1.
Engraving
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Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it. Wood engraving is a form of printing and is not covered in this article. Engraving was an important method of producing images on paper in artistic printmaking, in mapmaking. Other terms often used for printed engravings are copper engraving, copper-plate engraving or line engraving, hand engraving is a term sometimes used for engraving objects other than printing plates, to inscribe or decorate jewellery, firearms, trophies, knives and other fine metal goods. Traditional engravings in printmaking are also engraved, using just the same techniques to make the lines in the plate. Each graver is different and has its own use, engravers use a hardened steel tool called a burin, or graver, to cut the design into the surface, most traditionally a copper plate. Modern professional engravers can engrave with a resolution of up to 40 lines per mm in high grade work creating game scenes, dies used in mass production of molded parts are sometimes hand engraved to add special touches or certain information such as part numbers. In addition to engraving, there are engraving machines that require less human finesse and are not directly controlled by hand. They are usually used for lettering, using a pantographic system, there are versions for the insides of rings and also the outsides of larger pieces. Such machines are used for inscriptions on rings, lockets. Gravers come in a variety of shapes and sizes that yield different line types, the burin produces a unique and recognizable quality of line that is characterized by its steady, deliberate appearance and clean edges. The angle tint tool has a curved tip that is commonly used in printmaking. Florentine liners are flat-bottomed tools with multiple lines incised into them, ring gravers are made with particular shapes that are used by jewelry engravers in order to cut inscriptions inside rings. Flat gravers are used for work on letters, as well as wriggle cuts on most musical instrument engraving work, remove background. Knife gravers are for line engraving and very deep cuts, round gravers, and flat gravers with a radius, are commonly used on silver to create bright cuts, as well as other hard-to-cut metals such as nickel and steel. Square or V-point gravers are typically square or elongated diamond-shaped and used for cutting straight lines, V-point can be anywhere from 60 to 130 degrees, depending on purpose and effect. These gravers have very small cutting points, other tools such as mezzotint rockers, roulets and burnishers are used for texturing effects. Burnishing tools can also be used for stone setting techniques
2.
Methodism
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Methodism, or the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity which derive their inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and Johns brother Charles Wesley were also significant leaders in the movement and it originated as a revival within the 18th century Church of England and became a separate Church after Wesleys death. Because of vigorous missionary work, the movement spread throughout the British Empire, Wesleys theology focused on sanctification and the effect of faith on the character of a Christian. Distinguishing Methodist doctrines include an assurance of salvation, imparted righteousness, the possibility of perfection in love, the works of piety and the primacy of Scripture. Most Methodists teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for all of humanity and that salvation is available for all, in theology and this teaching rejects the Calvinist position that God has pre-ordained the salvation of a select group of people. However, Whitefield and several others were considered Calvinistic Methodists and held to the latter position, Methodism emphasises charity and support for the sick, the poor and the afflicted through the works of mercy. These ideals are put into practice by the establishment of hospitals, orphanages, soup kitchens and schools to follow Christs command to spread the gospel, the movement has a wide variety of forms of worship, ranging from high church to low church in liturgical usage. Denominations that descend from the British Methodist tradition are generally less ritualistic, Methodism is known for its rich musical tradition and Charles Wesley was instrumental in writing much of the hymnody of the Methodist Church. In Britain, the Methodist Church had an effect in the early decades of the making of the working class. In the United States, it became the religion of many slaves who later formed black churches in the Methodist tradition. The Methodist revival began with a group of men, including John Wesley and his younger brother Charles, the Wesley brothers founded the Holy Club at the University of Oxford, where John was a fellow and later a lecturer at Lincoln College. The club met weekly and they set about living a holy life. They were accustomed to receiving Communion every week, fasting regularly, abstaining from most forms of amusement and luxury and frequently visited the sick, the fellowship were branded as Methodist by their fellow students because of the way they used rule and method to go about their religious affairs. John, who was leader of the club, took the attempted mockery, unsuccessful in their work, the brothers returned to England conscious of their lack of genuine Christian faith. They looked for help to Peter Boehler and other members of the Moravian Church, at a Moravian service in Aldersgate on 24 May 1738, John experienced what has come to be called his evangelical conversion, when he felt his heart strangely warmed. Charles had reported an experience an few days previously. Considered a pivotal moment, Daniel L. John Wesley came under the influence of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, Arminius had rejected the Calvinist teaching that God had pre-ordained an elect number of people to eternal bliss while others perished eternally. Conversely, George Whitefield, Howell Harris, and Selina Hastings, George Whitefield, returning from his own mission in Georgia, joined the Wesley brothers in what was rapidly to become a national crusade
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
Protestantism
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Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists
8.
Christian revival
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Revivalism is increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or society, with a local, national or global effect. This should be distinguished from the use of the revival to refer to an evangelistic meeting or series of meetings. Revivals are seen as the restoration of the church itself to a vital, Mass conversions of non-believers are viewed by church leaders as having positive moral effects. Within Christian studies the concept of revival is derived from biblical narratives of national decline, in particular, narrative accounts of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emphasise periods of national decline and revival associated with the rule of various righteous and wicked kings. Josiah is notable within this biblical narrative as a figure who reinstituted temple worship of Yahweh while destroying pagan worship, within modern Church history, church historians have identified and debated the effects of various national revivals within the history of the USA and other countries. During the 18th and 19th centuries American society experienced a number of Awakenings around the years 1727,1792,1830,1857 and 1882, the Bible narrative records a number of revivals within the history of the Israelites. In particular, following the development of temple worship based in Jerusalem the Bible records periods of decline and revival associated with the rule of righteous. Within this historical narrative the reign of Josiah epitomises the effect of revival on Israelite society in reinstituting temple worship of Yahweh and its character formed part of the mental framework that led to the American War of Independence and the Civil War. The philosophy of Earl of Shaftesbury III led to a Proto-Romanticism that mixed with Christian worship to produce a tertium quid, a similar revival in Scotland took place at Cambuslang, then a village and is known as the Cambuslang Work. It resulted from powerful preaching that deeply affected listeners with a sense of personal guilt. Pulling away from ancient ritual and ceremony, the Great Awakening made religion intensely emotive to the person by creating a deep sense of spiritual guilt. Historian Sydney E. Ahlstrom sees it as part of a great international Protestant upheaval that also created Pietism in Germany and it brought Christianity to the slaves and was an apocalyptic event in New England that challenged established authority. It had little impact on Anglicans and Quakers, unlike the Second Great Awakening that began about 1800 and which 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, the Hungarian Baptist church sprung out of revival with the perceived liberalism of the Hungarian reformed church during the late 1800s. Many thousands of people were baptized in a revival that was led primarily by uneducated laymen, special efforts were made to attract children and to generate literature to spread the revivalist message. Halévy suggested that a politically conservative Methodism forestalled revolution among the uneducated working class by redirecting its energies toward spiritual rather than temporal affairs. The thesis has engendered strong debate among historians, and several have adopted and modified Halévys thesis, some historians, such as Robert Wearmouth, suggest that evangelical revivalism directed working-class attention toward moral regeneration, not social radicalism. Others, including E. P. Thompson, claim that Methodism, some historians question the Halévy thesis
9.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
10.
