, Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. In Britain, the Methodist Church had an effect in the early decades of the making of the working class. In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves who later formed black churches in the Methodist tradition. The Methodist revival began with a group of men, including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles, the Wesley brothers founded the Holy Club at the University of Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College. The club met weekly and they set about living a holy life. They were accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting regularly, abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury and frequently visited the sick, 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, who was leader of the club, took the attempted mockery, unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith. They looked for help to Peter Boehler and 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. Charles had reported an experience an few days previously. Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. 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, and Selina Hastings, George Whitefield, returning from his own mission in Georgia, joined the Wesley brothers in what was rapidly to become a national crusade
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Pentecostalism
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The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks. For Christians, this event commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ, like other forms of evangelical Protestantism, Pentecostalism adheres to the inerrancy of scripture and the necessity of accepting Christ as personal Lord and Savior. It is distinguished by belief in the baptism in the Holy Spirit that enables a Christian to live a Spirit-filled and empowered life and this empowerment includes the use of spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues and divine healing—two other defining characteristics of Pentecostalism. For this reason, some Pentecostals also use the term Apostolic or Full Gospel to describe their movement, Pentecostalism emerged in the early 20th century among radical adherents of the Holiness movement who were energized by revivalism and expectation for the imminent Second Coming of Christ. In 1900, Charles Parham, an American evangelist and faith healer, the three-year-long Azusa Street Revival, founded and led by William J. While virtually all Pentecostal denominations trace their origins to Azusa Street, an early dispute centered on challenges to the doctrine of the Trinity. As a result, the Pentecostal Movement is divided between trinitarian and non-trinitarian branches, there are over 279 million Pentecostals worldwide, and the movement is growing in many parts of the world, especially the global South. Together, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity numbers over 500 million adherents, Pentecostalism is an evangelical faith, emphasizing the reliability of the Bible and the need for the transformation of an individuals life through faith in Jesus. Like other evangelicals, Pentecostals generally adhere to the Bibles divine inspiration and inerrancy—the belief that the Bible, Pentecostals emphasize the teaching of the full gospel or foursquare gospel. The central belief of Pentecostalism is that through the death, burial and this is the Gospel or good news. The fundamental requirement of Pentecostalism is that one be born again, the new birth is received by the grace of God through faith in Christ as Lord and Savior. In being born again, the believer is regenerated, justified, adopted into the family of God, Pentecostal soteriology is generally Arminian rather than Calvinist. The security of the believer is a doctrine held within Pentecostalism, nevertheless, Pentecostals believe in both a literal heaven and hell, the former for those who have accepted Gods gift of salvation and the latter for those who have rejected it. For most Pentecostals there is no requirement to receive salvation. Baptism with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues are not generally required, a notable exception is Oneness Pentecostalism, most adherents of which believe both water baptism and Spirit baptism are integral components of salvation. Pentecostals identify three distinct uses of the baptism in the New Testament, Baptism into the body of Christ. Every believer in Christ is made a part of his body, the Holy Spirit is the agent, and the body of Christ is the medium. Baptism with the Holy Spirit, This is an experience distinct from baptism into the body of Christ
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Waldensians
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The Waldensians are a Christian movement founded by Peter Waldo circa 1173. The Waldensian movement first appeared in Lyon in the late 1170s, today, the Waldensian movement is centered on Piedmont in northern Italy, while small communities are also found in southern Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, the United States, and Uruguay. Waldensian teachings quickly came into conflict with the Catholic Church, in the sixteenth century, Waldensian leaders embraced the Protestant Reformation and joined various local Protestant regional entities. Modern Waldensians share core tenets with Calvinists, including the priesthood of all believers, congregational polity, and they are members of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and its affiliates worldwide. The main denomination within the movement was the Waldensian Evangelical Church, in 1975, it merged with the Methodist Evangelical Church to form the Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches—a majority Waldensian church, with a minority of Methodists. Congregations continue to be active in Europe, South America, there are also the two reports written for the Inquisition by Reinerius Saccho, a former Cathar who converted to Catholicism, published together in 1254 as Summa de Catharis et Pauperibus de Lugduno. Waldensians held and preached a number of truths as they read from the Bible and they were accused, moreover, of having scoffed at the doctrine of transubstantiation, and of having spoken blasphemously of the Roman Catholic Church as the harlot of the Apocalypse. They rejected what they perceived as the idolatry of the Roman Catholic Church, the La nobla leyczon, written in the Occitan language, gives a sample of the medieval Waldensian belief. According to legend, Waldo renounced his wealth as an encumbrance to preaching, because of the shunning of the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church clergy, the movement was early known as The Poor of Lyon and The Poor of Lombardy. The Waldensian movement was characterized from the beginning by lay preaching, voluntary poverty, between 1175 and 1185, Peter Waldo either commissioned a cleric from Lyons to translate the New Testament into the vernacular—the Arpitan language—or was himself involved in this translation work. In 1179, Waldo and one of his disciples went to Rome, where Pope Alexander III, the Waldensians proceeded to disobey the Third Lateran Council and continued to preach according to their own understanding of the Scriptures. By the early 1180s, Waldo and his followers were excommunicated and forced from Lyon, the Roman Catholic Church declared them heretics, stating that the groups principal error was contempt for ecclesiastical power. Rome also accused the Waldensians of teaching innumerable errors, Waldo and his followers developed a system whereby they would go from town to town and meet secretly with small groups of Waldensians. There they would confess sins and hold service, a traveling Waldensian preacher was known as a barba. The group would shelter and house the barba and help make arrangements to move on to the town in secret. Waldo possibly died in the early 13th century, possibly in Germany, he was never captured, some historians feel their beliefs came from missionaries from the early church and their history is founded perhaps in the apostolic age. Though this idea itself stems from Baptist Successionism, an idea that was very popular among some 19th century Church historians, but has been largely discredited by modern scholars in the field. The Roman Inquisitor Reinerus Sacho writing c.1230 held the sect of the Vaudois to be of great antiquity, in the Waldensians, Sabbatati or Insabbatati, there was a more or less continuous tradition of Sabbath-keeping from the early church of the Apostles, throughout southern Europe
