Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion

1946 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Wilhelm Pauck
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Classical Statement

On account of its influence upon many generations of Protestants, Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion may be regarded as the classical statement of the Protestant Christian faith. It reflects more clearly than any other book produced by the Reformation the thought which inaugurated the whole Protestant movement.

Friedrich Schleiermacher and the Reformed Tradition in the Modern Era

2021 ◽  
pp. 441-456
Author(s):  
Randall C. Zachman
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Friedrich Schleiermacher ◽  
Human Consciousness ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Historical Criticism ◽  
Reformed Tradition ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Modern Era

Friedrich Schleiermacher reformulated the doctrines he inherited from the Reformed and Lutheran dogmatic traditions, in order to demonstrate that the certainty of faith in God, as well as faith in the redeeming power of Christ, could be maintained in an age of scientific and historical criticism of the Christian faith. He located faith in God in the immediate consciousness of being absolutely dependent, which he claimed emerged in the development of every human consciousness. And he located faith in Christ in the way the influence of the sinless perfection of Christ, mediated through the testimony of the Christian community and supported by the picture of Christ, strengthened the consciousness of God so that the inhibition of the God-consciousness by sin could be overcome. His hope was that such a reformulation of doctrine would not only clarify the meaning of faith in the modern world, but would also reunify the Christian traditions that had been divided since the Reformation.

The Reformation of Worship

1955 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-79
Author(s):  
D. H. C. Read
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Western World ◽  
The Past ◽  
World Today ◽  
Liturgical Reform ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Christian Worship ◽  
Comparable Period ◽  
Public Worship

There are signs in nearly all the Christian communions of the Western world today of restlessness and dissatisfaction with our inherited patterns of public worship. This is indicated by the numerous experiments that are being made and by the movements for liturgical reform that are active in many denominations. A great variety of motives lies behind these movements for reform; but in general it might be said that we are conscious of living in a world that has changed more fundamentally in the last fifty years than in any remotely comparable period of the past, and feel that these changes, while not affecting the essence of Christian worship, must surely be reflected in its forms. This is felt by convinced and instructed Christians who have a vision of what worship might be as the expression of our highest and holiest activity and are disappointed at its meagre realisation in the normal practice of their church: it is felt even more by the semi-convinced who are genuinely seeking to know and experience more of what we mean by worship, and who find our services unilluminating and uninspiring. It is certainly not ill-will, and may not even be indifference, that keeps multitudes of potential worshippers from entering our churches. The blight that seems to afflict public worship in our day might be characterised in one word—irrelevance.Now the charge of irrelevance is not to be disposed of by a series of sermons on the relevance of the Christian faith and of Christian worship.

scholarly journals God as One

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem H. Oliver ◽  
Erna Oliver
Keyword(s):  
Early Church ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Trinity

Two notions are discussed in this article, namely, the (unity of the) Trinity and God’s omnipresence. These two notions are deeply embedded in the Christian faith system and religion – they actually form both the basis and point of departure for the Christian religion. The aim of this article is to revisit the (Early Church and present) dogma of the Church about the Trinity and omnipresence of God as a result of the heresies and apologies linked to this dogma, and to rethink the notion of the concept ‘Trinity’ linked to God’s omnipresence. The historical method is used in the discussion of the (primary) sources and to reach the outcome.

Sola Scriptura's and the Chinese Union Version Bible's Impact upon Conservative Christian Leaders: The Case of Watchman Nee and Wang Mingdao

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
WAI LUEN KWOK
Keyword(s):  
Spiritual Practice ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Lectio Divina ◽  
Chinese Christians ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Conservative Christian ◽  
Theologically Conservative ◽  
Conservative Christians ◽  
Christian Leaders