Baptists
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Other tenets of Baptist churches include soul competency, salvation through faith alone, Scripture alone as the rule of faith and practice, and the autonomy of the local congregation. Baptists recognize two ministerial offices, elders and deacons, Baptist churches are widely considered to be Protestant churches, though some Baptists disavow this identity. Historians trace the earliest church labeled Baptist back to 1609 in Amsterdam, in accordance with his reading of the New Testament, he rejected baptism of infants and instituted baptism only of believing adults. Baptist practice spread to England, where the General Baptists considered Christs atonement to extend to all people, while the Particular Baptists believed that it extended only to the elect. Thomas Helwys formulated a distinctively Baptist request that the church and the state be kept separate in matters of law, Helwys died in prison as a consequence of the religious persecution of English dissenters under King James I. In 1638, Roger Williams established the first Baptist congregation in the North American colonies, in the mid-18th century, the First Great Awakening contributed to Baptist growth in both New England and the South. Baptist missionaries have spread their church to every continent, the largest Baptist denomination is the Southern Baptist Convention, with the membership of associated churches totaling more than 15 million. Modern Baptist churches trace their history to the English Separatist movement in the century after the rise of the original Protestant denominations and this view of Baptist origins has the most historical support and is the most widely accepted. Adherents to this position consider the influence of Anabaptists upon early Baptists to be minimal and it was a time of considerable political and religious turmoil. Both individuals and churches were willing to give up their theological roots if they became convinced that a more biblical truth had been discovered, during the Protestant Reformation, the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church. There were some Christians who were not content with the achievements of the mainstream Protestant Reformation, there also were Christians who were disappointed that the Church of England had not made corrections of what some considered to be errors and abuses. Of those most critical of the Churchs direction, some chose to stay and they became known as Puritans and are described by Gourley as cousins of the English Separatists. Others decided they must leave the Church because of their dissatisfaction, historians trace the earliest Baptist church back to 1609 in Amsterdam, with John Smyth as its pastor. Three years earlier, while a Fellow of Christs College, Cambridge, reared in the Church of England, he became Puritan, English Separatist, and then a Baptist Separatist, and ended his days working with the Mennonites. He began meeting in England with 60–70 English Separatists, in the face of great danger, Smyth and his lay supporter, Thomas Helwys, together with those they led, broke with the other English exiles because Smyth and Helwys were convinced they should be baptized as believers. In 1609 Smyth first baptized himself and then baptized the others, in 1609, while still there, Smyth wrote a tract titled The Character of the Beast, or The False Constitution of the Church. In it he expressed two propositions, first, infants are not to be baptized, and second, Antichristians converted are to be admitted into the true Church by baptism. Hence, his conviction was that a church should consist only of regenerate believers who have been baptized on a personal confession of faith
11.
Romanticism
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Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature, preferring the medieval rather than the classical. It was embodied most strongly in the arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on historiography, education. It elevated folk art and ancient custom to something noble, Romanticism assigned a high value to the achievements of heroic individualists and artists, whose examples, it maintained, would raise the quality of society. It also promoted the individual imagination as a critical authority allowed of freedom from classical notions of form in art, there was a strong recourse to historical and natural inevitability, a Zeitgeist, in the representation of its ideas. In the second half of the 19th century, Realism was offered as a polar opposite to Romanticism, the decline of Romanticism during this time was associated with multiple processes, including social and political changes and the spread of nationalism. Defining the nature of Romanticism may be approached from the point of the primary importance of the free expression of the feelings of the artist. The importance the Romantics placed on emotion is summed up in the remark of the German painter Caspar David Friedrich that the feeling is his law. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and others believed there were laws that the imagination—at least of a good creative artist—would unconsciously follow through artistic inspiration if left alone. As well as rules, the influence of models from other works was considered to impede the creators own imagination, so that originality was essential. The concept of the genius, or artist who was able to produce his own work through this process of creation from nothingness, is key to Romanticism. This idea is called romantic originality. Not essential to Romanticism, but so widespread as to be normative, was a strong belief, however, this is particularly in the effect of nature upon the artist when he is surrounded by it, preferably alone. Romantic art addressed its audiences with what was intended to be felt as the voice of the artist. So, in literature, much of romantic poetry invited the reader to identify the protagonists with the poets themselves. In both French and German the closeness of the adjective to roman, meaning the new literary form of the novel, had some effect on the sense of the word in those languages. It is only from the 1820s that Romanticism certainly knew itself by its name, the period typically called Romantic varies greatly between different countries and different artistic media or areas of thought. Margaret Drabble described it in literature as taking place roughly between 1770 and 1848, and few dates much earlier than 1770 will be found. In English literature, M. H. Abrams placed it between 1789, or 1798, this latter a very typical view, and about 1830, however, in most fields the Romantic Period is said to be over by about 1850, or earlier
12.
Deism
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Deism is a philosophical position which posits that a god does not interfere directly with the world. Deism gained prominence among intellectuals during the Age of Enlightenment, especially in Britain, France, Germany, included in those influenced by its ideas were leaders of the American and French Revolutions. These lead to many subdivisions of modern deism which tends, therefore, Deism is a theological theory concerning the relationship between the Creator and the natural world. Deistic viewpoints emerged during the revolution of 17th Century Europe. Deism stood between the narrow dogmatism of the period and skepticism, though deists rejected atheism, they often were called atheists by more traditional theists. There were a number of different forms in the 17th and 18th Centuries, in England, deism included a range of people from anti-Christian to non-Christian theists. See the section Features of deism, following, Deism is related to naturalism because it credits the formation of life and the universe to a higher power, using only natural processes. Deism may also include an element, involving experiences of God. The words deism and theism are both derived from words for god, the former from Latin deus, the latter from Greek theós, prior to the 17th Century the terms were used interchangeably with the terms theism and theist, respectively. Theologians and philosophers of the 17th Century began to give a different signification to the words, both asserted belief in one supreme God, the Creator. Perhaps the first use of the term deist is in Pierre Virets Instruction Chrétienne en la doctrine de la foi et de lÉvangile, Viret, a Calvinist, regarded deism as a new form of Italian heresy. I have heard there are of this band those who call themselves Deists, an entirely new word. In England, the term deist first appeared in Robert Burtons The Anatomy of Melancholy, Lord Herbert of Cherbury is generally considered the father of English Deism, and his book De Veritate the first major statement of deism. Deism flourished in England between 1690 and 1740, at which time Matthew Tindals Christianity as Old as the Creation, also called The Deists Bible, later deism spread to France, notably through the work of Voltaire, to Germany, and to the United States. The concept of deism covers a variety of positions on a wide variety of religious issues. Sir Leslie Stephens English Thought in the Eighteenth Century describes the core of deism as consisting of critical and constructional elements, critical elements of deist thought included, Rejection of religions that are based on books that claim to contain the revealed word of God. Rejection of religious dogma and demagogy, Skepticism of reports of miracles, prophecies and religious mysteries. Constructional elements of deist thought included, God exists and created the universe, God gave humans the ability to reason
13.
