1.
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
2.
First Great Awakening
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It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ. It had little impact on most Anglicans, Lutherans, Quakers, throughout the colonies, especially in the south, the revivalist movement increased the number of African slaves and free blacks who were exposed to and subsequently converted to Christianity. The Second Great Awakening began about 1800 and reached out to the unchurched, 18th-century American Christians added an emphasis on outpourings of the Holy Spirit to the evangelical imperatives of Reformation Protestantism. Revivals encapsulated those hallmarks and spread the newly created evangelicalism in the early republic, Evangelical preachers sought to include every person in conversion, regardless of gender, race, and status. The evangelical revival was international in scope, affecting predominantly Protestant countries of Europe, historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom sees it as part of a great international Protestant upheaval that also created Pietism in Germany, the Evangelical Revival and Methodism in England. Revivalism was a component of the Great Awakening, and actually began in the 1620s in Scotland among Presbyterians. The idea of a great awakening has been contested by Butler as vague and exaggerated, the First Great Awakening led to changes in Americans understanding of God, themselves, the world around them, and religion. In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the country regions. In the southern Tidewater and Low Country, northern Baptist and Methodist preachers converted both white and black people, whether enslaved or free, evangelist leaders in the southern colonies had to deal with the issue of slavery much more frequently than those in the North. Still, many leaders of the revivals proclaimed that slaveholders should educate their slaves so that they could become literate and be able to read, consequently, many Africans were finally provided with some sort of education. Africans hoped that their newly acquired spiritual equality would translate into earthly equalities, as black people started to make up substantial proportions of congregations, they were given a chance to momentarily forget about their bondage and enjoy a slight sense of freedom. Before the American Revolution, the first black Baptist churches were founded in the South in Virginia, South Carolina, the revival began with Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards came from Puritan, Calvinist roots, but emphasized the importance and power of immediate, Religious experience had to be immediate, he taught. Scientific inquiry was useless, he taught that only a personal experience can be valid and his sermons were solemn, with a distinct and careful enunciation, and a slow cadence. His sermons were powerful and attracted a large following, both Edwards and Whitefield were slave owners and believed that blacks would acquire absolute equality with whites in the Millennial church. Winiarski examines Edwardss preaching in 1741, especially his famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, at this point, Edwards countenanced the noise of the Great Awakening, but his approach to revivalism became more moderate and critical in the years immediately following. The arrival of young Anglican preacher George Whitefield sparked the Great Awakening, Whitefields reputation preceded his visit as a great pulpit and open-air orator. He traveled through the colonies in 1739 and 1740 and he attracted large and emotional crowds everywhere, eliciting countless conversions as well as considerable controversy
3.
Third Great Awakening
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It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong element of social activism. It gathered strength from the belief that the Second Coming of Christ would occur after mankind had reformed the entire earth. It was affiliated with the Social Gospel Movement, which applied Christianity to social issues and gained its force from the Awakening, New groupings emerged, such as the Holiness movement and Nazarene movements, and Christian Science. The era saw the adoption of a number of causes, such as the abolition of slavery. However, some scholars, such as Kenneth Scott Latourette, dispute the thesis that the United States ever had a Third Great Awakening and this article focuses on the Awakening that took place during the nineteenth century in America. So far, it includes material about Korea. The American Protestant mainline churches were growing rapidly in numbers, wealth and educational levels, throwing off their frontier beginnings and becoming centered in towns, intellectuals and writers such as Josiah Strong advocated a muscular Christianity with systematic outreach to the unchurched in America and around the globe. Others built colleges and universities to train the next generation, each denomination supported active missionary societies, and made the role of missionary one of high prestige. The great majority of pietistic mainline Protestants supported the Republican Party, the awakening in numerous cities in 1858 was interrupted by the American Civil War. In the South, on the hand, the Civil War stimulated revivals. Moody made revivalism the centerpiece of his activities in Chicago by founding the Moody Bible Institute, the hymns of Ira Sankey were especially influential. Across the nation drys crusaded in the name of religion for the prohibition of alcohol, the Womans Christian Temperance Union mobilized Protestant women for social crusades against liquor, pornography and prostitution, and sparked the demand for woman suffrage. The Gilded Age plutocracy came under attack from the Social Gospel preachers. Historian Robert Fogel identifies numerous reforms, especially the battles involving child labor, compulsory elementary education, All the major denominations sponsored growing missionary activities inside the United States and around the world. Colleges associated with churches rapidly expanded in number, size and quality of curriculum, mary Baker Eddy introduced Christian Science, which gained a national following. In 1880, the Salvation Army denomination arrived in America, although its theology was based on ideals expressed during the Second Great Awakening, its focus on poverty was of the Third. The Society for Ethical Culture was established in New York in 1876 by Felix Adler attracted a Reform Jewish clientele, Charles Taze Russell founded the Bible Students movement, which later split into the Jehovahs Witnesses of today. With Jane Addamss Hull House in Chicago as its center, the settlement house movement, the New Thought movement expanded as Unity and Church of Divine Science were founded
4.
Fourth Great Awakening
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The terminology is controversial, with many historians believing the religious changes that took place in the US during these years were not equivalent to those of the first three great awakenings. Thus, the idea of a Fourth Great Awakening itself has not been generally accepted, whether or not they constitute an awakening, many changes did take place. Other evangelical and fundamentalist denominations also expanded rapidly, at the same time, secularism grew dramatically, and the more conservative churches saw themselves battling secularism in terms of issues such as gay rights, abortion, and creationism. Concomitant to the shift was a change in evangelicalism itself, with new groups arising. There was a new emphasis on a relationship with Jesus from newly styled non-denominational churches. This period also saw the rise of non-traditional churches and megachurches with conservative theologies, the Jesus Movement is considered by some to be part of the Fourth Great Awakening. Vinson Synan argues that a charismatic awakening occurred between 1961 and 1982 and this stemmed from a Pentecostal movement that placed emphasis on experiencing what they saw as the gifts of the spirit, including speaking in tongues, healing, and prophecy. It also focused on strengthening spiritual convictions through these gifts and through signs taken to be from the Holy Spirit, organized religion has changed in the face of secularizing pressures after World War II. Billy Graham, and Pope John Paul II, mega-churches won attention for the simple reason that 10 churches with 2,000 members were more visible than 100 churches with 200 members. The populist denominations growth coincided with the decline of the mainline bodies. While the former trend did not come at the expense of the latter, to the media and many ordinary observers those developments signaled the aggressive swelling of religious strength. Finally, it would be hard to find any other period of U. S. history that witnessed three leaders who captured the hearts and minds of millions of Americans as King, Graham, the mainstream Protestant churches contracted sharply in terms of membership and influence. After World War Two, some conservative Christian denominations grew rapidly in numbers, some of these denominations, such as the Southern Baptists and Missouri Synod Lutherans, would go on to face theological battles and schisms from the 1960s onward. Many of the more conservative churches would go on to become powerful as part of the religious right. Consciousness Revolution Culture war Jesus Movement Balmer, Randall, Religion in Twentieth Century America Balmer, Randall, and Mark Silk, eds. Religion and Public Life in the Middle Atlantic Region, Fount of Diversity, barlow, Philip, and Mark Silk, eds. Religion and Public Life in the Midwest, Americas Common Denominator, New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America. 175 pp. looks at Scientology, Unification Church, and New Age religion Blumhofer, Edith L. modern Christian Revivals Fogel, Robert William
5.
History of Christian theology
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The most widely recognized Biblical foundations for the doctrines formulation are in the Gospel of John. Nontrinitarianism is any of several Christian beliefs that reject the Trinitarian doctrine that God is three persons in one being. Modern nontrinitarian groups views differ widely on the nature of God, Jesus, the Biblical canon is the set of books Christians regard as divinely inspired and thus constituting the Christian Bible. The writings attributed to the apostles circulated amongst the earliest Christian communities, the Pauline epistles were circulating in collected form by the end of the 1st century AD. Justin Martyr, in the early 2nd century, mentions the memoirs of the apostles, but his references are not detailed. Around 160 Irenaeus of Lyons argued for only four Gospels, and argued that it would be illogical to reject Acts of the Apostles but accept the Gospel of Luke, as both were from the same author. Likewise by 200 the Muratorian fragment shows that existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the 27-book New Testament. In his Easter letter of 367, Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, gave a list exactly the same in number and order with what would become the New Testament canon and be accepted by the Greek church. The African Synod of Hippo, in 393, approved the New Testament, as it today, together with the Septuagint books. Pope Damasus Is Council of Rome in 382, only if the Decretum Gelasianum is correctly associated with it, in 405, Pope Innocent I sent a list of the sacred books to a Gallic bishop, Exsuperius of Toulouse. Nonetheless, a full articulation of the canon was not made until the Council of Trent in the 16th century. The emergence of Christian theology has sometimes been presented as the triumph of Hellenistic rationality over the Hebraic faith of Jesus, the early African theologian Tertullian, for instance, complained that the Athens of philosophy was corrupting the Jerusalem of faith. More recent discussions have qualified and nuanced this picture, from the very beginning of the Christian movement, followers of Jesus tried to make sense of the impact of Jesus of Nazareth, and began arguing about differing ways of making sense. There has never been an uncontested, unrationalized Christian faith and these processes of making sense initially drew upon the ideas and narratives of contemporary Judaism, which was already Hellenized in various degrees. Some elements of early Christian theologizing previously thought to be thoroughly Hellenistic are now regularly argued to be thoroughly Jewish, as Christianity spread, it acquired certain members from well-educated circles of the Hellenistic world, they sometimes became bishops but not always. They produced two sorts of works, theological and apologetic, the latter being works aimed at defending the faith by using reason to refute arguments against the veracity of Christianity and these authors are known as the church fathers, and study of them is called Patristics. Notable early Fathers include Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, so, for instance, a good deal of the Greek language literature can be read as an attempt to come to terms with Hellenistic culture. Influential texts and writers between c.200 and 325 include, Tertullian Hippolytus Origen Cyprian Arius Other Gnostic texts and texts from the New Testament apocrypha
6.
Christian theology
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Christian theology is the study of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament, Christian theologians use biblical exegesis, rational analysis and argument. Systematic theology as a discipline of Christian theology formulates an orderly, rational and coherent account of the Christian faith, inherent to a system of theological thought is that a method is developed, one which can be applied both broadly and particularly. Christian theology has permeated much of Western culture, especially in pre-modern Europe, Revelation is the revealing or disclosing, or making something obvious through active or passive communication with God, and can originate directly from God, or through an agent, such as an angel. One who has experienced such contact is called a prophet. Christianity considers the Bible as divinely or supernaturally revealed or inspired, such revelation does not always require the presence of God or an angel. For instance, in the concept called of interior locution by Roman Catholics, thomas Aquinas first described in two types of revelation in Christianity as general revelation and special revelation. General revelation occurs through observation of the created order, such observations can logically lead to important conclusions, such as the existence of God and some of Gods attributes. General revelation is also an element of Christian apologetics, certain specifics, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, are revealed in the teachings in the Scriptures and can not otherwise be deduced except by special revelation. Christianity regards varied collections of books known as the Bible as authoritative, Biblical inspiration is the doctrine in Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible and what the Bible teaches about itself. Different groups understand the meaning and details of inspiration in different ways, in many passages of the Bible it claims divine inspiration of itself. In the New Testament, Jesus treats the Old Testament as authoritative and says it cannot be broken in John 10,2 Peter 2 Pet 1, 20–21 says that no prophecy of Scripture. Christians who receive the Bible as authoritative generally think that the Bible is breathed out by God, in English,2 Timothy 3. 16–17 reads, All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction and training in righteousness. Some argue that Biblical inspiration can be corroborated by examining the weight of the Bibles moral teaching and its prophecies about the future, corroboration of this sort is a form of Christian apologetics. Others maintain that the authority of the Church and its counsels should carry more or less weight in formulating the doctrine of inspiration, Christianity regards the collections of books known as the Bible as authoritative and written by human authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Some Christians believe that the Bible is inerrant or infallible, in addition, for some Christians, it may be inferred that the Bible cannot both refer to itself as being divinely inspired and also be errant or fallible. For if the Bible were divinely inspired, then the source of inspiration being divine, for them, the doctrines of the divine inspiration, infallibility, and inerrancy, are inseparably tied together. Historians note, or claim, that the doctrine of the Bibles infallibility was adopted hundreds of years after those books were written, the Protestant Old Testament is synonymous with the Hebrew Scriptures included in the Jewish canon, but not the Catholic Old Testament, which contains additional texts
7.