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Plymouth Brethren
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The Plymouth Brethren are a conservative, low church, nonconformist, Evangelical Christian movement whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland in the late 1820s, originating from Anglicanism. Among other beliefs, the group emphasizes sola scriptura, the belief that the Bible is the authority for church doctrine and practice over. Brethren generally see themselves, not as a denomination, but as a network of like-minded independent churches, the Brethren would generally prefer that their gatherings be referred to as assemblies, rather than churches but, in the interests of simplicity, this article uses both terms interchangeably. An influential figure among the early Plymouth Brethren was John Nelson Darby, the movement refused to take any denominational name to itself, a stance that some still maintain. Brethren assemblies are divided into two branches, the Open Brethren and the Exclusive Brethren, following a schism that took place in 1848. Both of these branches are themselves divided into several smaller streams, with varying degrees of communication. The best-known and oldest distinction between Open and Exclusive assemblies is in the nature of relationships among their local churches, Open Brethren assemblies function as networks of like-minded independent local churches. Exclusive Brethren are generally connexional and so feel under obligation to recognise, disciplinary action normally involves denying the individual participation in the breaking of bread or Lords Table. Generally, this is a weekly, Sunday morning, hour-long service of prayer, singing, teaching, exclusion from it is a major issue. Discipline may also involve formal social ostracism or shunning to varying degrees, a numerically small movement known as the Needed Truth Brethren emerged from the Open Brethren around 1892, partly in an attempt to address the problem of making discipline more effective. Being accused of irregular or illegal financial dealings may also result in being put under discipline, in Exclusive meetings, a member under discipline in one assembly would not be accepted in another assembly, as the Assembly generally respects the decisions made by the other Assembly. Exclusive assemblies have developed into a number of different branches, when there is not universal agreement among the assemblies in a specific case of discipline, a particular act of discipline may not be recognised by all assemblies. Exclusive assemblies are also much more adherent to the shunning of the party, using as guidance instructions given in Leviticus 14. In extreme cases, members may be asked to shun or divorce members of their immediate families, another less clear difference between assemblies lies in their approaches to collaborating with other Christians. Many Open Brethren will hold Gospel meetings, youth events, or other activities in partnership with non-Brethren Evangelical Christian churches, more conservative Open Brethren—and perhaps the majority of Exclusive Brethren—tend not to support activities outside their own meetings. This group practices extreme separation and other Brethren groups generally accuse it of being a cult, most other Exclusive groups prefer not to be known by any name and are only given such designations by non-members. There are some movements with strong Brethren connections that are easy to classify. The ecclesiology, however, has more in common with that of the Exclusive Brethren, the term Exclusive is most commonly used in the media to describe one separatist group known by other groups as Taylor-Hales Brethren, who now call themselves the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church
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Holiness movement
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The movement is defined by its emphasis on John Wesleys doctrine of a second work of grace leading to Christian perfection. As of 2015 Holiness-movement churches had an estimated 12 million adherents, though it became a multi-denominational movement over time and was furthered by the Second Great Awakening which energized churches of all stripes, the Holiness movement has its roots in Wesleyanism. The Methodists of the 19th century continued the interest in Christian holiness that had started by their founder. They continued to publish Wesleys works and tracts, including his famous A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, in 1835, Palmers sister, Sarah A. Lankford, started holding Tuesday Meetings for the Promotion of Holiness in her New York City home. In 1837, Palmer experienced what she called entire sanctification and had become the leader of the Tuesday Meetings by 1839, at first only women attended these meetings, but eventually Methodist bishops and hundreds of clergy and laymen began to attend as well. At the same time, Methodist minister Timothy Merritt of Boston founded a journal called the Guide to Christian Perfection and this was the first American periodical dedicated exclusively to promoting the Wesleyan message of Christian holiness. In 1865, the Palmers purchased The Guide which at its peak had a circulation of 30,000, at the Tuesday Meetings, Methodists soon enjoyed fellowship with Christians of different denominations, including the Congregationalist Thomas Upham. Other non-Methodists also contributed to the Holiness movement in the U. S. in 1836, Mahan experienced what he called a baptism with the Holy Spirit. Mahan believed that experience had cleansed him from the desire. Finney believed that experience might provide a solution to a problem he observed during his evangelistic revivals. Some people claimed to experience conversion but then slipped back into their old ways of living, finney believed that the filling with the Holy Spirit could help these converts to continue steadfast in their Christian life. This phase of the Holiness movement is referred to as the Oberlin-Holiness revival. Hannah Whitall Smith, an English Quaker, experienced a personal conversion. Sometime in the 1860s, she found what she called the secret of the Christian life—devoting ones life wholly to God and her husband, Robert Pearsall Smith, had a similar experience at the camp meeting in 1867. The couple became figureheads in the now-famous Keswick Convention, which rise to what is often called the Keswick-Holiness revival. Also representative was the revivalism of Rev. James Caughey, an American missionary sent by the Wesleyan Methodist Church to work in Ontario and he brought in the converts by the score, most notably in the revivals in Canada West 1851–53. Phoebe Palmers ministry complemented Caugheys revivals in Ontario circa 1857, at least two major Wesleyan denominations broke away from Methodism during this period. In 1843 Orange Scott organized the Wesleyan Methodist Connection at Utica, roberts and John Wesley Redfield founded the Free Methodist Church on the ideals of slavery abolition, egalitarianism, and second-blessing holiness
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Quakers