Age of Enlightenment
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The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe during the 18th century, The Century of Philosophy. In France, the doctrines of les Lumières were individual liberty and religious tolerance in opposition to an absolute monarchy. French historians traditionally place the Enlightenment between 1715, the year that Louis XIV died, and 1789, the beginning of the French Revolution, some recent historians begin the period in the 1620s, with the start of the scientific revolution. Les philosophes of the widely circulated their ideas through meetings at scientific academies, Masonic lodges, literary salons, coffee houses. The ideas of the Enlightenment undermined the authority of the monarchy and the Church, a variety of 19th-century movements, including liberalism and neo-classicism, trace their intellectual heritage back to the Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment was preceded by and closely associated with the scientific revolution, earlier philosophers whose work influenced the Enlightenment included Francis Bacon, René Descartes, John Locke, and Baruch Spinoza. The major figures of the Enlightenment included Cesare Beccaria, Voltaire, Denis Diderot, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin visited Europe repeatedly and contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence, others like James Madison incorporated them into the Constitution in 1787. The most influential publication of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie, the ideas of the Enlightenment played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in 1789. After the Revolution, the Enlightenment was followed by an intellectual movement known as Romanticism. René Descartes rationalist philosophy laid the foundation for enlightenment thinking and his attempt to construct the sciences on a secure metaphysical foundation was not as successful as his method of doubt applied in philosophic areas leading to a dualistic doctrine of mind and matter. His skepticism was refined by John Lockes 1690 Essay Concerning Human Understanding and his dualism was challenged by Spinozas uncompromising assertion of the unity of matter in his Tractatus and Ethics. Both lines of thought were opposed by a conservative Counter-Enlightenment. In the mid-18th century, Paris became the center of an explosion of philosophic and scientific activity challenging traditional doctrines, the political philosopher Montesquieu introduced the idea of a separation of powers in a government, a concept which was enthusiastically adopted by the authors of the United States Constitution. Francis Hutcheson, a philosopher, described the utilitarian and consequentialist principle that virtue is that which provides, in his words. Much of what is incorporated in the method and some modern attitudes towards the relationship between science and religion were developed by his protégés David Hume and Adam Smith. Hume became a figure in the skeptical philosophical and empiricist traditions of philosophy. Immanuel Kant tried to reconcile rationalism and religious belief, individual freedom and political authority, as well as map out a view of the sphere through private
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Millennialism
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Premillennialism, in Christian eschatology, is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the earth to gather His saints before the Millennium, a literal thousand-year golden age of peace. This return is referred to as the Second Coming, the doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration of the Millennium. For the last century, the belief has been common in Evangelicalism according to surveys on this topic, Premillennialism is based upon a literal interpretation of Revelation 20, 1–6 in the New Testament, which describes Jesus reign in a period of a thousand years. It views this future age as a time of fulfillment for the hope of Gods people as given in the Old Testament. Post-millennialism, for example, agrees with premillennialism about the future reign of Christ. Postmillennialists hold to the view that the second coming will happen after the millennium, historically Christian premillennialism has also been referred to as chiliasm or millenarianism. The current religious term premillennialism did not come into use until the mid-19th century, the concept of a temporary earthly messianic kingdom at the Messiahs coming was not an invention of Christianity. Instead it was an interpretation developed within the apocalyptic literature of early Judaism. In Judaism during the Christian intertestamental period, there was a distinction between the current age and the “age to come”. The “age to come” was commonly viewed as a nationalistic Golden Age in which the hopes of the prophets would become a reality for the nation of Israel, on the surface, the biblical prophets revealed an “age to come” which was monolithic. Seemingly the prophets did not write of a two-phase eschaton consisting of a messianic age followed by an eternal state. However, that was the concept that some Jewish interpreters did derive from their exegesis and their conclusions are found in some of the literature and theology of early Judaism within the centuries both before and during the development of the Christian New Testament. This work likely dates to the early 2nd century and shows a schematization of the divine history divided into ten periods of time called “weeks. ”In the apocalypse. However, after the week, the temporary earthly messianic age begins. After the temporary messianic kingdom, the creation of the new heavens, Second Esdras likely dates from soon after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70. The apocryphal book was apparently an attempt to explain the difficulties associated with the destruction of Jerusalem, during one of the visions in the book, Ezra receives a revelation from the angel Uriel. The angel explains that prior to the last judgment, the Messiah will come, seven days after this cataclysmic event, the resurrection and the judgment will occur followed by the eternal state. The Jewish belief in a temporary messianic age continued during
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Second Coming
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The Second Coming is a Christian concept regarding the future return of Jesus to Earth after his first coming and ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. The belief is based on messianic prophecies found in the gospels and is part of most Christian eschatologies. Views about the nature of Jesus Second Coming vary among Christian denominations, most English versions of the Nicene Creed include the following statements. he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Several different terms are used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ, In the New Testament, the Greek New Testament uses the Greek term parousia twenty-four times, seventeen of them concerning Christ. The word is used six times referring to individuals and one time referring to the coming of the lawless one. The etymology of the Greek word parousia is related to para beside ousia presence, in English parousia always has a special, Christian meaning. The Bauer-Danker Lexicon provides the definition. of Christ, and nearly always of his Messianic Advent in glory to judge the world at the end of this age. The Catholic Encyclopedia article on the General judgment states, In the New Testament the second Parousia, the Saviour Himself not only foretells the event but graphically portrays its circumstances. The Apostles give a most prominent place to this doctrine in their preaching, besides the name Parusia, or Advent, the second coming is also called Epiphany, epiphaneia, or Appearance and Apocalypse, or Revelation. The time of the second coming is spoken of as that Day the day of the Lord, the day of Christ, the day of the Son of Man, and the last day. Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared, from this we know that it is the last hour. The position associating the Second Coming with 1st century events such as the destruction of Jerusalem, some Preterists see this coming of the Son of Man in glory primarily fulfilled in Jesus death on the cross. They believe the signs are already fulfilled including the sun will be dark. Will be shaken, and then they will see, moreover, Jesus was reported to have told his disciples, Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Some, such as Jerome, interpret the phrase this generation to mean in the lifetime of the Jewish race, however, other scholars believe that if Jesus meant race he would have used genos not genea. Most English versions of the Nicene Creed in current use include the statements about Jesus. he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come
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Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
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Puritans
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Puritanism in this sense was founded as an activist movement within the Church of England. The founders, clergy exiled under Mary I, returned to England shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, Puritanism played a significant role in English history during the first half of the 17th century. One of the most effective stokers of anti-Catholic feeling was John Pym, Puritans were blocked from changing the established church from within and were severely restricted in England by laws controlling the practice of religion. They took on distinctive beliefs about clerical dress and in opposition to the episcopal system and they largely adopted Sabbatarianism in the 17th century, and were influenced by millennialism. Consequently, they became a political force in England and came to power as a result of the First English Civil War. Almost all Puritan clergy left the Church of England after the Restoration of 1660, the nature of the movement in England changed radically, although it retained its character for a much longer period in New England. Puritans by definition were dissatisfied with the extent of the English Reformation. They formed and identified with various groups advocating greater purity of worship and doctrine, as well as personal. Puritans adopted a Reformed theology and, in sense, were Calvinists. In church polity, some advocated separation from all other established Christian denominations in favor of autonomous gathered churches. The Puritans were never a formally defined sect or religious division within Protestantism, the Congregationalist tradition, widely considered to be a part of the Reformed tradition, claims descent from the Puritans. Historically, the word Puritan was considered a term that characterized Protestant groups as extremists. According to Thomas Fuller in his Church History, the dates to 1564. Archbishop Matthew Parker of that used it and precisian with the sense of the modern stickler. In modern times, the word puritan is often used to mean against pleasure, in this sense, the term Puritan was coined in the 1560s, when it first appeared as a term of abuse for those who found the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559 inadequate. The term Puritan, therefore, was not intended to refer to strict morality, a common modern misunderstanding, the word Puritan was applied unevenly to a number of Protestant churches from the late 16th century onwards. Puritans did not originally use the term for themselves, the practitioners knew themselves as members of particular churches or movements, and not by a single term. Precise men and Precisians were other early derogatory terms for Puritans, seventeenth century English Puritan preacher Thomas Watson used the godly to describe Puritans in the title of one of his more famous works The Godly Mans Picture
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Anabaptism