Early Christianity
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Early Christianity is the period of Christianity preceding the First Council of Nicaea in 325. It is typically divided into the Apostolic Age and the Ante-Nicene Period, the early Gospel message was spread orally, probably in Aramaic, but almost immediately also in Greek. After the conversion of Paul the Apostle, he claimed the title of Apostle to the Gentiles, Pauls influence on Christian thinking is said to be more significant than that of any other New Testament author. As the New Testament canon developed, the Pauline epistles, the canonical gospels, Early Christians demonstrated a wide range of beliefs and practices, many of which were later denounced as heretical. The earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic, Second Temple Jewish sect, the first part of the period, during the lifetimes of the Twelve Apostles, is called the Apostolic Age. The relationship of Paul the Apostle and Judaism is still disputed although Pauls influence on Christian thinking is said to be more significant than any other New Testament author and they think the Christians the cause of every public disaster, of every affliction with which the people are visited. The first action taken against Christians by the order of an emperor occurred half a century earlier under Nero after the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD. During the Ante-Nicene Period following the Apostolic Age, a diversity of views emerged simultaneously with strong unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period. Part of the trend was an increasingly harsh anti-Judaism and rejection of Judaizers. Early Christianity gradually grew apart from Judaism during the first two centuries and established itself as a predominantly gentile religion in the Roman Empire. From the writings of early Christians, historians have tried to piece together an understanding of various early Christian practices including worship services, customs, Early Christian writers such as Justin Martyr described these practices. Early Christian beliefs regarding baptism probably predate the New Testament writings and it seems certain that numerous Jewish sects and certainly Jesuss disciples practised baptism, which became integral to nearly every manifestation of the religion of the Jews. John the Baptist had baptized many people, before took place in the name of Jesus Christ. Many of the interpretations that would later become Orthodox Christian beliefs concerning baptism can be traced to such as Paul. On the basis of this description, it was supposed by some modern theologians that the early Christians practised baptism by submersion and this interpretation is debated between those Christian denominations who advocate immersion baptism exclusively and those who practice baptism by affusion or aspersion as well as by immersion. Yet the Didache, one of the earliest Christian writings on liturgical practices, the Orthodox Church continues this practice, submerging the baptized and then pouring water on the head in that formula. Infant baptism was practised at least by the 3rd century. Others believe that infants were excluded from the baptism of households, citing verses of the Bible that describe the baptized households as believing, in the 2nd century, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, may have referred to it
8.
Timeline of Christianity
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The purpose of this timeline is to give a detailed account of Christianity from the beginning of the current era to the present. Question marks on dates indicate approximate dates, the year one is the first year in the Christian calendar, which is the calendar presently used almost everywhere in the world. Traditionally, this was held to be the year Jesus was born, however, most modern scholars argue for an earlier or later date, Pauls Road to Damascus conversion to Apostle to the Gentiles is first recorded in 9, 13-16, cf. Gal 1, 11-24. Peter baptizes the Roman Centurion Cornelius, who is considered the first Gentile convert to Christianity. The Antioch church is founded, it was there that the term Christian was first used, 37-41 Crisis under Caligula, proposed as the first open break between Rome and the Jews before 44 Epistle of James if written by James the Great 44. Following that vision, St James returned to Judea, where he was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa I in the year 44 during a Passover,44 Death of Herod Agrippa I 44-46. Theudas beheaded by Procurator Cuspius Fadus for saying he would part the Jordan river 45-49, mission of Barnabas and Paul, to Cyprus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, then return to Syrian Antioch. 50 Passover riot in Jerusalem, 20-30,000 killed 50, Council of Jerusalem and the Apostolic Decree, Acts 15, 1-35, same as Galatians 2, 1-10. Which is followed by the Incident at Antioch at which Paul publicly accuses Peter of Judaizing, Thomas the Apostle lands in India. Establishes churches at Kodungalloor, Palayoor, Paraur, Kottakkav, Kokkamangalam, Nilakkal, egyptian prophet and 30,000 unarmed Jews doing The Exodus reenactment massacred by Procurator Antonius Felix 58. Paul arrested, accused of being a revolutionary, ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, teaching resurrection of the dead, Paul shipwrecked on Malta, there he is called a god 60. Peter crucified upside-down. a vast multitude, were convicted, not so much of the crime of incendiarism as of hatred of the human race, 64/67-76/79 Pope Linus succeeds Peter as Episcopus Romanus 64 Epistle to the Hebrews written 65. Gospel of Mark, written in Rome, by Peters interpreter, original ending apparently lost, signs Gospel written, hypothetical Greek text used in Gospel of John to prove Jesus is the Messiah 70-100. Gospel of Matthew, based on Mark and Q, most popular in Early Christianity 80, Gospel of Luke, based on Mark and Q, also Acts of the Apostles by same author 80. Clement, fourth Bishop of Rome, wrote Letter of the Romans to the Corinthians 90, Council of Jamnia of Judaism, Domitian applies the Fiscus Judaicus tax even to those who merely lived like Jews 90. Late date for writing of 1 Peter 94 Testimonium Flavianum, disputed section of Jewish Antiquities by Josephus in Aramaic, Gospel of John and Epistles of John 95. Book of Revelation written, by John and/or a disciple of his 96 Nerva modifies the Fiscus Judaicus, from then on, practising Jews pay the tax, Christians do not 98-117. Ignatius, third Bishop of Antioch, fed to the lions in the Roman Colosseum, advocated the Bishop, rejected Judaizing, first recorded use of the term catholic
9.
History of Christianity
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The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christendom, and the Church with its various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity spread to all of Europe in the Middle Ages, Christianity expanded throughout the world during Europes Age of Exploration from the Renaissance onwards, becoming the worlds largest religion. Today there are more than two billion Christians worldwide, during its early history, Christianity grew from a 1st-century Jewish following to a religion that existed across the entire Greco-Roman world and beyond. The Roman persecution of Christians ended in AD313 when Constantine the Great decreed tolerance for the religion and he then called the First Council of Nicaea in AD325, beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils. The Apostolic Church was the community led by the apostles, and to some degree, in his Great Commission, the resurrected Jesus commanded that his teachings be spread to all the world. While the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles is disputed by critics, Acts gives a history of the Church from this commission in 1, 3–11 to the spread of the religion among the Gentiles and the eastern Mediterranean by Paul and others. The first Christians were essentially all ethnically Jewish or Jewish proselytes, in other words, Jesus preached to the Jewish people and called from them his first disciples, see for example Matthew 10. Circumcision in particular was considered repulsive by Greeks and Hellenists while circumcision advocates were labelled Judaisers, related issues are still debated today. The doctrines of the apostles brought the Early Church into conflict with some Jewish religious authorities and this eventually led to their expulsion from the synagogues, according to one theory of the Council of Jamnia. Acts records the martyrdom of the Christian leaders, Stephen and James of Zebedee, the name Christian was first applied to the disciples in Antioch, as recorded in Acts 11,26. Some contend that the term Christian was first coined as a term, meaning little Christs, and was meant as a mockery. The sources for the beliefs of the community include the Gospels. According to a recorded by Eusebius and Epiphanius, the Jerusalem church fled to Pella at the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War. The post-apostolic period concerns the time after the death of the apostles until persecutions ended with the legalisation of Christian worship under Emperors Constantine the Great, according to the New Testament, Christians were subject to various persecutions from the beginning. This involved even death for Christians such as Stephen and James, according to Church tradition, it was under Neros persecution that Peter and Paul were each martyred in Rome. Similarly, several of the New Testament writings mention persecutions and stress endurance through them, the last and most severe persecution organised by the imperial authorities was the Diocletianic Persecution,303 -311. In spite of these sometimes intense persecutions, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin, There is no agreement on how Christianity managed to spread so successfully prior to the Edict of Milan and the establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire. In The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark argues that Christianity triumphed over paganism chiefly because it improved the lives of its adherents in various ways
10.
Trinity
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The Christian doctrine of the Trinity holds that God is three consubstantial persons or hypostases—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—as one God in three Divine Persons. The three persons are distinct, yet are one substance, essence or nature, in this context, a nature is what one is, whereas a person is who one is. Reflection, proclamation, and dialogue led to the formulation of the doctrine that was felt to correspond to the data in the Bible. The simplest outline of the doctrine was formulated in the 4th century, further elaboration continued in the succeeding centuries. Scripture contains neither the word Trinity, nor an expressly formulated doctrine of the Trinity, rather, according to the Christian theology, it bears witness to the activity of a God who can only be understood in Trinitarian terms. The doctrine did not take its shape until late in the fourth century. During the intervening period, various solutions, some more. Trinitarianism contrasts with nontrinitarian positions which include Binitarianism, Unitarianism, Oneness Pentecostalism or Modalism, the word trinity is derived from Latin trinitas, meaning the number three, a triad. This abstract noun is formed from the adjective trinus, as the word unitas is the noun formed from unus. The corresponding word in Greek is tριάς, meaning a set of three or the number three, the first recorded use of this Greek word in Christian theology was by Theophilus of Antioch in about 170. He wrote, In like manner also the three days which were before the luminaries, are types of the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom. And the fourth is the type of man, who needs light, that so there may be God, the Word, wisdom, man. The Ante-Nicene Fathers asserted Christs deity and spoke of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Trinitarians view these as elements of the codified doctrine. Ignatius of Antioch provides early support for the Trinity around 110, exhorting obedience to Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit. Justin Martyr also writes, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, the first of the early church fathers to be recorded using the word Trinity was Theophilus of Antioch writing in the late 2nd century. He defines the Trinity as God, His Word and His Wisdom in the context of a discussion of the first three days of creation, the first defence of the doctrine of the Trinity was in the early 3rd century by the early church father Tertullian. He explicitly defined the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, St. Justin and Clement of Alexandra used the Trinity in their doxologies and St. Basil likewise, in the evening lighting of lamps. The highly allegorical exegesis of the Valentinian school inclined it to interpret the relevant scriptural passages as affirming a Divinity that, the Valentinian Gospel of Phillip, which dates to approximately the time of Tertullian, upholds the Trinitarian formula
11.
Nontrinitarianism
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Certain religious groups that emerged during the Protestant Reformation have historically been known as antitrinitarian. In terms of number of adherents, nontrinitarian denominations comprise a minority of modern Christianity. Nontrinitarian views differ widely on the nature of God, Jesus, Biblical and historical evidence point toward first-century followers of Christ not having worshipped Jesus as equal to God. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is not present in other major Abrahamic religions, see separate articles discussing the views about this doctrine held by Judaism and Islam. View in the early Church long contended with the orthodox doctrine, various views exist regarding the relationships between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Arianism – Arius believed that the pre-existent Son of God was directly created by the Father, Arius position was that the Son was brought forth as the very first of Gods creations, and that the Father later created all things through the Son. Arianism became the dominant view in some regions in the time of the Roman Empire, the third Council of Sirmium in 357 was the high point of Arianism. They take verses such as John 1,1 as simply Gods plan existing in the Mind of God, Unitarianism views Jesus as son of God, subordinate and distinct from his Father. Many Gnostic traditions held that the Christ is a heavenly Aeon and his contention is that Father, Son, and Spirit were simply different roles played by the same Divine Person in various circumstances in history. Thus God is Father in creation, Son in redemption, in light of this view, God is not three distinct persons, but rather one Person manifesting himself in multiple ways. Trinitarians condemn this view as a heresy and he sought to justify this view by the Aristotelian categories of genus, species and individuum. He said, though, like Philoponus, that unless the Three Persons are tres res, thus in light of this view, they would be considered three Gods in one. This notion was condemned by St. Anselm and those who believe that the Holy Spirit is not a person, Binitarianism – people through history who believed that God is only two co-equal and co-eternal persons, the Father and the Word, not three. They taught that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but is the power or divine influence of the Father and Son, emanating out to the universe, in creation. Dualism Marcionism – Marcion believed that there were two deities, one of creation and judgment and one of redemption and mercy, other concepts, Docetism comes from the Greek, δοκέω, meaning to seem. This view holds that Jesus only seemed to be human and only appeared to die, American Unitarian Conference started as a reply to Unitarian Universalism becoming too theologically liberal. They refrain from social activism and believe religion and science can improve the human condition, associated Bible Students believe that the Father is greater than the Son in all ways, and that the Trinity doctrine is unscriptural. They hold to similar to Jehovahs Witnesses
12.