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Quakers are members of a historically Christian group of religious movements generally known as the Religious Society of Friends. They include those with evangelical, holiness, liberal, and traditional Quaker understandings of Christianity, to differing extents, the different movements that make up the Religious Society of Friends/Friends Church avoid creeds and hierarchical structures. In 2007, there were about 359,000 adult Quakers, in 2012, there were 377,055 adult Quakers. Some meetings of both types have Recorded Ministers in their meetings—Friends recognised for their gift of vocal ministry, the first Quakers lived in mid-17th century England. The movement arose from the Legatine-Arians and other dissenting Protestant groups, some of these early Quaker ministers were women. They emphasized a personal and direct experience of Christ, acquired through both direct religious experience and the reading and studying of the Bible. Quakers focused their private life on developing behaviour and speech reflecting emotional purity, in the past, Quakers were known for their use of thee as an ordinary pronoun, refusal to participate in war, plain dress, refusal to swear oaths, opposition to slavery, and teetotalism. & J. Clark and the big three British confectionery makers Cadbury, Rowntree and Frys, and philanthropic efforts, including abolition of slavery, prison reform, during and after the English Civil War many dissenting Christian groups emerged, including the Seekers and others. A young man named George Fox was dissatisfied with the teachings of the Church of England and he had a vision on Pendle Hill in Lancashire, England, in which he believed that the Lord let me see in what places he had a great people to be gathered. Following this he travelled around England, the Netherlands, and Barbados preaching and teaching with the aim of converting new adherents to his faith, the central theme of his Gospel message was that Christ has come to teach his people himself. His followers considered themselves to be the restoration of the true Christian church, in 1650, Fox was brought before the magistrates Gervase Bennet and Nathaniel Barton, on a charge of religious blasphemy. According to George Foxs autobiography, Bennet was the first that called us Quakers and it is thought that George Fox was referring to Isaiah 66,2 or Ezra 9,4. Thus, the name Quaker began as a way of ridiculing George Foxs admonition, Quakerism gained a considerable following in England and Wales, and the numbers increased to a peak of 60,000 in England and Wales by 1680. This was relaxed after the Declaration of Indulgence and stopped under the Act of Toleration 1689, with the restructuring of the family and household came new roles for women, Fox and Fell viewed the Quaker mother as essential to developing holy conversation in her children and husband. Quaker women were responsible for the spirituality of the larger community, coming together in meetings that regulated marriage. The persecution of Quakers in North America began in 1656 when English Quaker missionaries Mary Fisher and they were considered heretics because of their insistence on individual obedience to the Inner Light. They were imprisoned and banished by the Massachusetts Bay Colony and their books were burned, and most of their property was confiscated. They were imprisoned in terrible conditions, then deported, in 1660, English Quaker Mary Dyer was hanged on Boston Common for repeatedly defying a Puritan law banning Quakers from the colony
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Evangelicalism
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Its origins are usually traced back to English Methodism, the Moravian Church, and German Lutheran Pietism. While all these phenomena contributed greatly, John Wesley and other early Methodists were at the root of sparking this new movement during the First Great Awakening, today, Evangelicals are found across many Protestant branches, as well as in various denominations not subsumed to a specific branch. Among leaders and major figures of the Evangelical Protestant movement were John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Billy Graham, Harold John Ockenga, John Stott and Martyn Lloyd-Jones. The movement gained momentum during the 18th and 19th centuries with the Great Awakenings in the United Kingdom. The Americas, Africa, and Asia are home to the majority of Evangelicals, United States has the largest concentration of Evangelicals in the world, its community forms a quarter of the population, is politically important and based mostly in the Bible Belt. In the United Kingdom, Evangelicals are mostly represented in the Methodist Church, Baptist communities, Evangelicalism, a major part of popular Protestantism, is among the most dynamic religious movements in the contemporary world, alongside resurgent Islam. While on the rise globally, the world is particularly influenced by its spread. The first published use of evangelical in English came in 1531 when William Tyndale wrote He exhorteth them to proceed constantly in the evangelical truth. One year later Sir Thomas More produced the earliest recorded use in reference to a theological distinction when he spoke of Tyndale his evangelical brother Barns, during the Reformation, Protestant theologians embraced the label as referring to gospel truth. Martin Luther referred to the evangelische Kirche to distinguish Protestants from Catholics in the Roman Catholic Church, into the 21st century, evangelical has continued in use as a synonym for Protestant in continental Europe, and elsewhere. This usage is reflected in the names of Protestant denominations such as the Evangelical Church in Germany, the term may also occur outside any religious context to characterize a generic missionary, reforming, or redeeming impulse or purpose. For example, the Times Literary Supplement refers to the rise, one influential definition of Evangelicalism has been proposed by historian David Bebbington. Conversionism, or belief in the necessity of being again, has been a constant theme of Evangelicalism since its beginnings. To Evangelicals, the message of the gospel is justification by faith in Christ and repentance, or turning away. Conversion differentiates the Christian from the non-Christian, and the change in life it leads to is marked by both a rejection of sin and a corresponding personal holiness of life. A conversion experience can be emotional, including grief and sorrow for sin followed by great relief at receiving forgiveness, the stress on conversion is further differentiated from other forms of Protestantism by the belief that an assurance of salvation will accompany conversion. Among Evangelicals, individuals have testified to both sudden and gradual conversions, biblicism is reverence for the Bible and a high regard for biblical authority. All Evangelicals believe in inspiration, though they disagree over how this inspiration should be defined
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Arminianism
