To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Lutheran Confessional Church.
Journal articles on the topic 'Lutheran Confessional Church'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 journal articles for your research on the topic 'Lutheran Confessional Church.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse journal articles on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Hill, Kat. "Mapping the Memory of Luther: Place and Confessional Identity in the Later Reformation*." German History 38, no. 2 (February 4, 2020): 187–210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerhis/ghz098.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract In 1571 mapmakers Johannes Mellinger and Tilemann Stella produced a map of the county of Mansfeld, Luther’s birthplace. This article considers this map as a complex printed material object: it is far more than a straightforward representation of place as it is covered with historical details, quotations, writing and references to Luther’s life, the Reformation and Mansfeld’s history. It created a notion of Lutheran space and used this space as a form of memory-making and memorialization at a critical time in Lutheran history. The decades following the death of Luther, in 1546, were a time of crisis, when Lutheranism grieved the loss of the Wittenberg reformer while also inscribing its presence on the confessional map of sixteenth-century Europe. Mellinger and Stella’s map of Mansfeld reveals how second-generation Lutherans reconceptualized the landscape to provide an alternative way of writing Luther’s life, and how Lutherans could integrate pasts and places which were not specifically Lutheran into a providential narrative. The map addressed the tensions of tradition and novelty with its composite, hybrid form that combined space, events and person, and it historicized and reimagined space. This map demands that we think about how space functioned within a culture which wanted to remember Luther’s life and write histories in a way that could validate Lutheranism and its future, and in particular it focuses our attention on how memory-making at this specific point of existential concern shaped the Lutheran Church.
2
Smit, D. J. "Confessional and ecumenical? Revisiting Edmund Schlink on the hermeneutics of doctrine." Verbum et Ecclesia 29, no. 2 (November 17, 2008): 446–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v29i2.43.
Full textAbstract:
Confessional and ecumenical? Revisiting Edmund Schlink on the hermeneutics of doctrineConrad Wethmar has always been interested in questions concerning the hermeneutics of doctrine, often concentrating on methodological issues regarding the role of confessions and the challenges of ecumenical theology. For this purpose, he consistently engaged with German-speaking Lutheran theologians. In this essay, the important views and contributions of Edmund Schlink regarding confessional and ecumenical theology are called to mind, as one further potential dialogue partner for South African theologians like Wethmar. A first section reminds readers of Wethmar’s contributions. The second section recalls Schlink’s theological journey and the role of confessions – both Lutheran confessions and the Confessing Church with Barmen – as well as the ecumenical church – several real dialogues between major confessional traditions, including his role during the Second Vatican Council – before the third sections draws some of his major methodological insights and contributions together. A brief final section points to some potential similarities between Schlink’s work and Wethmar’s interests.
3
Clark, Christopher. "Confessional policy and the limits of state action: Frederick William III and the Prussian Church Union 1817–40." Historical Journal 39, no. 4 (December 1996): 985–1004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0018246x00024730.
Full textAbstract:
ABSTRACTThe merging of the Lutheran and Calvinist (Reformed) confessions to form the United Church of Prussia was one of the most controversial policies pursued by Frederick William III after 1815. By the late 1830s it had provoked a large and well-organised movement of opposition, particularly among those ‘Old Lutherans’ in Silesia and neighbouring provinces who refused to abandon their liturgical traditions. This article examines the government's attempts to complete the process of unification through measures designed to atomize and silence Lutheran protest. Neither Prussian law nor Prussian law enforcement agencies, the article suggests, furnished an adequate foundation for Frederick William III's confessional policy. The unsuccessful campaign against Old Lutheranism exacerbated latent tensions between the executive and judicial branches of the administration and revealed the limits of government power and authority in the sensitive area of confessional policy. The aggressive and systematic confessional statism of the administration under Frederick William III was unprecedented in Prussian history; in this as in other areas of policy, the term ‘Restoration’ misrepresents political reality in post-Napoleonic Prussia.
4
Erling, Maria. "The Coming of Lutheran Ministries to America." Ecclesiology 1, no. 1 (2004): 56–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/174413660400100103.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractThis article examines the historical and theological foundations of Lutheran doctrines of the ministry of word and sacrament in the Reformation and the Confessional documents and how this inheritance was transposed to the American context. Against this background, it considers the debates on ministerial issues that surrounded the founding of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the challenges with regard to ministry and mission that face Lutherans in America today as a result of fresh immigration and tensions between the local and the wider church.