Restorationism
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Fundamentally, this vision seeks to correct faults or deficiencies by appealing to the primitive church as a normative model. Efforts to restore an earlier, purer form of Christianity are often a response to denominationalism, the relative importance given to the restoration ideal, and the extent to which the full restoration of the early church is believed to have been achieved, also varies between groups. Landmarkism is more properly a theory of the continuation of the pure Church through the centuries, recognizable by certain key doctrines, many groups have attempted a history of their movement and an ecclesiology that falls somewhere in between the two ideas of Restorationism and Successionism. The term restorationism is sometimes used specifically as a synonym for the American Restoration Movement. The terms restorationism, restorationist and restoration are used in several senses within Christianity, Restorationism is called apostolic as representing the form of Christianity that the twelve Apostles followed. These themes arise early in history, first appearing in the works of Iranaeus. A variety of more contemporary movements have also described as restorationist. Restorationism has been described as a component of some Pentecostal movements such as the Assemblies of God. The terms Restorationism movement and Restorationist movement have also applied to the British New Church Movement. Capitalized, the term is used as a synonym for the American Restoration Movement. The term restorationism can also include the belief that the Jewish people must be restored to the land in fulfillment of biblical prophecy before the Second Coming of Christ. Christian restorationism is generally used to describe the 19th century movement based on this belief, the term primitive, in contrast with other uses, refers to a basis in scholarship and research into the actual writings of the church fathers and other historical documents. Since written documents for the underground first-century church are sparse, the church passed down its knowledge verbally. To do this, they revive practices found in the Old Testament, the term apostolic refers to a nonmainstream, often literal, apostolic succession or historical lineage tracing back to the Apostles and the Great Commission. These restorationist threads are sometimes regarded critically as being Judaizers in the Ebionite tradition, the restoration ideal has been interpreted and applied in a variety of ways. Four general historical models can be identified based on the aspect of early Christianity that the individuals and these are, Ecclesiastical Primitivism, Ethical Primitivism, Experiential Primitivism, and Gospel Primitivism. Ecclesiastical primitivism focuses on restoring the ecclesiastical practices of the early church, huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin and the Puritans all advocated ecclesiastical primitivism. The strongest advocate of ecclesiastical primitivism in the United States was Alexander Campbell, Ethical primitivism focuses on restoring the ethical norms and commitment to discipleship of the early church
13.
Christology
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Christology is the field of study within Christian theology which is primarily concerned with the nature and person of Jesus as recorded in the canonical Gospels and the epistles of the New Testament. Primary considerations include the relationship of Jesus nature and person with the nature, as such, Christology is concerned with the details of Jesus ministry, his acts and teachings, to arrive at a clearer understanding of who he is in his person, and his role in salvation. The views of Paul the Apostle provided a major component of the Christology of the Apostolic Age, Pauls central themes included the notion of the pre-existence of Christ and the worship of Christ as Kyrios. The pre-existence of Christ became a theme of Christology. Proponents of Christs deity argue the Old Testament has many cases of Christophany, Christophany is often considered a more accurate term than the term theophany due to the belief that all the visible manifestations of God are in fact the preincarnate Christ. Many argue that the appearances of the Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament were the preincarnate Christ, many understand the angel of the Lord as a true theophany. From the time of Justin on, the figure has been regarded as the preincarnate Logos, following the Apostolic Age, the early church engaged in fierce and often politicized debate on many interrelated issues. Christology became a focus of these debates, and every one of the first seven ecumenical councils addressed Christological issues. The second through fourth of these councils are generally entitled Christological councils, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 issued a formulation of the being of Christ — that of two natures, one human and one divine, united with neither confusion nor division. Chalcedonian Christianity - Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and many Protestant Christians - continue to advocate this doctrine of the hypostatic union, due to politically-charged differences in the 4th century, schisms developed, and the first denominations formed. In the 13th century, Saint Thomas Aquinas provided the first systematic Christology that consistently resolved a number of the existing issues, in his Christology from above, Aquinas also championed the principle of perfection of Christs human attributes. The Middle Ages also witnessed the emergence of the image of Jesus as a friend. Over the centuries, a number of terms and concepts have been developed within the framework of Christology to address the seemingly simple questions, a good deal of theological debate has ensued and significant schisms within Christian denominations took place in the process of providing answers to these questions. After the Middle Ages, systematic approaches to Christology were developed, the term Christology from above refers to approaches that begin with the divinity and pre-existence of Christ as the Logos, as expressed in the prologue to the Gospel of John. These approaches interpret the works of Christ in terms of his divinity, Christology from above was emphasized in the ancient Church, beginning with Ignatius of Antioch in the second century. The term Christology from below, on the hand, refers to approaches that begin with the human aspects and the ministry of Jesus and move towards his divinity. The concept of Cosmic Christology, first elaborated by Saint Paul, the terms functional, ontological and soteriological have been used to refer to the perspectives that analyze the works, the being and the salvific standpoints of Christology. Some essential sub-topics within the field of Christology include the incarnation, the resurrection, the term monastic Christology has been used to describe spiritual approaches developed by Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Abelard and Bernard of Clairvaux
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Mariology
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Mariology is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mariology methodically presents teachings about her to parts of the faith, such as teachings about Jesus, redemption. Christian Mariology aims to connect scripture, tradition and the teachings of the Church on Mary, in the context of social history, Mariology may be broadly defined as the study of devotion to and thinking about Mary throughout the history of Christianity. As a field of theology, in recent centuries the most substantial developments in Mariology have taken place within Roman Catholic Mariology, Eastern Orthodox concepts of Mary have been mostly expressed in liturgy and are not subject to a central dogmatic teaching office. A significant number of Marian publications were written in the 20th century, with theologists Raimondo Spiazzi, in terms of popular following, membership in Roman Catholic Marian Movements and Societies has grown significantly. Ecumenical differences continue to exist in substance and style but are easily understood because of the existence of Mariology. The Pontifical Academy of Mary and the Pontifical Theological Faculty Marianum are key Mariological centers, a wide range of views on Mary exist at multiple levels of differentiation within distinct Christian belief systems. In many cases, the views held at any point in history have continued to be challenged and transformed, Anglican Marian theology varies greatly, from the Anglo-Catholic to the more typically Protestant Evangelical views. The Anglican Church formally celebrates six Marian feasts, Annunciation, Visitation, Day of Saint Mary, Nativity of Mary, Our Lady of Walsingham, however, the role of Mary as a mediator is accepted by some groups of modern Anglican theologians. Eastern Orthodox theology calls Mary the Theotokos, which means God-bearer and this term emphasizes Marys status as the mother of God incarnate in Jesus but not the mother of God from eternity. The virginal motherhood of Mary stands at the center of Orthodox Mariology, the Orthodox Mariological approach emphasizes the sublime holiness of Mary, her share in redemption and her role as a mediator of grace. Orthodox Marilogical thought dates as far back as Saint John Damascene who in the 8th century wrote on the role of Mary. More recently Orthodox Mariology achieved a renewal among 20th century theologians in Russia, for whom Mary is the heart of the Church, however, unlike the Catholic approach, Orthodox Mariology does not support the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Prior to the 20th century, Orthodox Mariology was almost entirely liturgical, however, 20th century theologians such as Sergei Bulgakov began the development of a detailed systematic Orthodox Mariology. Bulgakovs Mariological formulation emphasizes the link between Mary and the Holy Spirit in the mystery of the Incarnation. Protestant views of Mary vary from denomination to denomination and they focus generally on interpretations of Mary in the Bible, the Apostles Creed, and the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus, in 431, which called Mary the Mother of God. Martin Luthers views on Mary, John Calvins views on Mary, Karl Barths views on Mary, a better mutual understanding among different Christian groups regarding their Mariology has been sought in a number of ecumenical meetings which produced common documents. Mary is the only woman named in the Quran
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Biblical canon
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A biblical canon or canon of scripture is a list of texts which a particular religious community regards as authoritative scripture. The word canon comes from the Greek κανών, meaning rule or measuring stick, Christians became the first to use the term in reference to scripture, but Eugene Ulrich regards the idea as Jewish. In contrast, a canon, which permits the addition of books through the process of continuous revelation. These canons have developed through debate and agreement by the authorities of their respective faiths. Believers consider canonical books as inspired by God or as expressive of the history of the relationship between God and his people. Differences exist between the Jewish Tanakh and Christian biblical canons, and between the canons of different Christian denominations, the differing criteria and processes of canonization dictate what the various communities regard as inspired scripture. In some cases where varying strata of scriptural inspiration have accumulated, Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible. According to Marc Zvi Brettler, the Jewish scriptures outside the Torah, the book of Deuteronomy includes a prohibition against adding or subtracting which might apply to the book itself or to the instruction received by Moses on Mt. Sinai. The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to Jerusalem, both I and II Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus likewise collected sacred books, indeed some scholars argue that the Jewish canon was fixed by the Hasmonean dynasty. However, these sources do not suggest that the canon was at that time closed, moreover. They lived in a period of two centuries ending c.70 AD. In addition to the Tanakh, mainstream Rabbinic Judaism considers the Talmud to be another central and it takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs, and history. There are numerous citations of Sirach within the Talmud, even though the book was not ultimately accepted into the Hebrew canon, the Talmud is the basis for all codes of rabbinic law and is often quoted in other rabbinic literature. Certain groups of Jews, such as the Karaites, do not accept the oral Law as it is codified in the Talmud, Ethiopian Jews—also known as Beta Israel —possess a canon of scripture that is distinct from Rabbinic Judaism. Mäṣḥafä Kedus is the name for the literature of these Jews. Their holiest book, the Orit, consists of the Pentateuch, as well as Joshua, Judges, the rest of the Ethiopian Jewish canon is considered to be of secondary importance. It consists of the remainder of the Hebrew canon—with the possible exception of the Book of Lamentations—and various deuterocanonical books. These include Sirach, Judith, Tobit,1 and 2 Esdras,1 and 4 Baruch, the three books of Meqabyan, Jubilees, Enoch, the Testament of Abraham, the Testament of Isaac, the latter three patriarchal testaments are distinct to this scriptural tradition
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Apostles' Creed
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The Apostles Creed, sometimes entitled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief—a creed or symbol. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists and Congregationalists, the Apostles Creed is Trinitarian in structure with sections affirming belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son and the Holy Spirit. The Apostles Creed was based on Christian theological understanding of the Canonical gospels and its basis appears to be the old Roman Creed known also as the Old Roman Symbol. Because of the origin of its original form, it does not address some Christological issues defined in the Nicene. It thus says nothing explicitly about the divinity of either Jesus or the Holy Spirit and this makes it acceptable to many Arians and Unitarians. Nor does it address many other questions which became objects of dispute centuries later. The earlier text evolved from simpler texts based on Matthew 28,19, part of the Great Commission, pirminius, written between 710 and 714. Bettenson and Maunder state that it is first from Dicta Abbatis Pirminii de singulis libris canonicis scarapsus and this longer Creed seems to have arisen in what is now France and Spain. Charlemagne imposed it throughout his dominions, and it was accepted in Rome. It has been argued nonetheless that it dates from the half of the 5th century. Some have suggested that the Apostles Creed was spliced together with phrases from the New Testament, for instance, the phrase descendit ad inferos echoes Ephesians 4,9, κατέβη εἰς τὰ κατώτερα μέρη τῆς γῆς. It is of interest that this phrase first appeared in one of the two versions of Rufinus in A. D.390 and then did not appear again in any version of the creed until A. D.650. This phrase and that on the communion of saints are found in the Apostles Creed. Musical settings of the Symbolum Apostolorum as a motet are rare, the French composer Le Brung published one Latin setting in 1540, the Spanish composer Fernando de las Infantas published two in 1578. More recently, in 1979 John Michael Talbot, a Third Order Franciscan, composed and recorded Creed on his album, in 1986 Graham Kendrick published the popular We believe in God the Father, closely based on the Apostles Creed. Rich Mullins and Beaker also composed a musical setting titled Creed, released on Mullins‘1993 album A Liturgy, the song Creed on Petra’s 1990 album Beyond Belief is loosely based on the Apostles Creed. In 1991, GIA Publications published a hymn text directly based on the Apostles’ Creed, called I Believe in God Almighty and it has been sung to hymn tunes from Wales, the Netherlands, and Ireland. In 2014 Hillsong released a version of the Apostles Creed under the title This I Believe on their album No Other Name, in 2016 Keith Getty and Kristyn Getty released an expression of the Apostles Creed under the title We Believe on their album Facing a Task Unfinished