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Arminianism is based on theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. His teachings held to the five solae of the Reformation, but they were distinct from particular teachings of Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, Jacobus Arminius was a student of Theodore Beza at the Theological University of Geneva. Arminianism is known to some as a diversification of Protestant Calvinist Christianity. However, to others, Arminianism is a reclamation of early Church theological consensus, Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the Remonstrance, a theological statement signed by 45 ministers and submitted to the States General of the Netherlands. The Synod of Dort was called by the States General to consider the Five Articles of Remonstrance, must be more particularly determined from the Scriptures. These points, note Drs. Keith D. Stanglin and Thomas H. McCall, are consistent with the views of Arminius, indeed and those who signed this remonstrance and others who supported its theology have since been known as Remonstrants. Some falsely assert that Universalists and Unitarians in the 18th and 19th centuries were theologically linked with Arminianism. The original beliefs of Jacobus Arminius himself are commonly defined as Arminianism, but more broadly, the term may embrace the teachings of Hugo Grotius, John Wesley, and others as well. Classical Arminianism, to which Arminius is the contributor, and Wesleyan Arminianism. Wesleyan Arminianism is often identical with Methodism, some schools of thought, notably Semipelagianism—which teaches that the first step of salvation is by human will, —are confused as being Arminian in nature. But classical Arminianism holds that the first step of salvation is solely the grace of God, the two systems of Calvinism and Arminianism share both history and many doctrines, and the history of Christian theology. Arminianism is related to Calvinism historically, however, because of their differences over the doctrines of divine predestination and election, many people view these schools of thought as opposed to each other. In short, the difference can be seen ultimately by whether God allows His desire to save all to be resisted by an individuals will or if Gods grace is irresistible, put another way, is Gods sovereignty shown, in part, through His allowance of free decisions. Some Calvinists assert that the Arminian perspective presents a system of Salvation and therefore is not only by grace. Many consider the differences to be crucial differences in doctrine. Jacobus Arminius was a Dutch pastor and theologian in the late 16th and he was taught by Theodore Beza, Calvins hand-picked successor, but after examination of the scriptures, he rejected his teachers theology that it is God who unconditionally elects some for salvation. Instead Arminius proposed that the election of God was of believers, Arminiuss views were challenged by the Dutch Calvinists, especially Franciscus Gomarus, but Arminius died before a national synod could occur. Arminiuss followers, not wanting to adopt their leaders name, called themselves the Remonstrants, when Arminius died before he could satisfy Hollands State Generals request for a 14-page paper outlining his views, the Remonstrants replied in his stead crafting the Five articles of Remonstrance
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Pietism
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Pietism was an influential movement within Lutheranism that combined Lutheran emphasis on Biblical doctrine with the Reformed emphasis on individual piety and living a vigorous Christian life. Although the movement was active exclusively within Lutheranism, it had a impact on Protestantism worldwide, particularly in North America. Pietism spread from Germany to Switzerland and the rest of German-speaking Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltics, and it was further taken to North America, primarily by German and Scandinavian immigrants. The movement reached its zenith in the century, and declined through the 19th century. A substantial part of the Pietistic Protestants was formed by German Sectarians, Norwegian Lutherans, Swedish Lutherans, as the forerunners of the Pietists in the strict sense, certain voices had been heard bewailing the shortcomings of the Church and advocating a revival of practical and devout Christianity. The direct originator of the movement was Philipp Jakob Spener and he studied theology at Strasbourg, where the professors at the time were more inclined to practical Christianity than to theological disputation. In 1675, Spener published his Pia desideria or Earnest Desire for a Reform of the True Evangelical Church and this was originally a pejorative term given to the adherents of the movement by its enemies as a form of ridicule, like that of Methodists somewhat later in England. While large numbers of orthodox Lutheran theologians and pastors were deeply offended by Speners book, in 1686 Spener accepted an appointment to the court-chaplaincy at Dresden, which opened to him a wider though more difficult sphere of labor. In Leipzig, a society of young theologians was formed under his influence for the learned study, the theological chairs in the new university were filled in complete conformity with Speners proposals. Orthodox Lutherans rejected this viewpoint as a simplification, stressing the need for the church. Spener died in 1705, but the movement, guided by Francke and fertilized from Halle, spread through the whole of Middle, Spener stressed the necessity of a new birth and separation of Christians from the world. Many Pietists maintained that the new birth always had to be preceded by agonies of repentance, the whole school shunned all common worldly amusements, such as dancing, the theatre, and public games. Some believe this led to a new form of justification by works and its ecclesiolae in ecclesia also weakened the power and meaning of church organization. These Pietistic attitudes caused a counter-movement at the beginning of the 18th century, one leader was Valentin Ernst Löscher, a movement which cultivated religious feeling almost as an end itself. Yet some claim that Pietism contributed largely to the revival of Biblical studies in Germany and to making religion once more an affair of the heart and of life and it likewise gave a new emphasis to the role of the laity in the church. Then came a time when another intellectual power took possession of the minds of men, bonhoeffer denounced the basic aim of Pietism, to produce a desired piety in a person, as unbiblical. Pietism is considered the influence that led to the creation of the Evangelical Church of the Union in Prussia in 1817. The King of Prussia ordered the Lutheran and Reformed churches in Prussia to unite and this union movement spread through many German lands in the 1800s
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Puritans
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Puritanism in this sense was founded as an activist movement within the Church of England. The founders, clergy exiled under Mary I, returned to England shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, Puritanism played a significant role in English history during the first half of the 17th century. One of the most effective stokers of anti-Catholic feeling was John Pym, Puritans were blocked from changing the established church from within and were severely restricted in England by laws controlling the practice of religion. They took on distinctive beliefs about clerical dress and in opposition to the episcopal system and they largely adopted Sabbatarianism in the 17th century, and were influenced by millennialism. Consequently, they became a political force in England and came to power as a result of the First English Civil War. Almost all Puritan clergy left the Church of England after the Restoration of 1660, the nature of the movement in England changed radically, although it retained its character for a much longer period in New England. Puritans by definition were dissatisfied with the extent of the English Reformation. They formed and identified with various groups advocating greater purity of worship and doctrine, as well as personal. Puritans adopted a Reformed theology and, in sense, were Calvinists. In church polity, some advocated separation from all other established Christian denominations in favor of autonomous gathered churches. The Puritans were never a formally defined sect or religious division within Protestantism, the Congregationalist tradition, widely considered to be a part of the Reformed tradition, claims descent from the Puritans. Historically, the word Puritan was considered a term that characterized Protestant groups as extremists. According to Thomas Fuller in his Church History, the dates to 1564. Archbishop Matthew Parker of that used it and precisian with the sense of the modern stickler. In modern times, the word puritan is often used to mean against pleasure, in this sense, the term Puritan was coined in the 1560s, when it first appeared as a term of abuse for those who found the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 inadequate. The term Puritan, therefore, was not intended to refer to strict morality, a common modern misunderstanding, the word Puritan was applied unevenly to a number of Protestant churches from the late 16th century onwards. Puritans did not originally use the term for themselves, the practitioners knew themselves as members of particular churches or movements, and not by a single term. Precise men and Precisians were other early derogatory terms for Puritans, seventeenth century English Puritan preacher Thomas Watson used the godly to describe Puritans in the title of one of his more famous works The Godly Mans Picture