AbstractThe majority of Chinese Christians can be considered to be theologically conservative. One distinctive feature of conservative theology is Biblicism, according to which Scripture occupies a central role. The Reformation principle of sola scriptura legitimises this conservative stance and calls for a stern application of this principle. As Biblicists, they are discontented with the ‘unbiblical’ practices and ministries of missionaries. On the other hand, missionaries have put forward the Union Version translation project on the basis of the principle of sola scriptura. This article investigates how Watchman Nee (1903–72) and Wang Mingdao (1900–91) were discursively influenced by the missionaries’ Union Version Bible translation project through their different understandings of sola scriptura. For missionaries, sola scriptura required the translation of a faithful and popular Chinese Bible, and Mandarin was deemed an appropriate language for the task. While Nee and Wang did not appreciate the missionary enterprise, for sola scriptura they valued the Chinese Union Version as an outstanding and up-to-date translation of the Scripture. For Nee and Wang, sola scriptura was not only a translation principle, but also a principle underpinning religious life. Conservative Christians’ devotional practice emphasises the memorising of biblical texts and verbalising them throughout the day. This practice resulted in the Union Version, which is written in eloquent modern Chinese, becoming an integral part of Chinese Christian practice rather than a mere translation. Though Nee and Wang accused missionaries of having betrayed the Reformation principle, they were still under its influence thanks to the Chinese Union Version Bible. Also, their teaching on biblical reading had similarities with the medieval monastic practice of lectio divina. In this sense, the Chinese Union Version Bible reveals an interesting integration of Chinese conservative Christian faith, missionary enterprise, sola scriptura, and a monastic style of spiritual practice within the Chinese Church.

The Dangers of Diversity: Heresy and Authority in the 1405 Case of John Edward

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 230-240
Author(s):  
Ian Forrest
Keyword(s):  
Christian Faith ◽  
Medieval England ◽  
Social Harmony ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Fundamental Challenge ◽  
Large Audience ◽  
Late Medieval England ◽  
Tableau Vivant

When John Edward of Brington in Northamptonshire abjured heresy in the ‘Greneyerd’ of Norwich cathedral close on Palm Sunday 1405, he was presented to the gathered crowds as a living example of the dangers of diversity in the Christian faith. Because heresy was feared as a fundamental challenge to doctrine, authority, and social harmony, the agents of Church and crown went to great lengths in the period between 1382 and the Reformation to advertise its depravity and illegality. The anti-heresy message was not, however, a simple one, and the judicial performances that constitute the Church’s propaganda campaign on this issue sometimes used highly equivocal rhetoric and images. In these performances heresy was capable of being represented as a minority sectarian problem, or one diffused throughout society. In truth it was both, and so the anti-heresy message had to encompass much more nuance than one might imagine. This essay focuses on the campaign against the lollards in late medieval England, in particular John Edward’s staged abjuration, which is recorded in a letter sent by the presiding bishop, Henry Despenser, to his archbishop, Thomas Arundel. This certification presents a compelling tableau vivant encompassing the penitent, the crowds, and the authorities of Church, crown, and city. In their efforts to stage-manage the abjuration of heresy, however, these authorities had not only to navigate the complexity of anti-heretical rhetoric and present it to a large audience, but, perhaps more importantly, had to overcome considerable rancour and division within their own ranks, to present a unified front against the threat of heresy. For they had to show diat there was a unity from which heretics were deviating. Edward’s abjuration, therefore, offered an important opportunity to demonstrate repentance, and to invite the clergy and people of Norwich to consider the dangers posed by their own tendencies towards disunity.

“Cum delectu”: Jacob Arminius’s (1559–1609) Praise for and Critique of Calvin and His Theology

2011 ◽  
Vol 91 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 73-86
Author(s):  
William den Boer
Keyword(s):  
Christian Religion ◽  
God's Love ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Significant Divergence

The Reformed pastor and professor Jacobus Arminius (1559–1609) is remembered as an anti-Calvinistic theologian whose views were in conflict with the very essence of the Reformation. The question concerning Arminius’s relation to the Reformation and to Calvin has occupied many already, and remains complex. This article illustrates that Arminius had great respect particularly for Calvin’s exegetical prowess, and was in agreement with the most important parts of his theology. However, Arminius shows significant divergence from Calvin’s view on God’s relationship to evil and sin because of its consequences; as far as Arminius is concerned, God is—unintentionally—made the author of sin. According to Arminius this undermines the most important pillar of the Christian religion, namely, God’s love for justice.

scholarly journals Αiρεσισ and αiρετικoσ in the Alexandrine school of the II and III centuries (Clement of Alexandria and Origen)

Vox Patrum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
pp. 73-84
Author(s):  
Maria Laura Di Paolo ◽  
Vito Limone
Keyword(s):  
Late Antiquity ◽  
Human Freedom ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
Clement Of Alexandria ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The One ◽  
Schools Of Medicine