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Nicene Creed
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The Nicene Creed is a Symbol of faith widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene /ˈnaɪsiːn/ because it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople, the Anglican and many Protestant denominations generally use the singular form, but sometimes use the plural. The Apostles Creed is also used in the Latin West, on Sundays and some other days, one or other of these two creeds is recited in the Roman Rite Mass after the homily. The Nicene Creed is also part of the profession of faith required of those important functions within the Catholic Church. In the Byzantine Rite, the Nicene Creed is sung or recited at the Divine Liturgy, immediately preceding the Anaphora, Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed can stand for the revised version of Constantinople or the later Latin version or various other versions. Icon/Symbol of the Faith is the designation for the revised version of Constantinople 381 in the Orthodox churches. Profession of Faith of the 318 Fathers refers specifically to the version of Nicaea 325, profession of Faith of the 150 Fathers refers specifically to the version of Constantinople 381. In musical settings, particularly when sung in Latin, this Creed is usually referred to by its first word, the purpose of a creed is to provide a doctrinal statement of correct belief, or orthodoxy. For that reason a creed was called in Greek a σύμβολον, a word that meant half of an object which. The Greek word passed through Latin symbolum into English symbol, which later took on the meaning of an outward sign of something. The Nicene Creed was adopted in the face of the Arian controversy, whose leader, Arius objected to Alexanders apparent carelessness in blurring the distinction of nature between the Father and the Son by his emphasis on eternal generation. Alexander accused Arius of denying the divinity of the Son and also of being too Jewish, both Arius and Alexander rejected Gnosticism, Manichaeism and Sabellian formulae. The Nicene Creed was created as a result of the adoption of the doctrine of Arius far outside Alexandria. The Nicene Creed of 325 explicitly affirms the co-essential divinity of the Son, the 381 version speaks of the Holy Spirit as worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. The Athanasian Creed describes in much detail the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Apostles Creed makes no statements about the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit, but, in the view of many who use it. The original Nicene Creed was first adopted in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea, at that time, the text ended with the words We believe in the Holy Spirit, after which various anathemas against Arian propositions were added
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Athanasian Creed
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The Athanasian Creed, also known as Pseudo-Athanasian Creed or Quicunque Vult, is a Christian statement of belief focused on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. The Latin name of the creed, Quicunque vult, is taken from the opening words, the creed has been used by Christian churches since the sixth century. It is the first creed in which the equality of the three persons of the Trinity is explicitly stated and it differs from the Nicene-Constantinopolitan and Apostles Creeds in the inclusion of anathemas, or condemnations of those who disagree with the creed. It was designed to distinguish Nicene Christianity from the heresy of Arianism, liturgically, this Creed was recited at the Sunday Office of Prime in the Western Church, it is not in common use in the Eastern Church. The creed has never gained acceptance in liturgy among Eastern Christians since it was considered as one of many unorthodox fabrications that contained the Filioque clause, today, the Athanasian Creed is rarely used even in the Western Church. When used, one practice is to use it once a year on Trinity Sunday. A medieval account credited Athanasius of Alexandria, the defender of Nicene theology. According to this account, Athanasius composed it during his exile in Rome and this traditional attribution of the Creed to Athanasius was first called into question in 1642 by Dutch Protestant theologian G. J. Athanasius name seems to have attached to the creed as a sign of its strong declaration of Trinitarian faith. The reasoning for rejecting Athanasius as the author usually relies on a combination of the following, The creed originally was most likely written in Latin, neither Athanasius nor his contemporaries ever mention the Creed. It is not mentioned in any records of the ecumenical councils and it appears to address theological concerns that developed after Athanasius died. It was most widely circulated among Western Christians, the use of the creed in a sermon by Caesarius of Arles, as well as a theological resemblance to works by Vincent of Lérins, point to Southern Gaul as its origin. The most likely time frame is in the fifth or early sixth century AD – at least 100 years after Athanasius. The theology of the creed is firmly rooted in the Augustinian tradition, for example, in the authoritative modern monograph about the creed, J. N. D. Kelly asserts that Vincent of Lérins was not its author, but that it may have come from the same milieu, the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Athanasian Creed date from the late 8th century. The Athanasian Creed is usually divided into two sections, lines 1–28 addressing the doctrine of the Trinity, and lines 29–44 addressing the doctrine of Christology, enumerating the three persons of the Trinity, the first section of the creed ascribes the divine attributes to each individually. Thus, each person of the Trinity is described as uncreated, limitless, eternal, furthermore, although one God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct from each other. For the Father is neither made nor begotten, the Son is not made but is begotten from the Father, the Holy Spirit is neither made nor begotten but proceeds from the Father and the Son
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First seven Ecumenical Councils
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The Church of the East accepts the first two of the seven councils, but rejects the third, the Council of Ephesus, and subsequent councils. The first scholar to consider this period as a whole, Philip Schaff, wrote The Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Undivided Church. These seven ecumenical councils are, However, not all of these councils have been recognised as ecumenical. As indicated above, the Church of the East accepts only the first two, and Oriental Orthodoxy only three. Nontrinitarians, such as Oneness Pentecostals, Unitarians, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Quakers, Christadelphians and Jehovahs Witnesses, Emperor Constantine convened this council to settle a controversial issue, the relation between Jesus Christ and God the Father. The Emperor wanted to establish universal agreement on it, representatives came from across the Empire, subsidized by the Emperor. Previous to this council, the bishops would hold local councils, such as the Council of Jerusalem, the council drew up a creed, the original Nicene Creed, which received nearly unanimous support. The councils description of Gods only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as of the substance with God the Father became a touchstone of Christian Trinitarianism. The Council was opposed by the Arians, and Constantine tried to reconcile Arius, after whom Arianism is named, with the Church. Even when Arius died in 336, one year before the death of Constantine, in 359, a double council of Eastern and Western bishops affirmed a formula stating that the Father and the Son were similar in accord with the scriptures, the crowning victory for Arianism. In 331, Constantine I commissioned Eusebius to deliver fifty Bibles for the Church of Constantinople, athanasius recorded Alexandrian scribes around 340 preparing Bibles for Constans. Little else is known, though there is plenty of speculation, for example, it is speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists, and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus are examples of these Bibles. Together with the Peshitta and Codex Alexandrinus, these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles, the council approved what is the current form of the Nicene Creed as used in most Oriental Orthodox churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the text but with the verbs expressing belief in the singular. The Latin Rite of the Catholic Church also uses the singular and, except in Greek, the form used by the Armenian Apostolic Church, which is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, has many more additions. This fuller creed may have existed before the Council and probably originated from the creed of Constantinople. The council also condemned Apollinarism, the teaching there was no human mind or soul in Christ. It also granted Constantinople honorary precedence over all churches save Rome, the council did not include Western bishops or Roman legates, but it was later accepted as ecumenical in the West
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Church Fathers
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The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church are ancient and generally influential Christian theologians, some of whom were eminent teachers and great bishops. The era of these scholars who set the theological and scholarly foundations of Christianity largely ended by 700 AD, the earliest Church Fathers, are usually called the Apostolic Fathers since tradition describes them as having been taught by the twelve. Important Apostolic Fathers include Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna and his epistle,1 Clement, was copied and widely read in the Early Church. Clement calls on the Christians of Corinth to maintain harmony and order and it is the earliest Christian epistle aside from the New Testament. Ignatius of Antioch was the bishop or Patriarch of Antioch. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved, important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, the role of bishops, and the Incarnation of Christ. He is the second after Clement to mention Pauls epistles, Polycarp of Smyrna was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. It is recorded that he had been a disciple of John, the options for this John are John, the son of Zebedee, traditionally viewed as the author of the Gospel of John, or John the Presbyter. Traditional advocates follow Eusebius in insisting that the connection of Polycarp was with John the Evangelist, and that he was the author of the Gospel of John. Polycarp tried and failed to persuade Pope Anicetus to have the West celebrate Passover on 14 Nisan, around 155, the Smyrnans demanded Polycarps execution as a Christian, and he died a martyr. Polycarp is recognized as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as an ancient man who was a hearer of John, Eusebius adds that Papias was Bishop of Hierapolis around the time of Ignatius of Antioch. In this office Papias was presumably succeeded by Abercius of Hierapolis, the name Papias was very common in the region, suggesting that he was probably a native of the area. The work of Papias is dated by most modern scholars to about 95–120. Despite indications that the work of Papias was still extant in the late Middle Ages, extracts, however, appear in a number of other writings, some of which cite a book number Those who wrote in Greek are called the Greek Fathers. Justin Martyr is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos in the 2nd century, Irenaeus was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, which is now Lyon, France. His writings were formative in the development of Christian theology. He was a notable early Christian apologist and he was also a disciple of Polycarp. His best-known book, Against Heresies enumerated heresies and attacked them, Irenaeus wrote that the only way for Christians to retain unity was to humbly accept one doctrinal authority—episcopal councils
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Augustine of Hippo
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Augustine of Hippo was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius, located in Numidia, Augustine is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions, according to his contemporary, Jerome, Augustine established anew the ancient Faith. In his early years, he was influenced by Manichaeism. After his baptism and conversion to Christianity in 386, Augustine developed his own approach to philosophy and theology, accommodating a variety of methods and perspectives. Believing that the grace of Christ was indispensable to human freedom, he helped formulate the doctrine of original sin, when the Western Roman Empire began to disintegrate, Augustine developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material Earthly City. His thoughts profoundly influenced the medieval worldview, the segment of the Church that adhered to the concept of the Trinity as defined by the Council of Nicaea and the Council of Constantinople closely identified with Augustines On the Trinity. Augustine is recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Christian Church, and he is also the patron of the Augustinians. His memorial is celebrated on 28 August, the day of his death, Augustine is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, the alleviation of sore eyes, and a number of cities and dioceses. Many Protestants, especially Calvinists and Lutherans, consider him to be one of the fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation. Lutherans, and Martin Luther in particular, have held Augustine in preeminence, Luther himself was a member of the Order of the Augustinian Eremites. In the East, some of his teachings are disputed and have in the 20th century in particular come under attack by such theologians as John Romanides, but other theologians and figures of the Eastern Orthodox Church have shown significant appropriation of his writings, chiefly Georges Florovsky. The most controversial doctrine surrounding his name is the filioque, which has been rejected by the Orthodox Church, other disputed teachings include his views on original sin, the doctrine of grace, and predestination. Nevertheless, though considered to be mistaken on some points, he is considered a saint. In the Orthodox Church his feast day is celebrated on 28 August and he was an early Christian theologian and philosopher whose writings influenced the development of Western Christianity and Western philosophy. Augustine was the bishop of Hippo Regius, located in Numidia and he is viewed as one of the most important Church Fathers in Western Christianity for his writings in the Patristic Era. Among his most important works are The City of God and Confessions, Augustine was born in the year 354 AD in the municipium of Thagaste in Roman Africa. His mother, Monica or Monnica, was a devout Christian, in his writings, Augustine leaves some information as to the consciousness of his African heritage
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First Council of Nicaea