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Christian fundamentalism
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Christian fundamentalism began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants as a reaction to theological liberalism and cultural modernism. Fundamentalists are almost always described as having an interpretation of the Bible. A few scholars regard Catholics who reject modern theology in favor of traditional doctrines as fundamentalists. Scholars debate how much the terms evangelical and fundamentalist are synonymous, interpretations of Christian fundamentalism have changed over time. Fundamentalism is a movement manifested in various such as Pentecostalism or Roman Catholicism with various theologies. The movement became more organized in the 1920s within U. S. Protestant churches, especially Baptist, many such churches adopted a fighting style and combined Princeton theology with Dispensationalism. The term fundamentalism was coined by Baptist editor Curtis Lee Laws in 1920 to designate Christians who were ready to do battle royal for the fundamentals, the term was quickly adopted by all sides. Laws borrowed it from the title of a series of essays published between 1910 and 1915 called The Fundamentals, A Testimony to the Truth, the term fundamentalism entered the English language in 1922, and is often capitalized when referring to the religious movement. The term fundamentalist is controversial in the 21st century, as it can carry the connotation of religious extremism, some who hold these beliefs reject the label of fundamentalism, seeing it as too pejorative, while to others it has become a banner of pride. Such Christians prefer to use the fundamental, as opposed to fundamentalist. The term is confused with Christian legalism. Fundamentalism came from streams in British and American theology of the 19th century. Modernists attempted to update Christianity to match their view of science and they denied biblical miracles and argued that God manifests himself through the social evolution of society. These latent tensions erupted to the surface after World War I in what came to be called the fundamentalist/modernist split, however, the split does not mean there are just two groups, modernists and fundamentalists. There are also people who considered themselves to be neo-evangelicals, separating themselves from the components of fundamentalism. These neo-evangelicals also wanted to separate themselves from the fundamentalist movement and they in turn had been influenced by the Pietism movement in Germany. A second stream was Dispensationalism, a new interpretation of the Bible developed in the 1830s in England, John Nelson Darbys ideas were disseminated by the notes and commentaries in the widely used Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909. Dispensationalism was a theory that divided all of time into seven different stages, called dispensations
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Nondenominational Christianity
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Nondenominational churches are those which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism and/or creedalism of other Christian communities by calling themselves non-denominational. Often founded by individual pastors, they have little affiliation with historic denominations, there is no identifiable standard among such congregations. Some nondenominational churches explicitly reject the idea of a formalized denominational structure as a matter of principle and this is a main feature of the congregational polity. Many of the nondenominational churches trace their origins back to the United States and their history is often associated with American Protestantism, even though nondenominationals emphasize their Christian identity above all others. A2012 Gallup survey reported that 10 percent of U. S. adults identify as non-specific Christian, Nondenominational churches are on the rise. According to some, who classify nondenominationals alongside other Protestants, they constitute a part of Protestantism. According to James Walker, The visible churches, in the idea of the Scottish theologians, is catholic, the visible church is not a genus, so to speak, with so many species under it. It is thus you may think of the State, but the church is a totum integrale. This conception of the church, of which, in at least some aspects, in some countries where the Protestant Reformation took place, the founders claimed that the result was not a new denomination but a reformation of a supposedly pre-existing national church. Denominationalism was accelerated in the aftermath of the Westminster Assembly convened by the English Parliament to formulate a form of religion for the churches of England and Scotland. These two parties were not reconciled and following the Assembly the Independents formed their own independent church, thus, instead of a united expression of the Catholic Church in England, there were now two churches. Each denomination maintains to differing degrees some form of organizational and visible unity with its member churches, ordination and education standards in non-denominational church are very diverse. A local Christian Leader must sign the local non-denominational ordination, altar calls and appeals to personal conversion replace the sacraments as the means of grace. Baptism is a symbol of personal conversion, nothing more. Community Church movement Jesuism Non-church movement Non-denominational Muslims Non-denominational Judaism Postdenominationalism Sunday Christian Nondenominational Congregations Study
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House church