The aim of this study is to outline the use of the terms airesis and airetikos according the two main representatives of the Alexandrine School, Clement and Origen. In the Stromateis the word airesis has many meanings and, first of all, it is related to “the act of choice”, then, it is also a synonym for a “school” or a “sect”, hence it signifies Christian “heresy”. The connection between human freedom and schools, mainly philosophical ones, but also the schools of medicine, points out that Clement conceives “heresy” as an error, an incorrect way of thinking due to a wrong, even malicious choice, often of an intellectual nature; it sug­gests conscious deformation of a message. Hence, Clement contrasts the Gnostic airetikos and the “true Gnostic”, the man of faith who by studying the biblical texts and the Greek disciplines is enlightened by Christ (Stromata VII 92, 7). About the Origen’s usage of the term a†resij in his Contra Celsum it is worth to note that, firstly, the word a†resij always indicates the philosophical schools of Late Antiquity (cf. Contra Celsum 4, 45; 8, 53); secondly, that Origen aims at persuading his enemy, Celsus, that Christian religion is neither a refusal of philo­sophical schools nor something very different from them, but it may be regarded as an a†resij too and, in order to argue this, he shows that not only Christian reli­gion and philosophical schools share some moral and cosmological topics (Contra Celsum 3, 66; 3, 80), but also that both Christians and philosophers are moved by the some ¥logoj for£ (Contra Celsum 1, 10). Therefore, in Origen’s Contra Celsum the a†resij means not only the philosophical schools of the II and III centuries, but also the Christian religion as long as it is accepted by the Heathens. In conclusion, this study shows, once again, that, as the two representatives of Alexandria were in dialogue with the brilliant exponents of the contemporary philosophy, they were called to explain the importance of faith on the intellectual side, using some terms and conceptions of the main schools, on the one side, and by distinguishing Christian faith from them, on the other.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Crawford Gribben ◽  
Graeme Murdock
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Cultural Environment ◽  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Linear Fashion ◽  
Christian Religion ◽  
European Culture ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
The World ◽  
Truth Claims

Calvinism did not develop as a uniform Christian tradition across early modern Europe. Nor did Calvinism make a discrete, standalone impact on the development of European culture. This introduction does not seek to establish or to reinforce a set of unambiguous arguments about what Calvinist culture was, is, or ought to be, nor is it concerned with outlining how, in some linear fashion, Calvinism shaped European and global cultures or contributed to the cultures of modernity. Instead, this introduction offers a portrait of Calvinism and Reformed religion, understood as a sociocultural phenomenon as well as an expression of truth claims about God and the world, to examine how this form of Christian religion developed in different cultural settings. This introduction also supports an analysis of the ways in which Calvinism related to the multi-confessional cultural environment that prevailed in Europe after the Reformation.

scholarly journals King John and the Norman Church

1922 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney R. Packard
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Fall Of Rome ◽  
The Middle Ages ◽  
King John

No one has ever really doubted the oft-asserted theory that no part of the middle ages can be studied apart from the Christian Church. All-embracing in its influence from the fall of Rome to the Reformation, it is generally conceded to have reached its zenith during the pontificate of Innocent III, not only because of the perfection of its organization at that time but also by reason of its readiness under his leadership to take issue with any or all of the secular powers of Europe over a variety of questions which, in only too many instances, had little obvious connection with the Christian faith. Its ambitions were large but, by methods which were sometimes unscrupulous, they were almost always realized.

scholarly journals Church discipline – semper reformanda in Reformation perspective

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham A. Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Christian Education ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
John Calvin ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Church Discipline ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Spiritual Nurture ◽  
Punitive Discipline ◽  
The Reformation

Church discipline – is semper reformanda in a time and space warp? Church discipline has become an anachronism in the life of the Christian faith community. In part, this results from a misunderstanding of the fundamental meaning of the term. Its early emphasis was on spiritual nurture, discipling people into the faith and into a relationship with one another and God. By the time of the Reformation, it took on a legalistic and rigid form that militated against its earlier approach. This resulted from a misunderstanding of key reformers from the Reforming tradition such as John Calvin and John Knox, who were concerned to build up individuals within the Christian community to become responsible members of society. In this way, discipline is transformative of individuals and society. The work of discipline was closely related both to pastoral care and Christian education and offered a corrective to Medieval discipline, where the concept of discipline was distorted when the use of punitive discipline as a last resort was elevated to become the norm. This situation was replicated in the post-Reformation period. Consequently, it now needs to be rehabilitated in the form of discipling or mentorship in order to restore its usefulness as an educative tool in the process of the pilgrimage towards the kingdom of God.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document