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The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD325. Constantine I organized the Council along the lines of the Roman Senate and presided over it and this ecumenical council was the first effort to attain consensus in the Church through an assembly representing all of Christendom. Hosius of Cordoba, who was one of the Papal legates. The First Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council of the Church, St. Alexander of Alexandria and Athanasius took the first position, the popular presbyter Arius, from whom the term Arianism comes, took the second. The council decided against the Arians overwhelmingly, through it a precedent was set for subsequent general councils to adopt creeds and canons. This council is considered the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils in the History of Christianity. The First Council of Nicaea was convened by Emperor Constantine the Great upon the recommendations of a synod led by Hosius of Córdoba in the Eastertide of 325 and this synod had been charged with investigation of the trouble brought about by the Arian controversy in the Greek-speaking east. To most bishops, the teachings of Arius were heretical and dangerous to the salvation of souls and this was the first general council in the history of the Church summoned by emperor Constantine I. In the Council of Nicaea, The Church had taken her first great step to define revealed doctrine more precisely in response to a challenge from a heretical theology. Constantine had invited all 1,800 bishops of the Christian church within the Roman Empire, Eusebius of Caesarea counted more than 250, Athanasius of Alexandria counted 318, and Eustathius of Antioch estimated about 270. Later, Socrates Scholasticus recorded more than 300, and Evagrius, Hilary of Poitiers, Jerome, Dionysius Exiguus and this number 318 is preserved in the liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Delegates came from every region of the Roman Empire, including Britain, the participating bishops were given free travel to and from their episcopal sees to the council, as well as lodging. These bishops did not travel alone, each one had permission to bring him two priests and three deacons, so the total number of attendees could have been above 1,800. Eusebius speaks of an almost innumerable host of accompanying priests, deacons, the Eastern bishops formed the great majority. Of these, the first rank was held by the three patriarchs, Alexander of Alexandria, Eustathius of Antioch, and Macarius of Jerusalem and this position is supported by patristic scholar Timothy Barnes in his book Constantine and Eusebius. Historically, the influence of these marred confessors has been seen as substantial, Athanasius of Alexandria, a young deacon and companion of Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, was among the assistants. Athanasius eventually spent most of his life battling against Arianism, Alexander of Constantinople, then a presbyter, was also present as representative of his aged bishop. The supporters of Arius included Secundus of Ptolemais, Theonus of Marmarica, Zphyrius, other supporters included Eusebius of Nicomedia, Paulinus of Tyrus, Actius of Lydda, Menophantus of Ephesus, and Theognus of Nicaea
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Council of Ephesus
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The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus in AD431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. It met in June and July 431 at the Church of Mary in Ephesus in Anatolia, Nestorius himself had requested the Emperor to convene the council, hoping that it would prove his orthodoxy, the council in fact condemned his teachings as heresy. The council declared Mary as Theotokos, Nestorius dispute with Cyril had led the latter to seek validation from Pope Celestine I, who authorized Cyril to request that Nestorius recant his position or face excommunication. Nestorius pleaded with the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II to call a council in which all grievances could be aired, hoping that he would be vindicated, the proceedings were conducted in a heated atmosphere of confrontation and recriminations and created severe tensions between Cyril and Theodosius II. Nestorius was decisively outplayed by Cyril and removed from his see, Nestorius himself retired to a monastery, always asserting his orthodoxy. McGuckin cites the innate rivalry between Alexandria and Constantinople as an important factor in the controversy between Cyril of Alexandria and Nestorius, according to McGuckin, Cyril viewed the elevated intellectual argument about christology as ultimately one and the same as the validity and security of the simple Christian life. Even within Constantinople, some supported the Roman-Alexandrian and others supported the Nestorian factions, for example, Pulcheria supported the Roman-Alexandrian popes while the emperor and his wife supported Nestorius. Contention over Nestorius teachings, which he developed during his studies at the School of Antioch, shortly after his arrival in Constantinople, Nestorius became involved in the disputes of two theological factions, which differed in their Christology. Nestorius was greatly surprised that what he had taught in Antioch without any controversy whatsoever should prove to be so objectionable to the Christians of Constantinople. Nestorius suggested the title Christotokos, but this proposal did not gain acceptance on either side. Nestorius tried to answer a question considered unsolved, How can Jesus Christ, being part man, not be partially a sinner as well, since man is by definition a sinner since the Fall. To solve that he taught that Mary, the mother of Jesus gave birth to the incarnate Christ, not the divine Logos who existed before Mary, the Logos occupied the part of the human soul. But wouldnt the absence of a human soul make Jesus less human, consequently, Nestorius argued that the Virgin Mary should be called Christotokos, Greek for Birth Giver of Christ, and not Theotokos, Greek for Birth Giver of God. Nestorius believed that no union between the human and divine was possible, nestoriuss opponents charged him with detaching Christs divinity and humanity into two persons existing in one body, thereby denying the reality of the Incarnation. Eusebius, a layman who later became the bishop of the neighbouring Dorylaeum was the first to accuse Nestorius of heresy, Cyril argued that Nestorianism split Jesus in half and denied that he was both human and divine. Cyril appealed to Pope Celestine I, charging Nestorius with heresy, the Pope agreed and gave Cyril his authority to serve a notice to Nestorius to recant his views within ten days or else be excommunicated. Before acting on the Popes commission, Cyril convened a synod of Egyptian bishops which condemned Nestorius as well, Cyril then sent four suffragan bishops to deliver both the Popes commission as well as the synodal letter of the Egyptian bishops. Cyril sent a letter to Nestorius known as The Third Epistle of Saint Cyril to Nestorius and this epistle drew heavily on the established Patristic Constitutions and contained the most famous article of Alexandrian Orthodoxy, The Twelve Anathemas of Saint Cyril
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Council of Chalcedon
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The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from October 8 to November 1, AD451, at Chalcedon. The Council is numbered as the ecumenical council by the Great Church. A minority of Christians do not agree with the councils teachings and its most important achievement was to issue the Chalcedonian Definition. The Councils judgments and definitions regarding the divine marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates, Chalcedon was a city in Bithynia, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, today the city it is part of the Republic of Turkey and is known as Kadıköy. The Council of Chalcedon issued the Chalcedonian Definition, which repudiated the notion of a nature in Christ. It also insisted on the completeness of his two natures, Godhead and manhood, the council also issued 27 disciplinary canons governing church administration and authority. In a further decree, later known as canon 28, the bishops declared that the See of Constantinople was, in honour, the teachings of the Council are accepted by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, Old Catholics and various other Western Christian groups. As such, it is recognized as infallible in its dogmatic definitions by the Catholic, most Protestants also agree that the teachings regarding the Trinity and the Incarnation, as defined at Nicaea and Chalcedon, are orthodox doctrine to which they adhere. However, the Council is not accepted by the ancient Oriental Orthodox branch of the Church and this includes the Coptic, Ethiopian, Eritrean, Syriac, Malankara Syrian and Armenian Apostolic churches. They instead teach that The Lord Jesus Christ is God the Incarnate Word and he possesses the perfect Godhead and the perfect manhood. Nevertheless, the Oriental Orthodox churches refuse to accept the decrees of the Council regarding monophysitism, many Anglicans and most Protestants consider it to be the last authoritative ecumenical council. In 325, the first ecumenical council determined that Jesus Christ was God, consubstantial with the Father and this was reaffirmed at the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus. After the Council of Ephesus had condemned Nestorianism, there remained a conflict between Patriarchs John of Antioch and Cyril of Alexandria, Cyril claimed that John remained Nestorian in outlook, while John claimed that Cyril held to the Apollinarian heresy. The two settled their differences under the mediation of the Bishop of Beroea, Acacius, on April 12,433, in the following year, Theodoret of Cyrrhus assented to this formula as well. He agreed to anathematize Nestorius as a heretic in 451, during the Council of Chalcedon and he claimed to be a faithful follower of Cyrils teaching, which was declared orthodox in the Union of 433. Cyril had taught that There is only one physis, since it is the Incarnation, Cyril had apparently understood the Greek word physis to mean approximately what the Latin word persona means, while most Greek theologians would have interpreted that word to mean natura. Thus, many understood Eutyches to be advocating Docetism, a sort of reversal of Arianism—where Arius had denied the divinity of Jesus. Cyrils orthodoxy was not called into question, since the Union of 433 had explicitly spoken of two physeis in this context, Leo I wrote that Eutyches error seemed to be more from a lack of skill on the matters than from malice
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Heresy in Christianity
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When heresy is used today with reference to Christianity, it denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith as defined by one or more of the Christian churches. In Western Christianity, heresy most commonly refers to those beliefs which were declared to be anathema by any of the ecumenical councils recognized by the Catholic Church, in the East, the term heresy is eclectic and can refer to anything at variance with Church tradition. Since the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation, various Christian churches have used the concept in proceedings against individuals. The Catholic Church distinguishes between formal heresy and material heresy, the former involves willful and persistent adherence to an error in matters of faith and is a grave sin and produces excommunication. Material heresy is the holding of erroneous opinions through no fault of ones own and is not sinful, historical examination of heresies focuses on a mixture of theological, spiritual, and socio-political underpinnings to explain and describe their development. For example, accusations of heresy have been levelled against a group of believers when their beliefs challenged, or were seen to challenge, some heresies have also been doctrinally based, in which a teaching was deemed to be inconsistent with the fundamental tenets of orthodox dogma. The study of heresy requires an understanding of the development of orthodoxy, Heresy remained an officially punishable offence in Roman Catholic nations until the late 18th century. In Spain, heretics were prosecuted and punished during the Counter-Enlightenment movement of the restoration of the monarchy there after the Napoleonic Era, the word appears in the New Testament and was appropriated by the Church to mean a sect or division that threatened the unity of Christians. Heresy eventually became regarded as a departure from orthodoxy, a sense in which heterodoxy was already in Christian use soon after the year 100. Since the time of the apostles, the term anathema has come to mean a form of religious sanction beyond excommunication. The earliest recorded instance of the form is in the Council of Elvira, in his book Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton asserts that there have been substantial disagreements about faith from the time of the New Testament and Jesus. He pointed out that the Apostles all argued against changing the teachings of Christ as did the earliest church fathers including Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and Polycarp. The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the various opinions is a matter of continuing theological debate. Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed the matter of Tertullians Prescription Against Heretics, the development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. Scholars such as Pagels and Ehrman have built on Bauers original thesis, drawing upon distinctions between Jewish Christians, Gentile Christians, and other groups such as Gnostics, they see early Christianity as fragmented and with contemporaneous competing orthodoxies. Ehrmans view is that while the specifics of Bauers demonstration were later rejected, his intuitions are broadly accepted by scholars, turners response was in objection to Bauers. In 2006, Darrell Bock addressed Walter Bauers theory, stating that it does not show an equality between the church and outsiders including Simon Magus. Florovksy stating as an apology that the very tenet of Catholic or sobornost was the churchs response to the idea that there were multiple orthodoxies
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Monothelitism
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Specifically, monothelitism is the view that Jesus Christ has two natures but only one will. This is contrary to the Christology that Jesus Christ has two corresponding to his two natures. Monothelitism is a development of the miaphysite or monophysite position in the Christological debates, formulated in 638, it enjoyed considerable popularity, even garnering patriarchal support, before being rejected and denounced as heretical in 681 at the Third Council of Constantinople. During the 5th century, some regions of the Christian Church were thrown into confusion because of the debates that erupted over the nature of Jesus Christ. Although the Church had already determined that Christ is the son of God, the Church had declared heretical the notion that Jesus is not fully divine in the 4th century, during the debates over Arianism and had declared that he is God the Son become human. However, in arguing that he is both God and man, there now emerged a dispute over exactly how the human and divine natures of Christ actually exist within the person of Christ and this position was opposed by the Monophysites who held that Christ possesses one nature only. The term Monophysitism of which Eutychianism is one type, held that the human, as described by Eutyches, his human nature was dissolved like a drop of honey in the sea, and therefore his nature is really divine. This is distinct from Miaphysitism, which holds that, after the union, the two are thus united without separation, without confusion, and without alteration, and with each having a particularity. Miaphysitism is the doctrine of the Oriental Orthodox churches. Nevertheless, the resultant debates led the Chalcedonians to accuse the non-Chalcedonians of teaching Christs humanity to be of a different kind from our own. Meanwhile, the accused the Chalcedonians of espousing a form of Nestorianism. In these provinces, the non-Chalcedonians′ were far more numerous than the Chalcedonians, in Egypt for instance, some 30,000 Greeks of Chalcedonian persuasion were ranged against some five million Coptic non-Chalcedonians. Meanwhile, Syria and Mesopotamia were divided between Nestorianism and Jacobitism, while the religion of Armenia was wholly Cyrilline Non-Chalcedonian, consequently, the Monothelite teaching emerged as a compromise position. The Byzantine emperor Heraclius tried to unite all of the factions within the empire with this new formula that was more inclusive. This approach was needed to win over the non-Chalcedonians, since they, already believing Christ possesses a single nature, Patriarch Sergius I of Constantinople was the driving force behind this doctrine, with the full blessing of the Emperor Heraclius. This doctrine of Monoenergism was the precursor of Monotheletism, to help bring this about, a synod was held in 622 at Theodosiopolis, called the Synod of Garin where Monoenergism was discussed. In 626, he asked Patriarch Sergius to approach Cyrus, Bishop of Phasis, so in 629, a meeting took place between the emperor and Athanasius the Jacobite at Hierapolis. An agreement was struck whereby the Jacobites were to return to the Imperial Church on the basis of the single energy doctrine, then in 630, Bishop Cyrus was made Patriarch of Alexandria, and he soon won over another Non-Chalcedonian group