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A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, sometimes these groups meet because the membership is small, and a home is the most appropriate place to assemble, as in the beginning phase of the British New Church Movement. Sometimes this meeting style is advantageous because the group is a member of a Christian congregation which is banned from meeting as is the case in China. Some recent Christian writers have supported the view that the Christian Church should meet in houses, some believe small churches were a deliberate apostolic pattern in the first century, and they were intended by Christ. Christians who meet together in homes have often done so because of a desire to return to early Church style meetings as found in the New Testament. The New Testament shows that the Early Christian church exhibited a richness of fellowship and they believe that Christians walked closely with each other and shared their lives in Christ together. Others believe that the church met in houses due to persecution. Several passages in the Bible specifically mention churches meeting in houses, the churches of Asia greet you, especially Aquila and Priscilla greet you much in the Lord, along with the church that is in their house. The church meeting in the house of Priscilla and Aquila is again mentioned in Romans 16,3,5. The church that meets in the house of Nymphas is also cited in the Bible, Greet the brethren in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in her house. The first house church is recorded in Acts 1,13, clement of Alexandria, an early church father, wrote of worshipping in a house. At many points in subsequent history, various Christian groups worshipped in homes, according to some proponents, many churchgoers are turning to house churches because many traditional churches fail to meet their relational needs. Other titles which may be used to describe this movement are simple church, relational church, primitive church, body life, the church represented in the New Testament is based on this principle, and traditional, contemporary Christianity has reversed this order. The origins of the house church movement in North America. Others believe the House Church movement was pioneered by people like the Revd Ernest Southcott in the 1950s, Southcott believed that if people would not come to church, the church must go to the people, and his book The parish comes alive spread these ideas widely among Anglicans. During a struggling economy, churches can face financial challenges forcing them to make cuts in funding to missions. A traditional church that is required to support the church infrastructure including a building or campus can face financial pressures if it faces a significant drop in membership. Limited financial resources can encourage church leaders to rethink the pattern of ministry, House churches are already in a more favorable financial position due to the limited expenditures required to facilitate the functionality of the church
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Czech language
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Czech, historically also Bohemian, is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group. It is spoken by over 10 million people and is the language of the Czech Republic. Czech is closely related to Slovak, to the point of being intelligible to a very high degree. In the later 18th to mid-19th century, the written standard was codified in the context of the Czech National Revival. The main vernacular, known as Common Czech, is based on the vernacular of Prague, the Moravian dialects spoken in the eastern part of the country are mostly also counted as Czech, although some of their eastern variants are closer to Slovak. The Czech phoneme inventory is moderate in size, comprising five vowels, words may contain uncommon consonant clusters, including one consonant represented by the grapheme ř, or lack vowels altogether. Czech orthography is simple, and has used as a model by phonologists. Czech is classified as a member of the West Slavic sub-branch of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and this branch includes Polish, Kashubian, Upper and Lower Sorbian and Slovak. Slovak is by far the closest genetic neighbor of Czech, the West Slavic languages are spoken in an area classified as part of Central Europe. Around the 7th century, the Slavic expansion reached Central Europe, the West Slavic polity of Great Moravia formed by the 9th century. The Christianization of Bohemia took place during the 9th and 10th centuries, the Bohemian language is first recorded in writing in glosses and short notes during the 12th to 13th centuries. Literary works written in Czech appear in the early 14th century, the first complete Bible translation also dates to this period. Old Czech texts, including poetry and cookbooks, were produced outside the university as well, literary activity becomes widespread in the early 15th century in the context of the Bohemian Reformation. There was no standardization distinguishing between Czech and Slovak prior to the 15th century, the publication of the Kralice Bible between 1579 and 1593 became very important for standardization of the Czech language in the following centuries. In 1615, the Bohemian diet tried to declare Czech to be the official language of the kingdom. After the Bohemian Revolt which was defeated by the Habsburgs in 1620 and this emigration together with other consequences of the Thirty Years War had a negative impact on the further use of the Czech language. In 1627, Czech and German became official languages of the Kingdom of Bohemia and in the 18th century German became dominant in Bohemia and Moravia, the modern standard Czech language originates in standardization efforts of the 18th century. Changes include the shift of í to ej and é to í and the merging of í
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Jan Hus
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Jan Hus, often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, Master at Charles University in Prague, church reformer and a key predecessor to Protestantism. After John Wycliffe, the theorist of ecclesiastical Reformation, Hus is considered the first Church reformer, as he lived before Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli. He was burned at the stake for heresy against the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church, including those on ecclesiology, the Eucharist, a century later, as many as 90% of inhabitants of the Czech lands were Hussites. Jan Hus was born in Husinec, Bohemia, c, at an early age he traveled to the Imperial City of Prague, where he supported himself by singing and serving in Churches. His conduct was positive and his commitment to his studies was remarkable, in 1393, Hus earned the degree of Bachelor of Arts at the University of Prague, and he earned his masters degree in 1396. In 1400, he was ordained as a priest, in 1402 Hus began preaching inside the city demanding for the reformation of the Church. He served as rector of the University of Prague in 1402–03 and he was appointed a preacher at the newly built Bethlehem Chapel around the same time. Hus was an advocate for the Czechs, and therefore the Realists. Although Church authorities banned many works of Wycliffe in 1403, Hus translated Trialogus into Czech, Hus attacked the Church by denouncing the moral failings of clergy, bishops, and even the papacy from his pulpit. Archbishop Zbyněk Zajíc tolerated this, and even appointed Hus preacher at the clergys biennial synod, on 24 June 1405, Pope Innocent VII, however, directed the Archbishop to counter Wycliffes teachings, especially the doctrine of impanation in the Eucharist. The archbishop complied by issuing a decree against Wycliffe, as well as forbidding any further attacks on the clergy. In 1406, two Bohemian students brought to Prague a document bearing the seal of the University of Oxford, Hus proudly read the document from his pulpit. Then in 1408, Pope Gregory XII warned Archbishop Zajic that the Church in Rome had been informed of Wycliffes heresies, in response, the king and University ordered all of Wycliffes writings surrendered to the archdiocesan chancery for correction. Hus obeyed, declaring that he condemned the errors in those writings, in 1408, the Charles University in Prague was divided by the Western Schism, in which Gregory XII in Rome and Benedict XIII in Avignon both claimed the papacy. Wenceslaus felt Gregory XII might interfere with his plans to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor and he denounced Gregory, ordered the clergy in Bohemia to observe a strict neutrality in the schism, and said that he expected the same of the University. Archbishop Zajíc remained faithful to Gregory, at the University, only the scholars of the Bohemian nation, with Hus as their leader, vowed neutrality. As a consequence, between five thousand and twenty thousand foreign doctors, masters, and students left Prague in 1409 and this exodus resulted in the founding of the University of Leipzig, among others. Thus Charles University lost its importance and became a strictly Czech school