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Anabaptism is a Christian movement which traces its origins to the Radical Reformation in Europe. Traditionally this movement is seen as an offshoot of European Protestantism, Anabaptists are Christians who believe that baptism is only valid when the candidate confesses his or her faith in Christ and wants to be baptized. This believers baptism is opposed to baptism of infants, who are not able to make a decision to be baptized. Anabaptists are those who are in a line with the early Anabaptists of the 16th century. Other Christian groups, like Baptists, who practice believers baptism but have different roots, are not seen as Anabaptist. The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are direct descendants of the early Anabaptist movement, schwarzenau Brethren, Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are considered later developments among the Anabaptists. The name Anabaptist means one who baptizes again and their persecutors named them this, referring to the practice of baptizing persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ, even if they had been baptized as infants. Anabaptists required that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen, the early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed believers was their first true baptism, but the right baptism of Christ, which is preceded by teaching and oral confession of faith, I teach, and say that infant baptism is a robbery of the right baptism of Christ. Anabaptists were persecuted largely because of their interpretation of scripture that put them at odds with official state church interpretations, most Anabaptists adhered to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount, which precluded taking oaths, participating in military actions, and participating in civil government. Some groups that are now extinct, who practised rebaptism, however, felt otherwise and they were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites and some historians tend to consider them as being outside of true Anabaptism. Conrad Grebel wrote in a letter to Thomas Müntzer in 1524, True Christian believers are sheep among wolves, Neither do they use worldly sword or war, since all killing has ceased with them. For instance, Petr Chelčický, a 15th-century Bohemian reformer, taught most of the beliefs considered integral to Anabaptist theology, medieval antecedents may include the Brethren of the Common Life, the Hussites, Dutch Sacramentists, and some forms of monasticism. The Waldensians also represent a similar to the Anabaptists. The believer must not bear arms or offer forcible resistance to wrongdoers, no Christian has the jus gladii. Matthew 5,39 Civil government belongs to the world, the believer belongs to Gods kingdom, so must not fill any office nor hold any rank under government, which is to be passively obeyed. But no force is to be used towards them, on December 27,1521, three prophets appeared in Wittenberg from Zwickau who were influenced by Thomas Müntzer—Thomas Dreschel, Nicholas Storch, and Mark Thomas Stübner. They preached an apocalyptic, radical alternative to Lutheranism and their preaching helped to stir the feelings concerning the social crisis which erupted in the German Peasants War in southern Germany in 1525 as a revolt against feudal oppression
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Universal priesthood
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The exact meaning of this belief and its implications vary widely among denominations. The universal priesthood is a concept of Protestantism. In this way we are all priests, as many of us as are Christians, there are indeed priests whom we call ministers. They are chosen from among us, and who do everything in our name and that is a priesthood which is nothing else than the Ministry. Thus 1 Corinthians 4,1, No one should regard us as anything else than ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God. The Bible passage considered to be the basis of belief is the First Epistle of Peter,2,9, But you are not like that. You are royal priests, a nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, other relevant Scripture passages include Exodus 19, 5–6, First Peter 2, 4–8, Book of Revelation 1, 4–6,5, 6–10, and the Epistle to the Hebrews. In ancient Israel, priests acted as mediators between God and people and they ministered according to Gods instruction and they offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. Once a year, the high priest would enter the holiest part of the temple and offer a sacrifice for the sins of all the people, including all the priests. Although many religions use priests, most Protestant faiths reject the idea of a priesthood as a group that is distinct from lay people. They typically employ professional clergy who perform many of the functions as priests such as clarifying doctrine, administering communion, performing baptisms, marriages. In many instances, Protestants see professional clergy as servants acting on behalf of the local believers and this is in contrast to the priest, whom some Protestants see as having a distinct authority and spiritual role different from that of ordinary believers. Most Protestants today recognize only Christ as a mediator between themselves and God, the Epistle to the Hebrews calls Jesus the supreme high priest, who offered himself as a perfect sacrifice. Protestants believe that through Christ they have given direct access to God, just like a priest. God is equally accessible to all the faithful, and every Christian has equal potential to minister for God and this doctrine stands in opposition to the concept of a spiritual aristocracy or hierarchy within Christianity. The belief in the priesthood of all believers does not preclude order, for example, Lutheranism maintains the biblical doctrine of the preaching office or the office of the holy ministry established by God in the Christian Church. To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel, through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel
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Sola scriptura
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Sola scriptura is a Christian theological doctrine which holds that the Christian Scriptures are the sole infallible rule of faith and practice. However, sola scriptura rejects any original infallible authority other than the Bible, in this view, all secondary authority is derived from the authority of the Scriptures and is therefore subject to reform when compared to the teaching of the Bible. Sola scriptura is a principle of many Protestant Christian denominations. The Catholic Church regards the Apostolic preaching and writing as equal since both came from the Apostles, the Catholic Church describe this as one common source. With two distinct modes of transmission, while some Protestant authors call it a source of revelation. Sola scriptura is one of the five solas, considered by some Protestant groups to be the pillars of the Reformation. Luther said, a simple layman armed with Scripture is greater than the mightiest pope without it, the intention of the Reformation was to correct what he asserted to be the errors of the Catholic Church by appeal to the uniqueness of the Bibles textual authority. Catholic doctrine is based in Church tradition, as well as Scripture, Sola scriptura meant rejecting the infallible authority given to the Magisterium to interpret both Scripture and Church tradition. Sola scriptura, however, does not ignore Christian history, tradition, rather, it sees the church as the Bibles interpreter, the regula fidei as the interpretive context, and Scripture as the only final authority in matters of faith and practice. As Luther said, The true rule is this, Gods Word shall establish articles of faith, Lutheranism teaches that the Bible of the Old and New Testaments is the only divinely inspired book and the only source of divinely revealed knowledge. Scripture alone is the principle of the faith in Lutheranism, the final authority for all matters of faith and morals because of its inspiration, authority, clarity, efficacy. Lutheranism teaches that the Bible does not merely contain the Word of God, but every word of it is, because of verbal inspiration, as Lutherans confess in the Nicene Creed, the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession identifies Holy Scripture with the Word of God, a mistranslation is not Gods word, and no human authority can invest it with divine authority. Holy Scripture, the Word of God, carries the authority of God in Lutheranism, every single statement of the Bible calls for instant. Every doctrine of the Bible is the teaching of God and therefore requires full agreement, every promise of the Bible calls for unshakable trust in its fulfillment, every command of the Bible is the directive of God himself and therefore demands willing observance. It also teaches that readers must understand the language Gods Word is presented in and it teaches that, consequently, no one needs to wait for any clergy, and pope, scholar, or ecumenical council to explain the real meaning of any part of the Bible. Lutheranism teaches that Scripture is united with the power of the Holy Spirit and with it, not only demands and this teaching produces faith and obedience. Holy Scripture is not a letter, but rather, the power of the Holy Spirit is inherent in it
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John Smyth (Baptist minister)
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John Smyth was an early Baptist minister of England and a defender of the principle of religious liberty. Historians consider John Smyth a founder of the Baptist churches, Smyth is thought to have been the son of John Smyth, a yeoman of Sturton-le-Steeple, Nottinghamshire. He was educated locally at the school in Gainsborough and in Christs College, Cambridge. Smyth was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1594 in England and he preached in the city of Lincoln in 1600 to 1602. Soon after his ordination, he broke with the Church of England and left for Holland where he, in 1609, Smyth, along with a group in Holland, came to believe in believers baptism and they came together to form one of the earliest Baptist churches. Baptists believe that baptism is a sign of obedience to God, likewise, baptism according to the Bible does not save one from sin, but is a believers identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is why Baptists reject the notion of infant baptism, because baptism follows, in the beginning, Smyth was closely aligned with his Anglican heritage. As time passed, his views evolved, first, Smyth insisted that true worship was from the heart and that any form of reading from a book in worship was an invention of sinful man. This rejection of liturgy remains strong among many Baptists still today, prayer, singing and preaching had to be completely spontaneous. This idea stemmed from the belief that worship should be ordered by the Spirit, second, Smyth introduced a twofold church leadership, that of pastor and deacon. This was in contrast to the Anglican traditional hierarchy of bishop, priest, and deacon, and the Reformed Protestant trifold leadership of Pastor-Elder, Lay-Elders, third, with his newfound position on baptism, a whole new concern arose for these Baptists. Having been baptized as infants, like the Anabaptists of the Radical Reformation they came to believe they would need to be re-baptized, since there was no other minister to administer baptism, Smyth baptized himself and then proceeded to baptize his flock. It was so dark we were obliged to have torch lights, elder Brewster prayed, Mister Smith made a good confession, walked to Epworth in his cold clothes, but received no harm. The distance was two miles. All of our friends were present, to the triune God be praise. However this account was revealed to have been a forgery connected with the rebuilding of the Baptist Church at Crowle. Before his death, Smyth regretted the fact that he baptized himself, due to some shared views, including the Christology, he began a rapprochement with the Mennonite church. This resulted in his excommunication from the church by Thomas Helwys, Smyth and part of the church joined a Mennonite church, while Helwys and another part of the church returned to England to found the first permanent Baptist church in 1611
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Thomas Helwys