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Byzantine Iconoclasm
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The First Iconoclasm, as it is sometimes called, lasted between about 726 and 787. The Second Iconoclasm was between 814 and 842, according to the traditional view, Byzantine Iconoclasm constituted a ban on religious images by Emperor Leo III and continued under his successors. It was accompanied by destruction of images and persecution of supporters of the veneration of images. Iconoclasm, Greek for breaker of icons, is the destruction within a culture of the cultures own religious icons and other symbols or monuments. People who engage in or support iconoclasm are called iconoclasts, a term that has come to be applied figuratively to any person who breaks or disdains established dogmata or conventions, conversely, people who revere or venerate religious images are derisively called iconolaters. They are normally known as iconodules, or iconophiles and these terms were, however, not a part of the Byzantine debate over images. They have been brought into usage by modern historians and their application to Byzantium increased considerably in the late twentieth century. The Byzantine term for the debate over religious imagery, iconomachy means struggle over images or image struggle, Iconoclasm has generally been motivated theologically by an Old Covenant interpretation of the Ten Commandments, which forbade the making and worshipping of graven images. It was a debate triggered by changes in Orthodox worship, which were generated by the major social and political upheavals of the seventh century for the Byzantine Empire. Traditional explanations for Byzantine iconoclasm have sometimes focused on the importance of Islamic prohibitions against images influencing Byzantine thought, the role of women and monks in supporting the veneration of images has also been asserted. On the other hand, the wealthier Greeks of Constantinople and also the peoples of the Balkan and Italian provinces strongly opposed Iconoclasm, Christian worship by the sixth century had developed a clear belief in the intercession of saints. A strong sacramentality and belief in the importance of physical presence also joined the belief in intercession of saints with the use of relics and holy images in early Christian practices. Believers would, therefore, make pilgrimages to places sanctified by the presence of Christ or prominent saints and martyrs. Relics, or holy objects which were a part of the remains, or had come into contact with, Christ, the Virgin or a saint, were also widely utilized in Christian practices at this time. The use and abuse of images had greatly increased during this period, in some cases it defends itself against infidels with physical force. Key artefacts to blur this boundary emerged in c.570 in the form of miraculously created acheiropoieta or images not made by human hands and these sacred images were a form of contact relic, which additionally were taken to prove divine approval of the use of icons. The two most famous were the Mandylion of Edessa and the Image of Camuliana from Cappadocia, by then in Constantinople. The latter was regarded as a palladium that had won battles and saved Constantinople from the Persian-Avar siege of 626
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Pope Gregory I
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Pope Saint Gregory I, commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was pope of the Catholic Church from 3 September 590 to his death in 604. Gregory is famous for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome to convert a pagan people to Christianity, Gregory is also well known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as pope. He is also known as the Great Visionary of Modern Educational System, for his writings, the epithet Saint Gregory the Dialogist has been attached to him in Eastern Christianity because of his Dialogues. For this reason, English translations of Eastern texts will sometimes list him as Gregory Dialogos or the Latinized equivalent Dialogus. A senators son and himself the Prefect of Rome at 30, Gregory tried the monastery but soon returned to public life, ending his life. Although he was the first pope from a background, his prior political experiences may have helped him to be a talented administrator. Gregory regained papal authority in Spain and France, and sent missionaries to England, the realignment of barbarian allegiance to Rome from their Arian Christian alliances shaped medieval Europe. Gregory saw Franks, Lombards, and Visigoths align with Rome in religion, throughout the Middle Ages he was known as the Father of Christian Worship because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day. His contributions to the development of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the Latin Fathers. He is considered a saint in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, immediately after his death, Gregory was canonized by popular acclaim. The Protestant reformer John Calvin admired Gregory and declared in his Institutes that Gregory was the last good pope and he is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers. The exact date of Gregorys birth is uncertain, but is estimated to be around the year 540. The medieval writer who provided this etymology did not hesitate to apply it to the life of Gregory, aelfric states, He was very diligent in Gods Commandments. Gregory was born into a wealthy patrician Roman family with connections to the church. Gregorys mother, Silvia, was well-born, and had a sister, Pateria. His mother and two aunts are honored by Catholic and Orthodox churches as saints. Gregorys great-great-grandfather had been Pope Felix III, the nominee of the Gothic king, Gregorys election to the throne of St Peter made his family the most distinguished clerical dynasty of the period. The family owned and resided in a villa suburbana on the Caelian Hill, the north of the street runs into the Colosseum, the south, the Circus Maximus
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Alcuin
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Alcuin of York —also called Ealhwine, Alhwin or Alchoin—was an English scholar, clergy, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York, at the invitation of Charlemagne, he became a leading scholar and teacher at the Carolingian court, where he remained a figure in the 780s and 90s. Alcuin wrote many theological and dogmatic treatises, as well as a few grammatical works and he was made Abbot of Tours in 796, where he remained until his death. The most learned man anywhere to be found, according to Einhards Life of Charlemagne, among his pupils were many of the dominant intellectuals of the Carolingian era. Alcuin was born in Northumbria, presumably sometime in the 730s, virtually nothing is known of his parents, family background, or origin. In common hagiographical fashion, the Vita Alcuini asserts that Alcuin was of noble English stock, and this statement has usually been accepted by scholars. Alcuins own work only mentions such collateral kinsmen as Wilgils, father of the missionary saint Willibrord, and Beornred, abbot of Echternach and bishop of Sens, if so, Alcuins origins may lie in the southern part of what was formerly known as Deira. The young Alcuin came to the church of York during the golden age of Archbishop Ecgbert and his brother. Ecgbert had been a disciple of the Venerable Bede, who urged him to raise York to an archbishopric, Ecgbert was devoted to Alcuin, who thrived under his tutelage. The York school was renowned as a centre of learning in the arts, literature. It was from here that Alcuin drew inspiration for the school he would lead at the Frankish court and he revived the school with the trivium and quadrivium disciplines, writing a codex on the trivium, while his student Hraban wrote one on the quadrivium. Alcuin graduated to become a teacher during the 750s and his ascendancy to the headship of the York school, the ancestor of St Peters School, began after Aelbert became Archbishop of York in 767. Around the same time Alcuin became a deacon in the church and he was never ordained as a priest and there is no real evidence that he became an actual monk, but he lived his life as one. In 781, King Elfwald sent Alcuin to Rome to petition the Pope for official confirmation of Yorks status as an archbishopric and to confirm the election of the new archbishop, on his way home he met Charlemagne, this time in the Italian city of Parma. Alcuins intellectual curiosity allowed him to be persuaded to join Charlemagnes court. He joined a group of scholars that Charlemagne had gathered around him, the mainsprings of the Carolingian Renaissance, Peter of Pisa, Paulinus of Aquileia, Rado. Alcuin would later write that the Lord was calling me to the service of King Charles, Alcuin became Master of the Palace School of Charlemagne in Aachen in 782. It had been founded by the ancestors as a place for the education of the royal children
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Scholasticism
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It originated as an outgrowth of and a departure from Christian monastic schools at the earliest European universities. The Scholastic thought is known for rigorous conceptual analysis and the careful drawing of distinctions. Because of its emphasis on rigorous dialectical method, scholasticism was eventually applied to other fields of study. Some of the figures of scholasticism include Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Abelard, Alexander of Hales, Albertus Magnus, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, Bonaventure. Important work in the tradition has been carried on well past Aquinass time, for instance by Francisco Suárez and Luis de Molina. The terms scholastic and scholasticism derive from the Latin word scholasticus and the latter from the Greek σχολαστικός, forerunners of Christian scholasticism were Islamic Ilm al-Kalām, literally science of discourse, and Jewish philosophy, especially Jewish Kalam. The first significant renewal of learning in the West came with the Carolingian Renaissance of the Early Middle Ages, charlemagne, advised by Peter of Pisa and Alcuin of York, attracted the scholars of England and Ireland. By decree in AD787, he established schools in every abbey in his empire and these schools, from which the name scholasticism is derived, became centers of medieval learning. During this period, knowledge of Ancient Greek had vanished in the west except in Ireland, Irish scholars had a considerable presence in the Frankish court, where they were renowned for their learning. Among them was Johannes Scotus Eriugena, one of the founders of scholasticism, Eriugena was the most significant Irish intellectual of the early monastic period and an outstanding philosopher in terms of originality. He had considerable familiarity with the Greek language and translated works into Latin, affording access to the Cappadocian Fathers. The other three founders of scholasticism were the 11th-century scholars Peter Abelard, Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury and Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury and this period saw the beginning of the rediscovery of many Greek works which had been lost to the Latin West. As early as the 10th century, scholars in Spain had begun to gather translated texts and, in the half of that century. After a successful burst of Reconquista in the 12th century, Spain opened even further for Christian scholars, as these Europeans encountered Islamic philosophy, they opened a wealth of Arab knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. Scholars such as Adelard of Bath traveled to Spain and Sicily, translating works on astronomy and mathematics, at the same time, Anselm of Laon systematized the production of the gloss on Scripture, followed by the rise to prominence of dialectic in the work of Abelard. Peter Lombard produced a collection of Sentences, or opinions of the Church Fathers and other authorities The 13th, the early 13th century witnessed the culmination of the recovery of Greek philosophy. Schools of translation grew up in Italy and Sicily, and eventually in the rest of Europe, powerful Norman kings gathered men of knowledge from Italy and other areas into their courts as a sign of their prestige. His work formed the basis of the commentaries that followed
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Thomas Aquinas
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Saint Thomas Aquinas O. P. was an Italian Dominican friar, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. He was an influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he is also known as the Doctor Angelicus. The name Aquinas identifies his ancestral origins in the county of Aquino in present-day Lazio and he was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology and the father of Thomism, of which he argued that reason is found in God. His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy developed or opposed his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, the works for which he is best known are the Summa Theologiae and the Summa contra Gentiles. His commentaries on Scripture and on Aristotle form an important part of his body of work, furthermore, Thomas is distinguished for his eucharistic hymns, which form a part of the Churchs liturgy. Thomas Aquinas is considered one of the Catholic Churchs greatest theologians, Pope Benedict XV declared, This Order. Acquired new luster when the Church declared the teaching of Thomas to be her own and that Doctor, honored with the praises of the Pontiffs. The English philosopher Anthony Kenny considers Aquinas to be one of the dozen greatest philosophers of the western world, Thomas was most probably born in the castle of Roccasecca, located in Aquino, old county of the Kingdom of Sicily, c.1225. According to some authors, he was born in the castle of his father, though he did not belong to the most powerful branch of the family, Landulf of Aquino was a man of means. As a knight in the service of King Roger II, he held the title miles, Thomass mother, Theodora, belonged to the Rossi branch of the Neapolitan Caracciolo family. Landulfs brother Sinibald was abbot of the first Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino and it was here that Thomas was probably introduced to Aristotle, Averroes and Maimonides, all of whom would influence his theological philosophy. There his teacher in arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music was Petrus de Ibernia, at the age of nineteen Thomas resolved to join the recently founded Dominican Order. Thomass change of heart did not please his family, in an attempt to prevent Theodoras interference in Thomass choice, the Dominicans arranged to move Thomas to Rome, and from Rome, to Paris. Political concerns prevented the Pope from ordering Thomass release, which had the effect of extending Thomass detention, Thomas passed this time of trial tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of the Dominican Order. Family members became desperate to dissuade Thomas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans, at one point, two of his brothers resorted to the measure of hiring a prostitute to seduce him. According to legend Thomas drove her away wielding a fire iron and that night two angels appeared to him as he slept and strengthened his determination to remain celibate. By 1244, seeing all of her attempts to dissuade Thomas had failed, Theodora sought to save the familys dignity. In her mind, an escape from detention was less damaging than an open surrender to the Dominicans