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Bohemian Reformation
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The Bohemian Reformation was not an internally unified movement and did not remain immutable. The Bohemian Reformation included particularly the efforts to reform the church before Hus, the Hussite movement, together with the Waldensians and the Lollards, the Bohemian Reformation is considered to be the precursor to the Protestant Reformation. These movements are sometimes referred to as the First Reformation in the Czech historiography, despite the influence of the German and Swiss Reformations, the Bohemian Reformation did not bleed into them, although many Czech Utraquists grew closer and closer to the Lutherans. The Bohemian Reformation kept its own development until the suppression of the Bohemian Revolt in 1620, the Bohemian Reformation ended up being diffused in the Protestant world and gradually lost its distinctiveness. The Patent of Toleration issued in 1781 by Emperor Joseph II did not lead to a restoration of the Bohemian Reformation. Joseph II did not respect the Bohemian religious tradition and therefore only Lutheran, Calvinist and Eastern Orthodox faiths were made legal in the Crown of Bohemia, in spite of the extinction of the Bohemian Reformation as a distinctive Christian movement, its tradition did not disappear. The Bohemian Reformation started in Prague in the half of the 14th century. In that time Prague was not only the seat of the King of Bohemia, Prague was one of Europes largest cities and after Avignon, Rome and Paris was the city with the highest concentration of clergy in Western Christendom. The beginnings of the Bohemian Reformation were closely related to the criticism of the lifestyle of many priests. The most significant representatives of the university reform movement were Henry of Bitterfeld, another influential preacher was Milíč of Kroměříž who preached in Latin, Czech, and German. He helped many prostitutes to begin a new life and he served the Eucharist daily which was very uncommon because the laymen took communion usually only once a year. This practice of frequent communion became very popular, although it was unique elsewhere in Europe, it became usual in Bohemia until the end of the 14th century. The matter of the Eucharist became crucial for the nascent Bohemian Reformation, the Bible was the only reliable authority in all matters of faith for him and only sincere followers of Christ were true Christians in his opinion. The complete translation of the Bible into Czech in the century also contributed to the origin of the Bohemian Reformation. After French and Italian the Czech language became the third modern European language in which the whole Bible was translated, the best-known representative of the Bohemian Reformation is Jan Hus. He was a university teacher and a popular preacher in Bethlehem Chapel in the Old Town of Prague. The chapel was founded already in 1391 in the spirit of the nascent Bohemian Reformation and it was intended solely for sermons in the Czech language and it could admit 3,000 people. Jan Hus and his friends were skeptical about the idea of conciliarism which called for a reform from above via cardinals
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Moravia
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Moravia is a historical country in the Czech Republic and one of the historical Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. Moravia has an area of over 22,348.87 km2 and about 3 million inhabitants, the statistics from 1921 states, that the whole area of Moravia including the enclaves in Silesia covers 22,623.41 km2. The people are historically named Moravians, a subgroup of Czechs, the land takes its name from the Morava river, which rises in the northern tip of the region and flows southward to the opposite end, being its major stream. Moravias largest city and historical capital is Brno, however before being sacked by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years War, though officially abolished by an administrative reform in 1949, Moravia is still commonly acknowledged as a specific land in the Czech Republic. Moravian people are aware of their Moravian identity and there is some rivalry between them and the Czechs from Bohemia. Moravia occupies most of the part of the Czech Republic. Moravian territory is naturally strongly determined, in fact, as the Morava river basin, with effect of mountains in the west and partly in the east. Moravia occupies a position in Central Europe. All the highlands in the west and east of part of Europe run west-east. Moravia borders Bohemia in the west, Lower Austria in the south, Slovakia in the southeast, Poland very shortly in the north and its natural boundary is formed by the Sudetes mountains in the north, the Carpathians in the east and the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands in the west. The Thaya river meanders along the border with Austria and the tripoint of Moravia, Austria and Slovakia is at the confluence of the Thaya, the northeast border with Silesia runs partly along the Moravice, Oder and Ostravice rivers. Between 1782–1850, Moravia also included a portion of the former province of Silesia – the Austrian Silesia. Geologically, Moravia covers an area between the Bohemian Massif and the Carpathians, and between the Danube basin and the North European Plain. Its core geomorphological features are three wide vales, namely the Dyje-Svratka Vale, the Upper Morava Vale and the Lower Morava Vale, the former two form the westernmost part of the Subcarpathia, the latter one is the northernmost part of the Vienna Basin. The vales surround the low range of Central Moravian Carpathians, the highest mountains of Moravia are situated on its northern border in Hrubý Jeseník, the highest peak is Praděd. Second highest are the Moravian-Silesian Beskids at the very east, with Smrk, the White Carpathians along the southeastern border rise up to 970 m at Velká Javořina. The spacious, but moderate Bohemian-Moravian Highlands on the west reach 837 m at Devět skal. The fluvial system of Moravia is very cohesive, as the border is similar to the watershed of the Morava river
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Silesia
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Silesia is a region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is about 40,000 km2, and its population about 8,000,000, Silesia is located along the Oder River. It consists of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia, the region is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesias largest city and historical capital is Wrocław, the biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrava fall within the borders of Silesia, Silesias borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states. The first known states to hold there were probably those of Greater Moravia at the end of the 9th century. In the 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, in the 14th century, it became a constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire, which passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in 1526. Most of Silesia was conquered by Prussia in 1742, later becoming part of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the varied history with changing aristocratic possessions resulted in an abundance of castles in Silesia, especially in the Jelenia Góra valley. The remaining former Austrian parts of Silesia were partitioned to Czechoslovakia, in 1945, after World War II, the bulk of Silesia was transferred to