The real architects of the denominational theory of the church were the seventeenth century Independents (Congregationalists) who represented the minority voice at the Westminster Assembly (1642-49). The majority at the Assembly held to Presbyterian principles and expressed these convictions classically in the Westminster Confession of Faith and in The Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
The Independents, however, who held to congregational principles, were keenly aware of the dangers of "dividing the godly Protestant party" in England so they looked for some way to express Christian unity even when Christians did not agree.
These Dissenting Brethren of Westminster articulated the denominational theory of the church in several fundamental truths: First, considering man's inability to always see the truth clearly, differences of opinion about the outward form of the church are inevitable. Second, even though these differences do not involve fundamentals of the faith, they are not matters of indifference.
Constantine represents the passing of the Age of Catholic Christianity, and the beginning of the Age of the Christian Empire. Upon the death of Galerius, Constantine, the son of Constantius Chlorus, advanced across the Alps to dislodge his rival Maxentius from Italy and to capture Rome. When he came upon his militarily superior enemy at the Milvian Bridge just outside the walls of Rome, he turned for help to the God of the Christians. In a dream he saw a cross in the sky and the words, "In this sign conquer." This convinced him to advance. When on 28 October 312 he achieved his brilliant victory over the troops of Maxentius, Constantine looked upon his success as proof of the power of Christ and the superiority of the Christian religion. From the year 312, he favored Christianity openly. He allowed Christian ministers to enjoy the same exemption from taxes as
A problem in world evangelization in the mid 1900s was the crisis in culture or as some preferred to call it, "contextualization". The problem arises when we think of Christianity's role in the world. The church claims a supernatural origin but it cannot escape human history. Is it to be a thing apart from life in the world? Would it reject the traditions and customs of a people and create new ones? Or should the church adopt completely the life of a people? What if a nation's art and customs are liked with religious beliefs opposed to the Christian faith?
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Contextualization, history[/tags]
Rector of the University of Paris, when he gave a strongly Protestant address in autumn of 1533, the institution was thrown into an uproar. Some suspected Calvin wrote the address.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Nicholas-Cop[/tags]
(1473-1543)
With the Age of Reason came a new faith in law and order. Modern science arose in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and filled men with visions of a new day of peace and harmony. Pioneers like Copernicus forced men to think in a new way about the universe. Copernicus insisted that the sun, not the earth, was the center of our universe.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Copernicus, history[/tags]
A presbyter of Rome who responded to Novatian, another presbyter, holding that the bishop could forgive even grave sins. His view was popular enough to get him elected bishop of Rome by a majority.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Cornelius, history, Novatian[/tags]
A distinguished minister from Southampton, England. In 1630 he preached a farewell sermon for more than 400 emigrants who had gathered to sail to the New World. Cotton declared that like the ancient Israelites these emigrants were God's chosen people, headed for the land he had promised and prepared. That in this new land they would be able to labor undisturbed for the glory of God. He later joined them.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, John-Cotton[/tags]
(397)
This council published the list of books compiled by Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria in 367 as an accepted N.T. canon.
[tags]Athanasius, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Council-at-Carthage, history[/tags]
(451)
The fourth General Council. Involved in the early Christological debate over the nature of Christ's humanity and divinity. Called by the Emperor Marcian and held in Constantinople. Established that Christ is a unified person and that he is human and divine in one person.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Council-at-Chalcedon, history, Constantinople[/tags]
(381)
The Second General Council of the Church. Involved in the christological debate, silenced Apollinarius' teaching. Established that Christ is fully human.
[tags]Apollinarius, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Council-at-Constantinople, history, Constantinople[/tags]
(431)
Called by Emperor Theodosius II. Nestorius was deposed here. This council was riddled with power politics. Established that Christ is a unified person.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Council-at-Ephesus, history, Nestorius, Theodosius[/tags]
(393)
This Council published the list of books compiled by Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria in 367 as an accepted N.T. canon.
[tags]Athanasius, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Council-at-Hippo, history[/tags]
During the Great Schism, when three men simultaneously claimed Divine rights to the papacy, the Holy Roman Emperor assembled a council at Constance in Germany to chose a new Vicar of Christ, Martin V. Upon ascending to the papacy Martin repudiated all acts of the council, except the one by which he ruled. In spite of the legal difficulties this raised, Martin V had good reason to deny the work of the council for it raised a very important question: Who is greater, a general council that creates the pope, or the pope who claims supremacy over councils? The counciliar movement aimed at transforming the papacy into something like a limited monarchy. Constance solemnly decreed that general councils were superior to popes and that they should meet at regular intervals in the future. The pope called this heretical. His return to power plus the inability of later councils to introduce
(1st General Council, 325)
Called by the Emperor Constantine to settle the question of Christ's divinity raised by Arius. Gave birth to the Nicene Creed. Established that Christ is fully divine, "true God from true God."