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Anselm of Canterbury
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Anselm of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church, who held the office of archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. After his death, he was canonized as a saint, his feast day is 21 April, beginning at Bec, Anselm composed dialogues and treatises with a rational and philosophical approach, sometimes causing him to be credited as the founder of Scholasticism. Despite his lack of recognition in this field in his own time, Anselm is now famed as the originator of the argument for the existence of God. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by a bull of Pope Clement XI in 1720, as archbishop, he defended the churchs interests in England amid the Investiture Controversy. For his resistance to the English kings William II and Henry I, he was exiled twice, once from 1097 to 1100, while in exile, he helped guide the Greek bishops of southern Italy to adopt Roman rites at the Council of Bari. Anselm was born in or around Aosta in Upper Burgundy sometime between April 1033 and April 1034, the area now forms part of the Republic of Italy, but Aosta had been part of the Carolingian Kingdom of Arles until the death of the childless Rudolph III in 1032. The Emperor and the Count of Blois then went to war over his succession, humbert the White-Handed, count of Maurienne, so distinguished himself that he was granted a new county carved out of the secular holdings of the less helpful bishop of Aosta. Otto and Adelaides unified lands then controlled the most important passes in the western Alps and formed the county of Savoy whose dynasty would rule the kingdoms of Sardinia. Records during this period are scanty, but both sides of Anselms immediate family appear to have been dispossessed by these decisions in favour of their extended relations. The marriage was probably arranged for political reasons but was incapable of resisting Conrads decrees after his successful annexation of Burgundy on 1 August 1034. Ermenberga appears to have been the wealthier of the two, Gundulph moved to his wifes town, where she held a palace, likely near the cathedral, along with a villa in the valley. In later life, there are records of three relations who visited Bec, Folceraldus, Haimo, and Rainaldus. The first repeatedly attempted to impose on Anselms success but was rebuffed owing to his ties to another monastery, at the age of fifteen, Anselm desired to enter a monastery but, failing to obtain his fathers consent, he was refused by the abbot. The illness he then suffered has been considered a psychosomatic effect of his disappointment, once Gundulph had entered a convent, Anselm, at age 23, left home with a single attendant, crossed the Alps, and wandered through Burgundy and France for three years. His countryman Lanfranc of Pavia was then prior of the Benedictine abbey of Bec, attracted by the fame of his fellow countryman, after spending some time in Avranches, he returned the next year. His father having died, he consulted with Lanfranc as to whether to return to his estates and employ their income in providing alms or to renounce them, becoming a hermit or a monk at Bec or Cluny. Professing to fear his own bias, Lanfranc sent him to Maurilius, the archbishop of Rouen, probably in his first year, he wrote his first work on philosophy, a treatment of Latin paradoxes called the Grammarian. Over the next decade, the Rule of Saint Benedict reshaped his thought, a notable opponent was a young monk named Osborne
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Gregory Palamas
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Gregory Palamas was a monk of Mount Athos in Greece and later the Archbishop of Thessaloniki known as a preeminent theologian of Hesychasm. The teachings embodied in his writings defending Hesychasm against the attack of Barlaam are sometimes referred to as Palamism, Palamas is venerated as a Saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Some of his writings are collected in the Philokalia, the second Sunday of the Great Lent is called the Sunday of Gregory Palamas in those Churches that commemorate him according to the Byzantine Rite. He also has a feast day on November 14, Gregory was born in Constantinople in the year 1296. His father was a courtier of the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos, the Emperor himself took part in the raising and education of the fatherless boy. The Emperor had hoped that the gifted Gregory would devote himself to government service, St Gregory received his secular philosophical training from Theodore Metochites. Eventually, he was tonsured a monk, and continued his life of asceticism, after the demise of the Elder Nicodemus, Gregory spent eight years of spiritual struggle under the guidance of a new Elder, Nicephorus. After this last Elders repose, Gregory transferred to the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius the Athonite on Mount Athos, where he served the brethren in the trapeza and in church as a cantor. Wishing to devote himself fully to prayer and asceticism he entered a skete called Glossia. In 1326, because of the threat of Turkish invasions, he and the brethren retreated to the city of Thessaloniki. Dividing his time between his ministry to the people and his pursuit of perfection, he founded a small community of hermits near Thessaloniki in a place called Veria. He served for a time as Abbot of the Esphigmenou Monastery but was forced to resign in 1335 due to discontentment regarding the austerity of his monastic administration. Trained in Western Scholastic theology, Barlaam was scandalized by hesychasm, as a private teacher of theology in the Western Scholastic mode, Barlaam propounded a more intellectual and propositional approach to the knowledge of God than the Hesychasts taught. On the Hesychast side, the controversy was taken up by Palamas who was asked by his monks on Mt Athos to defend hesychasm from the attacks of Barlaam. Palamas was well-educated in Greek philosophy, Gregory wrote a number of works in its defense and defended hesychasm at six different synods in Constantinople ultimately triumphing over its attackers in the synod of 1351. Although Barlaam came from southern Italy, his ancestry was Greek, arriving in Constantinople around 1330, Barlaam was working on commentaries on Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite under the patronage of John VI Kantakouzenos. Around 1336, Gregory received copies of treatises written by Barlaam against the Latins, thus, Barlaam asserted that it was impossible to determine from whom the Holy Spirit proceeds. According to Sara J. Denning-Bolle, Palamas viewed Barlaams argument as dangerously agnostic, in his response titled Apodictic Treatises, Palamas insisted that it was indeed demonstrable that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father but not from the Son
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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
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Martin Luther
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Martin Luther, O. S. A. was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation. Luther came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and he strongly disputed the Catholic view on indulgences as he understood it to be, that freedom from Gods punishment for sin could be purchased with money. Luther proposed a discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517. His translation of the Bible into the vernacular made it accessible to the laity. It fostered the development of a version of the German language, added several principles to the art of translation, and influenced the writing of an English translation. His hymns influenced the development of singing in Protestant churches and his marriage to Katharina von Bora, a former nun, set a model for the practice of clerical marriage, allowing Protestant clergy to marry. In two of his works, Luther expressed antagonistic views towards Jews, writing that Jewish homes and synagogues should be destroyed, their money confiscated. Condemned by virtually every Lutheran denomination, these statements and their influence on antisemitism have contributed to his controversial status, Martin Luther was born to Hans Luder and his wife Margarethe on 10 November 1483 in Eisleben, Saxony, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was baptized as a Catholic the next morning on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours and his family moved to Mansfeld in 1484, where his father was a leaseholder of copper mines and smelters and served as one of four citizen representatives on the local council. He had several brothers and sisters, and is known to have close to one of them. Hans Luther was ambitious for himself and his family, and he was determined to see Martin, his eldest son, become a lawyer. He sent Martin to Latin schools in Mansfeld, then Magdeburg in 1497, where he attended a school operated by a lay group called the Brethren of the Common Life, the three schools focused on the so-called trivium, grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Luther later compared his education there to purgatory and hell, in 1501, at the age of 19, he entered the University of Erfurt, which he later described as a beerhouse and whorehouse. He was made to wake at four every morning for what has been described as a day of rote learning and he received his masters degree in 1505. In accordance with his fathers wishes, Luther enrolled in law school at the university that year but dropped out almost immediately. Luther sought assurances about life and was drawn to theology and philosophy, expressing particular interest in Aristotle, William of Ockham, philosophy proved to be unsatisfying, offering assurance about the use of reason but none about loving God, which to Luther was more important. Reason could not lead men to God, he felt, for Luther, reason could be used to question men and institutions, but not God. Human beings could learn about God only through divine revelation, he believed and he later attributed his decision to an event, on 2 July 1505, he was returning to university on horseback after a trip home
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Philip Melanchthon
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He stands next to Luther and Calvin as a reformer, theologian, and molder of Protestantism. Along with Luther, he is the founder of Lutheranism. Both rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, but not the belief that the body and blood of Christ are present with the elements of bread and wine in the Lords Supper. The Lutheran view of sacramental union contrasts with the understanding of the Roman Church that the bread and wine cease to be bread, Melanchthon made the distinction between law and gospel the central formula for Lutheran evangelical insight. By the law, he meant Gods requirements both in Old and New Testament, the meant the free gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. He was born Philipp Schwartzerdt on 16 February 1497, at Bretten, near Karlsruhe and his birthplace, along with almost the whole city of Bretten, was burned in 1689 by French troops during the War of the Palatinate Succession. The towns Melanchthonhaus was built on its site in 1897, in 1507 he was sent to the Latin school at Pforzheim, where the rector, Georg Simler of Wimpfen, introduced him to the Latin and Greek poets and to Aristotle. He and a brother were brought to Pforzheim to live with his maternal grandmother, the next year he entered the University of Heidelberg, where he studied philosophy, rhetoric, and astronomy/astrology, and became known as a scholar of Greek. Denied the masters degree in 1512 on the grounds of his youth, he went to Tübingen, where he continued humanistic studies but also worked on jurisprudence, mathematics, while there he was also taught the technical aspects of astrology by Johannes Stöffler. After gaining a degree in 1516 he began to study theology. Under the influence of Reuchlin, Erasmus, and others, he convinced that true Christianity was something different from the scholastic theology as taught at the university. He became a conventor in the contubernium and instructed younger scholars and he also lectured on oratory, on Virgil and on Livy. His first publications were an edition of Terence and a Greek grammar and he studied the Scriptures, especially of Paul, and Evangelical doctrine. Attending the disputation of Leipzig as a spectator, he participated with his comments. After his views were attacked by Johann Eck, Melanchthon replied based on the authority of Scripture in his Defensio contra Johannem Eckium and he married Katharina Krapp, daughter of Wittenbergs mayor, on 25 November 1520. In the beginning of 1521 in his Didymi Faventini versus Thomam Placentinum pro M. Luthero oratio and he argued that Luther rejected only papal and ecclesiastical practises which were at variance with Scripture. But while Luther was absent at Wartburg Castle, during the disturbances caused by the Zwickau prophets, the appearance of Melanchthons Loci communes rerum theologicarum seu hypotyposes theologicae was of subsequent importance for Reformation. Melanchthon presented the new doctrine of Christianity under the form of a discussion of the thoughts of the Epistle to the Romans
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Indulgence
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In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, an indulgence is a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins. It may reduce the temporal punishment after death, in the state or process of purification called Purgatory and this temporal punishment would not be considered time, as Purgatory, like Heaven and Hell, is said to exist outside of time. The recipient of an indulgence must perform an action to receive it and this is most often the saying of a specified prayer, but may also include the visiting of a particular place, or the performance of specific good works. They draw on the Treasury of Merit accumulated by Christs superabundantly meritorious sacrifice on the cross and they are granted for specific good works and prayers in proportion to the devotion with which those good works are performed or prayers recited. By the late Middle Ages, the abuse of indulgences, mainly through commercialization, had become a problem which the Church recognized but was unable to restrain effectively. Indulgences were from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation a target of attacks by Martin Luther, eventually the Catholic Counter-Reformation curbed the excesses, but indulgences continue to play a role in modern Catholic religious life. Reforms in the 20th century largely abolished the quantification of indulgences and these days or years were meant to represent the equivalent of time spent in penance, although it was widely taken to mean time spent in Purgatory. The reforms also reduced the number of indulgences granted for visiting particular churches. When a person sins, he acquires certain liabilities, the liability of guilt, a mortal sin is equivalent to refusing friendship with God and communion with the only source of eternal life. The loss of life with God, and the eternal death of hell that is the effect of this rejection, is called the eternal punishment of sin. The Sacrament of Penance removes the guilt and the liability of eternal punishment related to mortal sin, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the punishment of sin. The process of sanctification and interior renewal requires not only forgiveness from the guilt of sin and this purification process gives rise to temporal punishment, because, not involving a total rejection of God, it is not eternal and can be expiated. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. He should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer, the temporal punishment that follows sin is thus undergone either during life on earth or in purgatory. Indulgences are a help towards achieving this purification, an indulgence does not forgive the guilt of sin, nor does it provide release from the eternal punishment associated with unforgiven mortal sins. Similarly, an indulgence is not a permit to commit sin, ordinarily, forgiveness of mortal sins is obtained through Confession. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, The treasury of the Church is the value, which can never be exhausted