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Thomas Helwys, an Englishman, was one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the General Baptist denomination. Thomas Helwys was an advocate of liberty at a time when to hold to such views could be dangerous. He died in prison as a consequence of the persecution of Protestant dissenters under King James I. Not a great deal of detail is known about Thomas Helwys early life and he was the second son of Edmund and Margaret Helwys who were descendants of an old Norman family which had significant holdings in Lincoln, Northampton, Nottingham, and York. Edmund had sold his land in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire and had taken a lease on Broxtowe Hall in Bilborough parish, Helwys family was on the rise in London. Geoffrey Helwys, his uncle, was a merchant, an alderman. His cousin, Gervase, was knighted by King James before becoming lieutenant of the Tower of London, after completing his studies at Grays Inn in 1593, Thomas himself spent some time in the capital. Thomas married Joan Ashmore at St, Martins Church, Bilborough and they had seven children over the next twelve years and lived at Broxtowe Hall. At some point, Thomas Helwys developed a bond with dissenter John Smyth and he and his wife became committed members of Smyths separatist congregation in Gainsborough. The sixty or seventy Separatists in Gainsborough were allowed to meet in secret in Gainsborough Old Hall by the Halls sympathetic owner Sir William Hickman, inevitably, the Church authorities were unable to tolerate any significant degree of puritan independence. In 1607, the High Court of Ecclesiastical Commission resolved to clamp down on the Gainsborough and Scrooby dissenters. Sometime later in the winter of 1607/08, Helwys, John Smyth, Protestant dissenters in England still faced being burnt at the stake for Heresy. On 11 April 1611 Anabaptist Edward Wightman became the last religious martyr to be burnt, assuming their safety, Helwys allowed his family to remain in England. Unfortunately, his wife was arrested and, after refusing to take the oath in court. It is likely that she was banished after three months in prison and it was in the Dutch Republic that a distinctive Baptist faith first emerged amongst the English émigrés. John Smyth became convinced that baptism should be for Christian believers only, however, at the same time as Smyth started to embrace Mennonite doctrines, Helwys and a dozen or so others began to formulate the earliest Baptist confessions of faith. This confession became the articles in A Declaration of Faith of English People Remaining at Amsterdam in Holland. For Helwys, religious liberty was a right for everyone, even for those he disagreed with, despite the obvious risks involved, Helwys and twelve Baptist émigrés returned to England to speak out against religious persecution
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Roger Williams
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Williams was the 1638 founder of the First Baptist Church in America, also known as the First Baptist Church of Providence. He is best remembered as the originator of the principle of separation of church and his father James Williams was a merchant tailor in Smithfield, his mother was Alice Pemberton. At an early age, Williams had a conversion of which his father disapproved. As a teen, Williams was apprenticed under Sir Edward Coke, under Cokes patronage, Williams was educated at Charterhouse and also at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He seemed to have a gift for languages and early acquired familiarity with Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Dutch, years later, Williams tutored John Milton in Dutch in exchange for refresher lessons in Hebrew. Williams took holy orders in the Church of England in connection with his studies, after graduating from Cambridge, Williams became the chaplain to Puritan gentleman Sir William Masham. Williams married Mary Barnard on December 15,1629 at the Church of High Laver, Essex and they ultimately had six children, all born in America, Mary, Freeborn, Providence, Mercy, Daniel, and Joseph. Williams knew that Puritan leaders planned to migrate to the New World and he did not join the first wave, but he decided before the year ended that he could not remain in England under Archbishop William Lauds rigorous administration. Williams regarded the Church of England as corrupt and false, by the time that he and his wife boarded the Lyon in early December, however, Williams declined the position on grounds that it was an unseparated church. In addition, Williams asserted that civil magistrates must not punish any sort of breach of the first table, and these three principles became central to Williams subsequent career, separatism, freedom of religion, and separation of state and church. As a separatist, Williams considered the Church of England irredeemably corrupt and his search for the true church eventually carried him out of Congregationalism, the Baptists, and any visible church. From 1639 forward, Williams waited for Christ to send a new apostle to reestablish the church, years later in 1802, Thomas Jefferson used the wall of separation phrase in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, echoing Roger Williams. Meanwhile, the Salem church was more inclined to Separatism. When the leaders in Boston learned of this, they vigorously protested, as the summer of 1631 ended, Williams moved to Plymouth colony where he was welcomed, and informally assisted the minister there. He regularly preached and, according to Governor Bradford, his teachings were well approved, after a time, Williams decided that the Plymouth church was not sufficiently separated from the Church of England. Furthermore, his contact with Native Americans had caused him to doubt the validity of the colonial charters, Governor Bradford later wrote that Williams fell into some strange opinions which caused some controversy between the church and him. In December 1632, Williams wrote a tract that openly condemned the Kings charters. He even charged that King James had uttered a lie in claiming that he was the first Christian monarch to have discovered the land
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John Clarke (Baptist minister)
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Clarke was born in Westhorpe, Suffolk, England. He received an education, including a masters degree in England followed by medical training in Leiden. He arrived in Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 during the Antinomian Controversy and he became a co-founder of Portsmouth and Newport, Rhode Island, and he established the second Baptist Church in America in Newport. Baptists were considered heretics and were banned from Massachusetts, but Clarke wanted to make inroads there, following his poor treatment in prison, he went to England where he published a book on the persecutions of the Baptists in Massachusetts and on his theological beliefs. The fledgling Rhode Island colony needed an agent in England, so he remained there for more than a decade handling the colonys interests, all of the other New England colonies were hostile to Rhode Island, and both Massachusetts and Connecticut had made incursions into Rhode Island territory. After the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, it was imperative that Rhode Island receive a charter to protect its territorial integrity. It was Clarkes role to obtain such a document, and he saw this as an opportunity to include religious freedoms never seen before in any constitutional charter and he wrote ten petitions and letters to King Charles II and negotiated for months with Connecticut over territorial boundaries. Finally, he drafted the Rhode Island Royal Charter and presented it to the king and this charter granted unprecedented freedom and religious liberty to Rhode Islanders and remained in effect for 180 years, making it the longest-lasting constitutional charter in history. Clarke returned to Rhode Island following his success at procuring a charter, he became active in civil affairs there. He left an extensive will, setting up the first educational trust in America and he was an avid proponent of the notion of soul-liberty that was included in the Rhode Island charter—and later in the United States Constitution. John Clarke was born at Westhorpe in the county of Suffolk, England and baptized there on 8 October 1609 and he was one of seven children, six of whom left England and settled in New England. No definitive record has been found concerning his life in England, other than the records of his baptism. Clarke was apparently highly educated, judging from the fact that he arrived in New England at the age of 28 qualified as both a physician and a Baptist minister, the difficulty with tracing Clarkes existence in England stems largely from his very common name. Another clue to his education comes from a catalog of students from Leiden University in Holland, the schools ledger of graduates includes, in Latin, Johannes Clarcq, Anglus,17 July 1635-273. It is apparent that Clarke earned a degree from the concordance that he wrote. Clarke arrived in Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in November 1637, when he arrived, the colony was in the midst of a major theological and political crisis, usually referred to as the Antinomian Controversy. Members of the Boston Church could sense a difference in the preaching between the original pastor, John Wilson, and that of their second pastor, John Cotton. Anne Hutchinson, a theologically astute midwife who had the ear of many of the women, became outspoken during gatherings, or conventicles
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John Bunyan
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John Bunyan was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrims Progress. In addition to The Pilgrims Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, Bunyan came from the village of Elstow, near Bedford. He had some schooling and at the age of sixteen joined the Parliamentary army during the first stage of the English Civil War, after three years in the army he returned to Elstow and took up the trade of tinker, which he had learned from his father. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in Bedford. After the restoration of the monarch, when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested, Bunyans later years, in spite of another shorter term of imprisonment, were spent in relative comfort as a popular author and preacher, and pastor of the Bedford Meeting. He died aged 59 after falling ill on a journey to London and is buried in Bunhill Fields, the Pilgrims Progress became one of the most published books in the English language,1,300 editions having been printed by 1938,250 years after the authors death. He is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, Some other churches of the Anglican Communion, such as the Anglican Church of Australia, honour him on the day of his death. John Bunyan was born in 1628 to Thomas and Margaret Bunyan at Bunyans End in the parish of Elstow, Bunyans End is located about halfway between the hamlet of Harrowden and Elstow High Street. Bunyans date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 30 November 1628, the name Bunyan was spelt in many different ways and had its origins in the Norman-French name Buignon. There had been Bunyans in north Bedfordshire since at least 1199, Bunyans father was a brazier or tinker who travelled around the area mending pots and pans, and his grandfather had been a chapman or small trader. As a child Bunyan learned his fathers trade of tinker and was given some rudimentary schooling, in the summer of 1644 Bunyan lost both his mother and his sister Margaret. That autumn, shortly before or after his birthday, Bunyan enlisted in the Parliamentary army when an edict demanded 225 recruits from the town of Bedford. There are few details available about his service, which took place during the first stage of the English Civil War. A muster roll for the garrison of Newport Pagnell shows him as private John Bunnian, Bunyan spent nearly three years in the army, leaving in 1647 to return to Elstow and his trade as a tinker. His father had remarried and had children and Bunyan moved from Bunyans End to a cottage in Elstow High Street. Within two years of leaving the army, Bunyan married and he also recalled that, apart from these two books, the newly-weds possessed little, not having so much household-stuff as a Dish or a Spoon betwixt us both. The couples first daughter, Mary, was born in 1650 and they would have three more children, Elizabeth, Thomas and John. By his own account, Bunyan had as a youth enjoyed bell-ringing, dancing and playing games including on Sunday, thought by many to be the Sabbath, one Sunday the vicar of Elstow preached a sermon against Sabbath breaking, and Bunyan took this sermon to heart
26.