[tags]1st-Council-at-Nicea, Arius, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Constantine, Creed, history, Nicene-Creed[/tags]
(7th General Council, 787)
This council condemned the whole iconoclastic movement and backed the position held by John of Damascus.
[tags]7th-Council-at-Nicea, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, John-of-Damascus[/tags]
(1545-47, 1551-52, 1562-63)
One of the most important councils since Nicea in 325 until Vatican II in 1962-65. Called to build a doctrinal fortress against the challenging Protestant Reformation. Under the influence of the Jesuits, Trent developed into a powerful weapon of the Counter Reformation. In response to the Protestant's sola scriptura, the council insisted on the supreme teaching office of the Roman Church. Tradition as well as Scripture was held as a valid source of revelation. May be seen as the demarcation of division between the Protestant and Catholic Churches.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Council-of-Trent, history, Jesuits, Reformation[/tags]
A Cambridge graduate and reformer, a contemporary of Tyndale. During Tyndale's months of imprisonment Coverdale published the first edition of Tyndale's complete translation of the Bible. He is given credit for having translated the first complete English Bible in 1535.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, English-Bible, history, Miles-Coverdale, Reformation, Tyndale[/tags]
An adviser to King Henry VIII, and eventually appointed to the post of Archbishop of Canterbury upon the formulation of the Anglican Church. His Book of Common Prayer in English replaced the old Latin service of worship. In 1553 Cranmer also produced the Forty-Two Articles which defined the faith of the Church of England along Protestant lines. When Mary ascended the throne she sent nearly 300 Protestants, including Archbishop Cranmer to the burning stake.
[tags]BlogRodent, Book-of-Common-Prayer, church-history, Church-of-England, ChurchRodent, Forty-Two-Articles, Henry-VIII, history, Thomas-Cranmer[/tags]
(1599-1658)
Lord Protector of England (1642-1660?). England's Civil War occurred under his rule. As a colonel in the Parliamentary forces he proved to be a military genius. His regiment, known as Ironsides, was never defeated in part because Cromwell instilled in his men a sense of discipline and Christian mission. In time he became a leader of the New Model Army, a force of 21,000 men, who considered their role in English history a call from God. By the end of 1646 Cromwell's Army had forced Charles to surrender. But fierce resentment against Charles broke out in the Army and in 1648 war erupted anew. This time the Army defeated the allies of the king and the Presbyterians were purged from the House of Commons. In January 1649, Charles was executed in from of the royal palace of Whitehall in London.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Oliver-Cromwell, Presbyterians[/tags]
An event which sent most of Jesus' followers, including his apostles into hiding, confused and fearful. Considered a barbarous death, reserved for agitators, pirates and slaves. Jewish law cursed everyone who hangs on a tree. The punishment involves a whipping, then carrying the heavy cross-beam to the place of death. A notice would be pinned to the crucifix indicating the culprit's crime. It is a slow and painful death, often taking days to kill its victim. When the crucified dies, it is usually from asphyxiation, or dehydration.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Crucifixion, history, Jesus[/tags]
Driven by religious fervor, love of adventure and dreams of personal profit, crusaders from western Europe for 200 years attempted to expel the Muslims from the Holy Land. All the great and colorful figures of this era were caught up in the consuming cause, from Peter the Hermit, who inflamed the First Crusade, to the saintly Louis IX, King of France, who inspired the Sixth and Seventh.
For centuries peaceful pilgrims had been traveling from Europe to worship at the birthplace of Christ. The rise and spread of Islam in the Near East during the seventh century did not interrupt this traffic. By the tenth century bishops were organizing mass pilgrimages to the Holy Land. During the eleventh century, however, Christian pilgrims encountered persecution, and when the Seljuk Turks, new and fanatical converts to Islam, came sweeping and plundering into the Near East, the situation became especially tense. The
Bishop of Carthage, held that outside the church, there is no salvation. Also rejected giving blanket pardons, favoring instead a system of readmission based on the degree of seriousness of the sins. Leniency, he said, should be extended to those who had sacrificed at Emperor Decius's command only after excruciating torture and who well might plead that their bodies, not their spirits, had given way. Those however, who had gone willingly to make sacrifices must receive the severest punishment.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Cyprian, Decius, history[/tags]
The patriarch of Alexandria, a distinguished preacher and theologian. Pitted himself against Nestorius in A.D. 428.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Cyril, history, Nestorius[/tags]
Bishop of Rome (366-384), he marked the transition to the new day for Old Rome. He was able to fuse the old roman civic and imperial pride with Christianity. Claimed that due to the merit of the Apostles Peter and Paul's martyrdom in Rome, they could be claimed as Roman citizens.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Damasus, history, martyr[/tags]
A brilliant, well-known lawyer from Chicago. He served as the defending attorney for John Scopes in the controversial Scopes trial. In the courtroom, Darrow made a mockery of aging Bryan, yet lost the decision for the case.
[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, Clarence-Darrow, history, John-Scopes[/tags]