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Justification (theology)
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Justification, in Christian theology, is Gods act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christs atoning sacrifice. The means of justification is an area of significant difference between Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism, even within the latter, in Lutheranism and Calvinism, righteousness from God is viewed as being credited to the sinners account through faith alone, without works. Justification is granted to all who exercise faith, and that is viewed as a gift from God by Lutherans and Calvinists, in Methodism, justification refers to pardon and the forgiveness of sins and sanctification is the consequent process that together, will ultimately lead to ones salvation. Catholics, Orthodox and Methodists use James 2, 14-26, Galatians 5, 19-21, Justification is often seen as being the theological fault line that divided Catholic from the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism during the Reformation. Jesus used the idea of ransom, or redemption when referring to his work on earth, Christs death and resurrection provide justification for believers before God. His righteousness becomes theirs, and his death becomes an offering to God in their place, According to Protestants this justification is by faith alone - not through good deeds - and is a gift from God through Christ. But also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead and he was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God, if you would enter life, keep the commandments. You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. You see that a person is justified by what he does, but faith without works is dead. When the justified live in Christ and act in the grace they receive, they bring forth, in biblical terms, since Christians struggle against sin their entire lives, this consequence of justification is also for them an obligation they must fulfill. Thus both Jesus and the apostolic Scriptures admonish Christians to bring forth the works of love, an example can be cited from section 4.7 no. 38-39, when Catholics affirm the character of good works, they wish to say that, according to the biblical witness. They do emphasize that righteousness as acceptance by God and sharing in the righteousness of Christ is always complete, at the same time, they state that there can be growth in its effects in Christian living. Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food, if one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it. In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead, but someone will say, You have faith, I have deeds
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Five solae
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Each sola represents a key belief in Protestant Christian faith in contradistinction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The Reformers claimed that the Catholic Church, especially its head, the solas were not systematically articulated together until the 20th century. But sola gratia and sola fide were used in conjunction by the Reformers themselves, for example, in 1554 Melanchthon wrote, sola gratia justificamus et sola fide justificamur. All of the show up in various writings by the Protestant Reformers. In 1916, Lutheran scholar Theodore Engelder published an article titled The Three Principles of the Reformation, Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, in 1934, theologian Emil Brunner substituted Soli Deo gloriam for Sola Scriptura. In 1958, historian Geoffrey Elton, summarizing the work of John Calvin, Elton listed sola fide with sola gratia as one term, followed by sola scriptura and soli Deo gloria. Later, in commenting on Karl Barths theological system, Brunner added Christus solus to the litany of solas while leaving out sola scriptura, the first time the additional two solas are mentioned is in Johann Baptiste Metzs 1965, The Church and the World. Sola Scriptura, or scripture alone, asserts that scripture must govern over church traditions and interpretations which are held to be subject to scripture. All church traditions, creeds, and teachings must be in unity with the teachings of scripture as the divinely inspired Word of God, Sola Scriptura asserts that the Bible can and is to be interpreted through itself, with one area of Scripture being useful for interpreting others. That scripture can interpret itself is a means by which to show the unity of Scripture as a whole. As all doctrines are formed via scriptural understandings, all doctrines must be found to align with Scripture, Sola fide, or faith alone, asserts that good works are not a means or requisite for salvation. Sola fide is the teaching that justification is received by faith alone, in classical Protestant theology, good works are seen to be evidence of saving faith, but the good works themselves do not determine salvation. The Catholic side of the argument is based on James 2, what does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works. Thus also faith by itself, if it not have works, is dead. In understanding Sola fide, it is important to understand the nuances of difference between Catholic and Protestant notions of the term justification. Both groups agree that the term invokes a communication of Christs merits to sinners, not a declaration of sinlessness, the Protestant view of justification, by contrast, is that it is the work of God through the means of grace. Faith is the righteousness of God that is accomplished in us through word, law and gospel work to kill the sinful self and to accomplish the new creation within us. This new creation within us is the faith of Christ, if we do not have this faith, then we are ungodly
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Ninety-five Theses
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In the Theses, Luther claimed that the repentance required by Christ in order for sins to be forgiven involves inner spiritual repentance rather than merely external sacramental confession. He argued that indulgences lead Christians to avoid true repentance and sorrow for sin and they also, according to Luther, discourage Christians from giving to the poor and performing other acts of mercy, believing that indulgence certificates were more spiritually valuable. Luther may have posted the Theses on the door of All Saints Church. The Theses were quickly reprinted, translated, and distributed throughout Germany and they initiated a pamphlet war with indulgence preacher Johann Tetzel, which spread Luthers fame even further. Luthers ecclesiastical superiors had him tried for heresy, which culminated in his excommunication in 1521 and his breakthrough on these issues would come later, and he did not see the writing of the Theses as the point at which his beliefs diverged from those of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther, professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg and town preacher. In the Catholic Church, practically the only Christian church in Europe at the time, in this system, when Christians sin and confess, they are forgiven and will no longer receive eternal punishment in hell, but may still be liable to temporal punishment. This punishment could be satisfied by the penitent performing works of mercy, if the temporal punishment is not satisfied during life, it would need to be satisfied in purgatory. With an indulgence, this temporal punishment could be lessened, under abuses of the system of indulgences, clergy benefited by selling indulgences and the pope gave official sanction in exchange for a fee. This led to the saying, As soon as the coin in the coffer rings. Theologians at the University of Paris had criticized this saying late in the fifteenth century, earlier critics of indulgences included John Wycliffe, who denied that the pope had jurisdiction over purgatory. Jan Hus and his followers had advocated a more severe system of penance, johannes von Wesel had also attacked indulgences late in the fifteenth century. Political rulers had an interest in controlling indulgences because local economies suffered when the money for indulgences left a given territory, rulers often sought to receive a portion of the proceeds or prohibited indulgences altogether, as Duke George did in Luthers Electoral Saxony. In 1515, Pope Leo X granted a plenary indulgence intended to finance the construction of St. Peters Basilica in Rome and it would apply to almost any sin, including adultery and theft. All other indulgence preaching was to cease for the eight years in which it was offered, indulgence preachers were given strict instructions on how the indulgence was to be preached, and they were much more laudatory of the indulgence than those of earlier indulgences. Luther also had experience with the connected to All Saints Church. By venerating the large collection of relics at the church, one could receive an indulgence and he had preached as early as 1514 against the abuse of indulgences and the way they cheapened grace rather than requiring true repentance. After hearing what Tetzel had said about indulgences in his sermons, Luther began to study the more carefully
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Book of Concord
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The Book of Concord or Concordia is the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, consisting of ten credal documents recognized as authoritative in Lutheranism since the 16th century. They are also known as the books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Book of Concord was published in German on June 25,1580 in Dresden, the authoritative Latin edition was published in 1584 in Leipzig. Those who accept it as their doctrinal standard recognize it to be an exposition of the Bible. The Holy Scriptures are set forth in The Book of Concord to be the sole, divine source and it was intended to replace German territorial collections of doctrinal statements, known as corpora doctrinæ like the Corpus doctrinæ Philippicum or Misnicum. This aim is reflected by the compilers not calling it a corpus doctrinæ although it technically is one, the list of writings predating the Formula of Concord that would be included in The Book of Concord are listed and described in the Rule and Norm section of the Formula. These creeds, the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed, were formulated before the East-West Schism of 1054, the other documents come from the earliest years of the Lutheran Reformation. The preface of the Book of Concord was considered to be the preface of the Formula of Concord as well, a recent book on Lutheranism asserts, To this day. The Catalog of Testimonies was added as an appendix in most of the 1580 editions. This follows St. Pauls directive, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you and they contain the truths believed universally by true Christians everywhere, explicitly by all consistent Christians, implicitly even by inconsistent and erring Christians. Christian truth, being one and the same the world over is none other than that which is found in the Lutheran confessions and they often identify themselves as confessional Lutherans. They consider the Book of Concord the norma normata in relation to the Bible, in this view the Book of Concord, on the topics that it addresses, is what the church authoritatively understands Gods authoritative word to say. This is also called a quia subscription to the Lutheran confessions, one who subscribes the Lutheran confessions quatenus, insofar as they are a faithful exposition of the Scriptures, believes that there might be contradictions of the Scriptures in them. The largest Lutheran church to subscribe unconditionally to the Book of Concord is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland with 4.6 million members, English translations of individual documents of The Book of Concord, notably The Augsburg Confession, were available since the 16th century. The first complete English translation of The Book of Concord was the 1851 Henkel edition followed by an edition in 1854. Henry E. Jacobs and others published the next English version in 1882 with a revised Peoples Edition in 1911, the 1882 edition was accompanied by a companion volume that contained historical introductions and English translations of other documents illustrative of the history of The Book of Concord. Lutheran Church, German-Latin English edited by Friederich Bente and this edition introduced the practice of inserting in square brackets the translations of variant readings of either the Latin translation of the German or the German translation of the Latin text. A smaller edition with just the English text was also published, justus Jonas, who had originally translated the Apology from Latin into German, made use of both the quarto and the octavo editions
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Predestination
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Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, in this usage, predestination can be regarded as a form of religious determinism, and usually predeterminism. There is some disagreement among scholars regarding the views on predestination of first-century AD Judaism, josephus wrote during the first century that the three main Jewish sects differed on this question. He argued that the Essenes and Pharisees argued that Gods providence orders all human events and he wrote that the Sadducees did not have a doctrine of providence. Biblical scholar N. T. Wright asserts that Essenes were content to wait for God to liberate Israel while Pharisees believed Jews needed to act in cooperation with God, in the New Testament, Romans 8–11 presents a statement on predestination. In Romans 8, 28–30, Paul writes, We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, and those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Biblical scholars have interpreted this passage in several ways, many say this only has to do with service, those he chose of service and is not about salvation. Catholic biblical commentator Brendan Byrne wrote that the mentioned in this passage should be interpreted as applied to the Christian community corporately rather than individuals. Another Catholic commentator, Joseph Fitzmyer, wrote that this teaches that God has predestined the salvation of all humans. Douglas Moo, a Protestant biblical interpreter, reads the passage as teaching that God has predestined a certain set of people to salvation, similarly, N. T. Instead, Wright asserts that Gods will works through that of humans to accomplish salvation. Origen, writing in the century, taught that Gods providence extends to every individual. He believed Gods predestination was based on Gods foreknowledge of every individuals merits, later in the fourth and fifth centuries, Augustine of Hippo also taught that God orders all things while preserving human freedom. Prior to 396, Augustine believed that predestination was based on Gods foreknowledge of whether individuals would believe, scholars are divided over whether Augustines teaching implies double predestination, or the belief that God chooses some people for damnation as well as some for salvation. Catholic scholars tend to deny that he held such a view while some Protestants, julian, bishop of Eclanum, expressed the view that Augustine was bringing Manichean thoughts into the church. For Vincent of Lérins, this was a disturbing innovation and this new tension eventually became obvious with the confrontation between Augustine and Pelagius culminating in condemnation of Pelagianism at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Pelagius denied Augustines view of predestination in order to affirm that salvation is achieved by an act of free will, the Second Council of Orange in 529 also condemned the position that some have been truly predestined to evil by divine power. Damascene teaches that peoples actions are done in cooperation with God
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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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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