Shubal Stearns
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Shubal Stearns, was a colonial evangelist and preacher during the Great Awakening. He converted after hearing George Whitefield and planted a Baptist Church in Sandy Creek, Guilford County, Stearns highly successful ministry was related to the rise and expansion of the Separate Baptists — especially in much the American South. The Baptist faith today is held by the majority of people in the South. His family were members of the Congregational church in Tolland, Connecticut, Whitefield preached that, instead of trying to reform the Congregational church over doctrinal issues, members needed to separate from it, hence his followers were called the New-Lights. Stearns was converted, became a preacher, and adopted the Great Awakenings view of revival and conversion. The New Lights also came to be called the Separates, in part because they pointed to 2 Cor.6,17 be ye separate, ie, Stearns church became involved in the controversy over the proper subjects of baptism in 1751. Soon, Stearns rejected infant baptism and sought baptism at the hands of Wait Palmer, Baptist minister of Stonington, by March, Shubal Stearns was ordained into the Baptist ministry by Palmer and Joshua Morse, the pastor of New London, Connecticut. His church of Separates, by becoming Baptists, were then on to be known as the Separate Baptists. In 1754, Stearns and some of his followers moved south to Opequon, Virginia, here he joined Daniel Marshall and wife Martha, who were already active in a Baptist church there. On November 22,1755, Stearns and his party moved south to Sandy Creek, in Guilford County. This party consisted of eight men and their wives, mostly relatives of Stearns and he pastored at Sandy Creek until his death. From there, Separate Baptists spread in the South, the church quickly grew from 16 members to 606. Church members moved to areas and started other churches. The Sandy Creek Association was formed in 1758, based on the testimony of those who remembered him, Edwards described Stearns as fervent and charismatic preacher who was capable of inspiring the most powerful emotions in his congregation. None of Stearns sermons has survived in writing and his central theme was recounted as discussing the need for followers of Christ to be born again from within. At first churchgoers in North Carolina found this a difficult concept, who never thought of their religion as anything more than external. But, Stearns style of preaching and emphasis on internal conversion were highly important to Southern religion and he became the model for many other preachers who sought to copy his example, down to the least gesture or inflection of voice. Stearns was married to Sarah Johnson, but they never had children, john Sparks, The Roots of Appalachian Christianity, the Life and Legacy of Elder Shubal Stearns
27.
Andrew Fuller
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Andrew Fuller was an English Particular Baptist minister and theologian. Known as a promoter of missionary work, he took part in theological controversy. Fuller was born in Wicken, Cambridgeshire, and settled at Kettering, during his life, Fuller pastored two congregations — Soham and Kettering, which is now the Fuller Baptist Church, He died on 7 May 1815 at Kettering. Fuller is best known in connection with the foundation of the Baptist Missionary Society and his work in promoting the missionary enterprises of the Baptist church began about 1784. The Baptist Missionary Society was formed at Kettering in 1792, William Carey, impressed by Fullers work The Gospel Worthy of all Acceptation, became the first missionary. Fuller took on the work at home, Fuller, a Particular Baptist, was a controversialist in defence of the governmental theory of the atonement against hyper-Calvinism on the one hand and Socinianism and Sandemanianism on the other. Abraham Booth accused him of giving up true Calvinism, Fuller debated theology with the General Baptist Dan Taylor, but they remained on good terms. His book The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation,1785, restated Calvinist theology for Baptists influenced by the Evangelical Revival and his Doctorate of Divinity was bestowed by Brown University, Rhode Island. Fuller wrote, The Gospel worthy of all acceptation, or the Obligations of Men fully to credit, the Calvinistic and Socinian Systems examined and compared as to their Moral Tendency,1794,1796,1802. The Gospel its own Witness, or the Holy Nature and Divine Harmony of the Christian Religion contrasted with the Immorality and Absurdity of Deism, an Apology for the late Christian Missions to India. Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel Pearce, A. M. of Birmingham,1800, expository Discourses on Genesis,2 vols. Expository Discourses on the Apocalypse,1815, Fuller also wrote pamphlets, sermons, and essays. John Ryland, in his Life of Fuller, enumerated 167 articles that Fuller had contributed, editions of his Complete Works appeared in 1838,1840,1845,1852, and 1853. Joseph Belcher edited an edition in three volumes for the Baptist Publication Society of Philadelphia, and his publications were issued with a memoir by his son in Bohns Standard Library,1852. Deathless Sermon Strict Baptist Reformed Baptist Brackney, William H, a Genetic History of Baptist Thought, With Special Reference to Baptists in Britain and North America. Macon, GA, Mercer University Press,2004, oliver, Robert, History of the English Calvinistic Baptists 1771 -1892, Banner of Truth, ISBN 0-85151-920-2 Piper, John. Andrew Fuller, Holy faith, worthy Gospel, world mission and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Wood, James, ed. Fuller, Andrew. London and New York, Frederick Warne, Andrew Fuller Project — is preparing a modern critical edition of The Works of Andrew Fuller
28.
Charles Spurgeon
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Charles Haddon Spurgeon was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, among whom he is known as the Prince of Preachers and he also famously denied being a Protestant, and held to the view of Baptist Successionism. Spurgeon was the pastor of the congregation of the New Park Street Chapel in London for 38 years and he was part of several controversies with the Baptist Union of Great Britain and later he left the denomination over doctrinal convictions. In 1867, he started a charity organisation which is now called Spurgeons and he also founded Spurgeons College, which was named after him posthumously. Spurgeon was an author of many types of works including sermons, an autobiography, commentaries, books on prayer, devotionals, magazines, poetry, hymns. Many sermons were transcribed as he spoke and were translated into many languages during his lifetime, Spurgeon produced powerful sermons of penetrating thought and precise exposition. His oratory skills held his listeners spellbound in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, born in Kelvedon, Essex, Spurgeons conversion from nominal Anglicanism came on 6 January 1850, at age 15. The text that moved him was Isaiah 45,22 – Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, later that year on 4 April 1850, he was admitted to the church at Newmarket. His baptism followed on 3 May in the river Lark, at Isleham, later that same year he moved to Cambridge, where he later became a Sunday school teacher. He preached his first sermon in the winter of 1850–51 in a cottage at Teversham while filling in for a friend, from the beginning of his ministry his style and ability were considered to be far above average. In the same year, he was installed as pastor of the small Baptist church at Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, where he published his first literary work and this was the largest Baptist congregation in London at the time, although it had dwindled in numbers for several years. Within a few months of Spurgeons arrival at Park Street, his ability as a preacher made him famous, the following year the first of his sermons in the New Park Street Pulpit was published. Spurgeons sermons were published in printed form every week and had a high circulation, by the time of his death in 1892, he had preached nearly 3,600 sermons and published 49 volumes of commentaries, sayings, anecdotes, illustrations and devotions. Immediately following his fame was criticism, the first attack in the press appeared in the Earthen Vessel in January 1855. His preaching, although not revolutionary in substance, was a plain-spoken and direct appeal to the people, critical attacks from the media persisted throughout his life. The congregation quickly outgrew their building, and moved to Exeter Hall, in these venues Spurgeon frequently preached to audiences numbering more than 10,000. At 22, Spurgeon was the most popular preacher of the day, on 8 January 1856, Spurgeon married Susannah, daughter of Robert Thompson of Falcon Square, London, by whom he had twin sons, Charles and Thomas born on 20 September 1856. At the end of year, tragedy struck on 19 October 1856
29.
James Robinson Graves
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James Robinson Graves was an American Baptist preacher, publisher, evangelist, debater, author, and editor. He was born in Chester, Vermont, the son of Z. C, Graves, and died in Memphis, Tennessee. His remains are interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, though raised in a Congregationalist family, Graves joined a Baptist church at age 15. Contemporary fellow ministers in the Southern Baptist Convention praised his preaching abilities, thomas Treadwell Eaton wrote, We have seen him hold a congregation packed uncomfortably, for three hours and a half without any sign of weariness on their part. This was not done once or twice, but scores of times, denominational leader J. B. Gambrell described one of Graves sermons at a small church in Mississippi as The Greatest Sermon I Ever Heard. Scholars have recognized Graves as an early and chief promulgator of the Landmark movement, the subjects Nashville publishing house, Graves, Marks, & Co, which later became South-Western Publishing, published all of fellow Landmarker Amos Cooper Daytons books. Both were expelled as schismatics between 1858 and 1859 from the Nashville First Baptist Church due to their theological perspectives on their apostolic connection, the Work of Christ in Seven Dispensations Intercommunion Inconsistent, Unscriptural, and Productive of Evil What Is It To Eat and Drink Unworthily. Johns Baptism, Was It From Moses or Christ, sketches of Tennessees Pioneer Baptist Preachers George, Timothy, Baptist theologians Hailey, O. L. J. R. Graves, life, times and teachings Patterson, James A.2012. James Robinson Graves, Staking the Boundaries of Baptist Identity, works by or about James Robinson Graves at Internet Archive
30.
