The Age of Reformation Flashcards
Anabaptism
The term “Anabaptist” literally means “rebaptizer,” and refers to what was perhaps the most distinctive aspect of Anabaptist practice: the insistence that only those who had made a personal, public profession of faith should be baptized. A number of common elements can be discerned within the various strands of the Anabaptist movement: a general distrust of external authority; the rejection of infant baptism in favor of the baptism of adult believers; the common ownership of property; and an emphasis upon pacifism and nonresistance.
Anglicanism
Gradual shift by Henry VIII toward a policy which involved the replacement of papal authority in England with his own authority. The creation of an English national church was part of this vision. “The Elizabethan Settlement” established the national English church as a reformed episcopal church, having broadly Protestant articles of faith a a more Catholic liturgy.
Calvinism
A term often used to refer to the religious ideas of the Reformed church, but not always the actual ideas of Calvin himself, as found in his celebrated religious textbook, ‘The Institutes of the Christian Religion’ as well as the ‘Heidelberg Catechism of 1563’.
Catholic Reformation
This term is often used to refer to the revival within Catholicism in the period following the opening of the Council of Trent (1545). The movement is often deisgnated the “Counter-Reforation”: as the term suggests, the Catholic church developed means of combatting the Protestant Reformation partly by reforming itself from within, in order to remove the grounds of Protestant criticism.
confessionalization
This is the emergence of forms of Christianity which defined themselves with reference to “Confessions of Faith.” This process included the codification and consolidation of the reformers’ insights through the development of a series of systematic presentations of Christian theology.
evangelical
The term “evangelical’ is often used in the literature to refer to the reforming factions at Wittenburg and elsewhere (for example, in France and Switzerland) prior to the date of April 1529 (when six German princes and 14 cities protested against the Diet of Speyer.)
Lutheranism
Associated the German territories and the pervasive personal influence of Martin Luther, who was particularly concerned with the doctrine of justification, which formed the central point of his religious thought. This was initially an academic movement concerned primarily with reforming the teaching at the University of Wittenberg, but following Luther’s emergence from isolation, it morphed into a program of reform of church and society.
Methodism
Pietist movement founded by John Wesley within the Church of England. Wesley emphasized the need for a “living faith” and the role of experience in the Christian life, which contrasted sharply with the dullness of English Deism.
orthodoxy
Period within Protestantism, both Lutheran and Reformed, characterized by its emphasis on doctrinal norms and definitions. At its best, orthodoxy was concerned with the rational defense of Christian truth claims, and a passionate concern for doctrinal correctness.
Pietism
An approach to Christianity, especially associated with German writers in the seventeenth century, which places an emphasis upon the importance of Christian doctrine for everyday life. For Pietism, reformation of doctrine must always be accompanied by reformation of life.
predestination
For Reformed theologians, the ultimate statement of the “grace of God” was not to be seen in the fact that God justified sinners; rather, it was to be seen in God’s election of humanity without reference to their foreseen merits or achievements. The doctrine of “unconditional election” came to be seen as a concise summary of the unmerited nature of grace.
Protestant
It derives from the aftermath of the Diet of Speyer (February 1529), which voted to end the toleration of Lutheranism in Germany. In April of the same year, six German princes and 14 cities protested against this oppressive measure, defending freedom of conscience and the rights of religious minorities. The term “Protestant” derives from this protest, referring to the “protesters” (Latin: protestantes) who objected to this move.
Puritanism
Puritanism is probably best understood as a version of Reformed orthodoxy which laid particular emphasis on the experiential and pastoral aspects of faith. Puritanism was a major theological and political force in early seventeenth-century England, its most significant development took place in the New World. In some respects, particularly in relation to the issue of Christian experience, Puritanism shows affinities with Pietism.
Reformed
The Reformed church owed its origins to a series of attempts to reform the morals and worship of the church (but not necessarily its doctrine) according to a more biblical pattern. Although most of the early Reformed theologians had an academic background, their reforming programs were not academic in nature. The early Reformed thinkers had relatively little interest in doctrine, let alone one specific doctrine. Their reforming program was institutional, social, and ethical, in many ways similar to the demands for reform emanating from the humanist movement.