Polish jurisdiction by the Potsdam Agreement of the victorious Allied Powers and became part of Poland. The small Lusatian strip west of the Oder-Neisse line, which had belonged to Silesia since 1815 and its centres are Görlitz and Bautzen. Most inhabitants of Silesia today speak the languages of their respective countries. The population of Upper Silesia is native, while Lower Silesia was settled by a German-speaking population before 1945, an ongoing debate exists whether Silesian speech should be considered a dialect of Polish or a separate language. Also, a Lower Silesian German dialect is used, although today it is almost extinct and it is used by expellees within Germany, as well as Germans who were left behind. The names all relate to the name of a river and mountain in mid-southern Silesia, the mountain served as a cultic place. Ślęża is listed as one of the numerous Pre-Indo-European topographic names in the region, according to some Polish Slavists, the name Ślęża or Ślęż is directly related to the Old Slavic words ślęg or śląg, which means dampness, moisture, or humidity. They disagree with the hypothesis of an origin for the name Śląsk from the name of the Silings tribe, in the fourth century BC, Celts entered Silesia, settling around Mount Ślęża near modern Wrocław, Oława, and Strzelin. Germanic Lugii tribes were first recorded within Silesia in the 1st century, Slavic peoples arrived in the region around the 7th century, and by the early ninth century, their settlements had stabilized. Local Slavs started to erect boundary structures like the Silesian Przesieka, the eastern border of Silesian settlement was situated to the west of the Bytom, and east from Racibórz and Cieszyn
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Kingdom of Hungary
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The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed from the Middle Ages into the twentieth century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen I at Esztergom in about the year 1000, by the 12th century, the kingdom became a European middle power within the Western world. The House of Habsburg held the Hungarian throne after the Battle of Mohács until 1918, from 1867 territories connected to the Hungarian crown were incorporated into Austria-Hungary under the name of Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. The monarchy ended with the deposition of the last king Charles IV in 1918, the kingdom was nominally restored during the Regency of 1920–46, ending with the Soviet occupation in 1946. From 1102 it also included Croatia, being in union with it. Today, the feast day of the first king Stephen I is a holiday in Hungary. The Latin forms Regnum Hungariae or Ungarie, Regnum Marianum, or simply Hungaria, were the used in official documents in Latin from the beginning of the kingdom to the 1840s. The German name Königreich Ungarn was used officially from 1784 to 1790, the Hungarian name was used in the 1840s, and then again from the 1860s to 1946. The non-official Hungarian name of the kingdom was Magyarország, which is still the colloquial, in Austria-Hungary, the unofficial name Transleithania was sometimes used to denote the regions of the Kingdom of Hungary. Officially, the term Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen was included for the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary, the Hungarians led by Árpád settled the Carpathian Basin in 895, established Principality of Hungary. The Hungarians led several successful incursions to Western Europe, until they were stopped by Otto I, the principality was succeeded by the Christian Kingdom of Hungary with the coronation of St Stephen I at Esztergom on Christmas Day 1000. The first kings of the kingdom were from the Árpád dynasty and he fought against Koppány and in 998, with Bavarian help, defeated him near Veszprém. The Catholic Church received powerful support from Stephen I, who with Christian Hungarians, Stephen I of Hungary was canonized as a Catholic saint in 1083 and an Orthodox saint in 2000. After his death, a period of revolts and conflict for supremacy ensued between the royalty and the nobles, in 1051 armies of the Holy Roman Empire tried to conquer Hungary, but they were defeated at Vértes Mountain. The armies of the Holy Roman Empire continued to suffer defeats, before 1052 Peter Orseolo, a supporter of the Holy Roman Empire, was overthrown by king Samuel Aba of Hungary. This period of revolts ended during the reign of Béla I, Hungarian chroniclers praised Béla I for introducing new currency, such as the silver denarius, and for his benevolence to the former followers of his nephew, Solomon. The second greatest Hungarian king, also from the dynasty, was Ladislaus I of Hungary. He was also canonized as a saint, however, kingship over all of Croatia would not be achieved until the reign of his successor Coloman
41.
Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
42.
Transylvania
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Transylvania is a historical region located in what is today the central part of Romania. Bound on the east and south by its borders, the Carpathian mountain range. The term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the regions of Crișana, Maramureș. The region of Transylvania is known for the beauty of its Carpathian landscape. It also contains major cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, Sibiu, in the English-speaking world it has been commonly associated with vampires, due to the influence of Bram Stokers famous novel Dracula and its many film adaptations. Transylvania was first referred to in a Medieval Latin document in 1075 as ultra silvam, Transylvania, with an alternative Latin prepositional prefix, means on the other side of the woods. Hungarian historians claim that the Medieval Latin form Ultrasylvania, later Transylvania, was a translation from the Hungarian form Erdő-elve. That also was used as an name in German überwald. The German name Siebenbürgen means seven fortresses, after the seven Transylvanian Saxons cities in the region and this is also the origin of the regions name in many other languages, such as the Bulgarian Седмиградско, Polish Siedmiogród and the Ukrainian Семигород. The Hungarian form Erdély was first mentioned in the 12th-century Gesta Hungarorum as Erdeuleu or Erdő-elve, the word Erdő means forest in Hungarian, and the word Elve denotes a region in connection with this, similarly to the Hungarian name for Muntenia. Erdel, Erdil, Erdehstan, the Turkish equivalents, or the Romanian Ardeal were borrowed from this form as well, the first known written occurrence of the Romanian name Ardeal appeared in a document in 1432 as Ardeliu. Transylvania has been dominated by different peoples and countries throughout its history. It was once the nucleus of the Kingdom of Dacia, in 106 AD the Roman Empire conquered the territory, systematically exploiting its resources. After the Roman legions withdrew in 271 AD, it was overrun by a succession of tribes, bringing it under the control of the Carpi, Visigoths, Huns, Gepids, Avars. From 9th to 11th century Bulgarians ruled Transylvania, there is an ongoing scholarly debate over the ethnicity of Transylvanias population before the Hungarian conquest. The Magyars conquered much of Central Europe at the end of the 9th century, according to Gesta Hungarorum, Transylvania was ruled by the Vlach voivode Gelou before the Hungarians arrived. The Kingdom of Hungary established a control over Transylvania in 1003. Between 1003 and 1526, Transylvania was a voivodeship in the Kingdom of Hungary, after the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of János Szapolyai
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "article name needed". New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls.
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