William Bullein Johnson
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William Bullein Johnson was one of the founders of the South Carolina State Baptist Convention in 1821, and later was the first president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1845 to 1851. Johnson was born on 13 June 1782 on Johns Island, South Carolina, near Charleston and was educated at home in Georgetown, South Carolina by his mother and by private tutors. His mother was of the Particular Baptist faith, believing that the work of Christ only applied to those who were saved. As a child he met President George Washington and Dr. Richard Furman, pastor of the First Baptist Church Charleston and he attended Brown University, receiving a degree in 1804. He had intended to become a lawyer, but was converted during a Baptist revival in 1804 and he married Henrietta Hornby in 1803. One of their eight children who reached maturity, Francis C, Johnson, became a Southern Baptist missionary to China in 1846. After preaching in churches from 1804 to 1806, Johnson was appointed pastor of the Baptist church at Euhaw near Beaufort. In October 1809 he baptized five new converts in the Congaree River in Columbia, in 1810 he was invited to become chaplain of South Carolina College, Columbia. In 1811 he accepted an offer to pastor of the Baptist church in Savannah. He was one of the framers of the constitution of this convention, Johnson was one of nine men who formed the South Carolina State Baptist Convention in 1821. He succeeded Richard Furman as president of the convention and served from 1825 to 1852, in 1830 he moved to Edgefield to become principal of Edgefield Female Academy and pastor of Edgefield Baptist Church. Johnson became the last southern president of the General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United States of America for Foreign Missions between 1841 and 1844. In this role he helped found the Furman University, which became Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1859, based in Greenville, towards the end of his life he was chancellor of Johnson University, Anderson, South Carolina. The period between the American Revolution and the Civil War marks a period of increase in the number of institutions providing higher education. In noting the part Baptists played in the movement, historian J. Bradley Creed called it an industry due to the number of Baptist institutions established during the period. W. B. Johnson was among the Baptist leaders in the expansion and his vision for Baptist higher education went further than the more conventional schools of the time, his dream was such a school for women. The earliest schools for women were called seminaries and were places where they were trained as teachers, few of these schools existed when Johnson Female Seminary was founded in Anderson, South Carolina in 1848. Later known as Johnson University, the institution did not survive Johnsons death, the legacy of Johnson University continued, however
31.
William Carey (missionary)
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William Carey was a British Christian missionary, Particular Baptist minister, translator, social reformer and cultural anthropologist. He went to Kolkata in 1793, but was forced to leave the British Indian territory by non-Baptist Christian missionaries and he joined the Baptist missionaries in the Danish colony of Frederiksnagar in India. One of his first contributions was to start schools for impoverished children where they were reading, writing, accounting. He opened the first theological university in Serampore offering divinity degrees, Carey is known as the father of modern missions. His essay, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, led to the founding of the Baptist Missionary Society. ”He translated the Hindu classic the Ramayana into English, and the Bible into Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Arabic, Marathi, Hindi and Sanskrit. William Carey has been called a reformer and illustrious Christian missionary, as well as an ideologue with prejudice, hyperbole. William Carey, the oldest of five children, was born to Edmund and Elizabeth Carey, William was raised in the Church of England, when he was six, his father was appointed the parish clerk and village schoolmaster. As a child he was naturally inquisitive and keenly interested in the natural sciences and he possessed a natural gift for language, teaching himself Latin. At the age of 14, Careys father apprenticed him to a cordwainer in the village of Piddington. His master, Clarke Nichols, was a churchman like himself, through his influence Carey would eventually leave the Church of England and join with other Dissenters to form a small Congregational church in nearby Hackleton. While apprenticed to Nichols, he taught himself Greek with the help of a local villager who had a college education. When Nichols died in 1779, Carey went to work for the local shoemaker, Thomas Old, he married Olds sister-in-law Dorothy Plackett in 1781 in the Church of St. John the Baptist, Piddington. Unlike William, Dorothy was illiterate, her signature in the register is a crude cross. William and Dorothy Carey had seven children, five sons and two daughters, both died in infancy, as well as son Peter, who died at the age of 5. Thomas Old himself died soon afterward, and Carey took over his business, during which time he taught himself Hebrew, Italian, Dutch, Carey acknowledged his humble origins and referred to himself as a cobbler. However, the community often knew him by the higher status of a shoemaker. John Brown Myers entitled his biography of Carey William Carey the Shoemaker Who Became the Father and Founder of Modern Missions and they invited him to preach in their church in the nearby village of Earls Barton every other Sunday. On 5 October 1783, William Carey was baptised by Ryland, in 1785, Carey was appointed the schoolmaster for the village of Moulton
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Luther Rice
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He also raised funds to establish The Columbian College in Washington, DC. Luther Rice was born March 25,1783 in Northborough, Massachusetts to Amos Rice and Sarah Rice. As a young man at Williams College he became part of a group of young ministers and he sailed to Calcutta, India on 18 February 1812 with Adoniram Judson as a Congregationalist missionary and met with English Baptist missionary William Carey. However, after both Rice and Judson became Baptists, Rice returned to America to break ties with the Congregationalists and he spent the rest of his life garnering support for missionaries and Baptist work, traveling across America by horseback to raise funds and awareness for Baptist missions. Rice also founded Columbian College in 1821, the unit of The George Washington University in Washington. He served as the treasurer of Columbian College from 1826 until his death, the main administration building at GW, Luther Rice Hall, is named in his honor. He died September 25,1836 at Edgefield, South Carolina while traveling through the Southern United States raising funds for the missions and he was interred at Pine Pleasant Cemetery, Saluda County, South Carolina. Although his life was not without controversy, Rices contribution to the support of work was invaluable in the early years of the Triennial Convention. During Rices lifetime, the Triennial Conventions membership grew from 8,000 to 600,000, by the time of his death,15 Baptist universities and colleges had been formed. Luther Rice University founded in 1962 and located in Lithonia, Georgia, USA, was named after Luther Rice in recognition of his work in the Baptist missions and seminary education. Schmeltekopf and Dianna M. Vitanza Guide to the Luther Rice Papers, 1812-1832, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University
33.
Martin Luther King Jr.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, with the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech, on October 14,1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, in the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled Beyond Vietnam. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D. C. to be called the Poor Peoples Campaign, Kings death was followed by riots in many U. S. cities. Ray, who fled the country, was arrested two months later at London Heathrow Airport, King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, hundreds of streets in the U. S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, King was born on January 15,1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther, King had Irish ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather, as well as African ancestry. King was a child, between an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. King sang with his choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. His mother was an accomplished organist and choir leader, and she took him to various churches to sing and he received attention for singing I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus. King later became a member of the choir in his church. King said that his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen, King saw his fathers proud and fearless protests against segregation, such as King Sr. When King was a child, he befriended a boy whose father owned a business near his familys home. When the boys were six, they started school, King had to attend a school for African Americans, King lost his friend because the childs father no longer wanted the boys to play together. King suffered from depression throughout much of his life, in his adolescent years, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the racial humiliation that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South
34.
Billy Graham
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He held large indoor and outdoor rallies, sermons were broadcast on radio and television, some still being re-broadcast today. In his six decades of television, Graham is principally known for hosting the annual Billy Graham Crusades and he also hosted the popular radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. Graham was an adviser to American presidents, he was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson. He insisted on integration for his revivals and crusades in 1953 and invited Martin Luther King, Graham bailed King out of jail in the 1960s when King was arrested in demonstrations. He was also friends with another televangelist, Robert H. Schuller. Graham operates a variety of media and publishing outlets, according to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. As of 2008, Grahams estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, because of his crusades, Graham has preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone in the history of Christianity. Graham has repeatedly been on Gallups list of most admired men and women and he has appeared on the list 60 times since 1955, more than any other individual in the world. William Franklin Graham, Jr. was born on November 7,1918, in 1927, when he was eight years old, the family moved about 75 yards from their white frame house to a newly built red brick home. He was raised in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church by his parents and is of Scotch-Irish descent, before this, in 1924, when Graham was only five, he focused on the outdoors, but rarely did he walk, as he was running and zooming, constantly. At the same time, he started as a student at the Sharon Grammar School, starting to read books from an early age, Graham loved to read novels for boys, especially Tarzan. Like Tarzan, he would hang on the trees, and gave the popular Tarzan yell, according to his father, that yelling had led him to become a minister. In 1933, when he was fourteen, as Prohibition in the United States ended, Grahams father forced him and this created such an aversion that both avoided alcohol and drugs for the rest of their lives. After Graham was turned down for membership in a youth group because he was too worldly, Albert McMakin. According to his autobiography, Graham was converted in 1934, at age 16 during a series of meetings in Charlotte led by Ham. After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936, Graham attended Bob Jones College, then located in Cleveland, after one semester, he found it too legalistic in both coursework and rules. At this time, he was influenced and inspired by Pastor Charley Young from Eastport Bible Church. He was almost expelled, but Bob Jones, Sr. warned him not to throw his life away, At best and you have a voice that pulls
35.
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
36.
John Calvin
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John Calvin was an influential French theologian, pastor and reformer during the Protestant Reformation. Various Congregational, Reformed, and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world. Calvin was a polemic and apologetic writer who generated much controversy. He also exchanged cordial and supportive letters with many reformers, including Philipp Melanchthon, in addition to his seminal Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin wrote commentaries on most books of the Bible, confessional documents, and various other theological treatises. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530, at the invitation of Martin Bucer, Calvin proceeded to Strasbourg, where he became the minister of a church of French refugees. He continued to support the movement in Geneva, and in 1541 he was invited back to lead the church of the city. Following his return, Calvin introduced new forms of government and liturgy. During this period, Michael Servetus, a Spaniard regarded by both Roman Catholics and Protestants as having a view of the Trinity, arrived in Geneva. He was denounced by Calvin and burned at the stake for heresy by the city council, following an influx of supportive refugees and new elections to the city council, Calvins opponents were forced out. Calvin spent his final years promoting the Reformation both in Geneva and throughout Europe, John Calvin was born as Jehan Cauvin on 10 July 1509, at Noyon, a town in Picardy, a province of the Kingdom of France. He was the first of four sons who survived infancy and his mother, Jeanne le Franc, was the daughter of an innkeeper from Cambrai. She died of a cause in Calvins childhood, after having borne four more children. Calvins father, Gérard Cauvin, had a career as the cathedral notary and registrar to the ecclesiastical court, he died in 1531. Gérard intended his three sons — Charles, Jean, and Antoine — for the priesthood, however, by age 12, he was employed by the bishop as a clerk and received the tonsure, cutting his hair to symbolise his dedication to the Church. He also won the patronage of a family, the Montmors. Through their assistance, Calvin was able to attend the Collège de la Marche, Paris, once he completed the course, he entered the Collège de Montaigu as a philosophy student. In 1525 or 1526, Gérard withdrew his son from the Collège de Montaigu, according to contemporary biographers Theodore Beza and Nicolas Colladon, Gérard believed that Calvin would earn more money as a lawyer than as a priest. After a few years of study, Calvin entered the University of Bourges in 1529
37.
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
38.
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
39.
Synod of Dort
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Dates in this article are according to the Julian Calendar. Sources using the Old Style calendar will need to be adjusted by adding ten days, the Synod of Dort was an international Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy initiated by the rise of Arminianism. The first meeting was on 13 November 1618 and the final meeting, voting representatives from eight foreign Reformed churches were also invited. Dort was a contemporary English term for the town of Dordrecht, in 2014 the first entire critical edition of the Acts and Documents of the Synod was published. There had been previous provincial synods of Dort, and a National Synod in 1578, for that reason the 1618 meeting is sometimes called the Second Synod of Dort. The acts of the Synod were tied to political intrigues that arose during the Twelve Years Truce, after the death of Jacob Arminius his followers presented objections to the Belgic Confession and the teaching of John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and their followers. These objections were published in a document called The Remonstrance of 1610, and they taught election on the basis of foreseen faith, a universal atonement, resistible grace, and the possibility of lapse from grace. The opposing Calvinists or Gomarists, led by Franciscus Gomarus of the University of Leiden, planning for a National Synod was begun by Adriaan Pauw in March 1618. Before that, there had been a debate as to whether the synod should be national, as the Contra-Remonstrants wished, or provincial for Holland and this decision was worked out in 1617, with outside input from the English ambassador Dudley Carleton. The purpose of the Synod was to settle the controversy over Arminianism and it was subsequently alleged that the outcome had already been decided. According to Frederick Calder, condemnation was determined before the national synod met, on the other hand, beyond the condemnation of the Arminians, the theological formulations of the Canons of the Synod by no means gave support to all the Gomarists wanted. The more extreme views of Dutch Calvinists were moderated in the detailed debates, the Synod had members representing Reformed groups from continental Europe, as well as from the British isles. Among these groups were also Anglican delegates from the Church of England, Simon Episcopius was spokesman of the 14 Remonstrants who were summoned before the Synod in 1618. At the opening of the synod, Episcopius asked to speak, the Arminians would not submit to this plan of procedure because it destroyed their whole scheme of argument and were thus compelled to withdraw. Upon their departure, the Synod proceeded without them, after that a month was spent on procedural matters concerning the Remonstrants. They were finally ejected from the Synod at session 57 on 14 January and these are sometimes referred to as the Five points of Calvinism. The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands, the thirteen Remonstrant ministers, including Episcopius, had been charged to remain in Dort until further instruction. Furthermore, Episcopius was commanded not to write letters or books promoting the doctrines of the Remonstrants, the Remonstrants agreed to refrain from ministering in the government-ordained churches, but confessed their duty to expound their doctrines wherever people would assemble to hear them
40.
Theology of John Calvin
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The theology of John Calvin has been influential in both the development of the system of belief now known as Calvinism and in Protestant thought more generally. There has been disagreement among scholars regarding the degree to which later Calvinism corresponds to Calvins own theology, the Encyclopedia of Christianity suggests that His theological importance is tied to the attempted systematization of Christian doctrine. He intended that the book be used as a summary of his views on Christian theology and that it be read in conjunction with his commentaries. The various editions of that span nearly his entire career as a reformer. The first edition from 1536 consisted of six chapters. The second edition, published in 1539, was three times as long because he added chapters on subjects that appear in Melanchthons Loci Communes, in 1543, he again added new material and expanded a chapter on the Apostles Creed. The final edition of the Institutes appeared in 1559, the first statement in the Institutes acknowledges its central theme. It states that the sum of human wisdom consists of two parts, the knowledge of God and of ourselves, Calvin argues that the knowledge of God is not inherent in humanity nor can it be discovered by observing this world. The only way to obtain it is to study scripture, Calvin writes, For anyone to arrive at God the Creator he needs Scripture as his Guide and Teacher. He does not try to prove the authority of scripture but rather describes it as autopiston or self-authenticating and he defends the trinitarian view of God and, in a strong polemical stand against the Catholic Church, argues that images of God lead to idolatry. Calvin viewed Scripture as being both majestic and simple, according to Ford Lewis Battles, Calvin had discovered that sublimity of style and sublimity of thought were not coterminous. Humans are unable to comprehend why God performs any particular action. The second book of the Institutes includes several essays on the sin and the fall of man, which directly refer to Augustine. He often cited the Church Fathers in order to defend the cause against the charge that the reformers were creating new theology. In Calvins view, sin began with the fall of Adam, the domination of sin is complete to the point that people are driven to evil. Thus fallen humanity is in need of the redemption that can be found in Christ, but before Calvin expounded on this doctrine, he described the special situation of the Jews who lived during the time of the Old Testament. God made a covenant with Abraham, promising the coming of Christ, hence, the Old Covenant was not in opposition to Christ, but was rather a continuation of Gods promise. Calvin then describes the New Covenant using the passage from the Apostles Creed that describes Christs suffering under Pontius Pilate and his return to judge the living, for Calvin, the whole course of Christs obedience to the Father removed the discord between humanity and God
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