5
Crăciun, Maria. "Reforming Church Space: Altarpieces and Their Functions in Early Modern Transylvania." Church History and Religious Culture 87, no. 1 (2007): 1–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/187124207x189262.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractFocused on an analysis of surviving late medieval religious art in Transylvanian Lutheran churches, this study wishes to explore the ways in which these images were presented to and viewed by the congregations after the Reformation of the Saxon community. The article considers the connection between these artifacts and the ritual context that framed them whilst assessing their ability to shape different patterns of piety and a new confessional identity. Drawing mostly on visual evidence, the study also relies on an exploration of the records of the synods of the Transylvanian Lutheran Church in order to understand this newly forged religious culture.
6
Metso, Pekka. "Practical and Pastoral Perspectives on Inter-confessional Marriage in the Finnish Orthodox Context." Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu 10, no. 3 (December 1, 2018): 309–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/ress-2018-0026.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract In this article, the phenomenon of inter-confessional marriages and families is studied in the context of Finnish Orthodoxy. The focus is on the wedding services, religious upbringings and participation in Church life from the perspective of inter-confessional marriages/families: How does the ecumenical reality influence them? Sociologically, the family has a central role in relation to beliefs, religious practices and activities. The religious upbringing of most Orthodox children takes place in a family of two Christian traditions. In the lived reality of the Finnish Orthodox population, the co-existence of two traditions (Orthodox and non-Orthodox) in inter-confessional marriages is not always non-problematic. In dialogue with the Lutheran Church, the Orthodox Church of Finland has aimed to promote harmony and mutual respect for the two traditions in inter-confessional families, as well as to fortify the Orthodox identity of its members.
7
Fink, David C. "Was There a “Reformation Doctrine of Justification”?" Harvard Theological Review 103, no. 2 (April 2010): 205–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0017816010000556.
Full textAbstract:
In this essay I take up cudgels against a central construct in the confessional historiography of the Protestant Reformation: The notion that there existed a clear, well-defined doctrine of justification shared by all the major reformers from the earliest stages of the conflagration and that this “Reformation doctrine of justification” served as the “material principle” in the formation of the emerging Protestant self-identity.1 In contrast with this traditional view, I argue that the first-generation reformers, galvanized by Luther's protest against the indulgence trade, adopted a common “rhetoric of dissent” aimed at critiquing the regnant Catholic orthopraxy of salvation in the interest of a common set of primarily existential-religious concerns. During the course of the next several decades following the initia Lutheri, however, an “orthodox” doctrine of justification quickly emerged'several of them, in fact. The Roman Catholic church and the emerging Protestant confessions, Lutheran and Reformed, quickly found it necessary to formulate their teachings in increasingly precise terms, so as both to integrate their central soteriological affirmations within a wider body of contested doctrines and practices and to demarcate clearly the boundaries of confessional identity in opposition to competing confessions. As with earlier periods of intense theological controversy within the Christian tradition, this conflict represented not a sudden breakthrough, but rather “a search for orthodoxy, a search conducted by the method of trial and error.”2 Unlike earlier debates, however, what emerged in the aftermath of the Reformation was not a single, dominant orthodoxy which carried the field, but rather multiple, competing orthodoxies, each one with its own Gospel.
8
Voigt-Goy, Christopher. "Lutherische Ethik der ‘Geselligkeit’." Daphnis 49, no. 1-2 (March 30, 2021): 37–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18796583-12340003.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Though sociability was not a guiding principle of early modern Lutheran ethics, it was not simply rejected by theologians in an indiscriminate manner. The following article outlines basic tenets of the 17th century Lutheran discussion of sociability in the framework of the adiaphora doctrine. The evaluation of phenomena like dance and theatre were strongly influenced by ‘confessional competition’. In demarcation to both ‘Calvinism’ and ‘Pietism’, Lutheran theologians stressed the positive function of dance and theatre, but also of gambling, for conviviality. Thus, in addition to the demand for the regulation of sociability by the government and the Church, the insight of an inherent rationale of early modern sociability gradually emerged.
9
Kohnle, Armin. "Leipziger Luthertum und bürgerliche Kultur in der Frühen Neuzeit." Daphnis 49, no. 1-2 (March 30, 2021): 14–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18796583-12340002.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Lutheran Leipzig offers an excellent example for an early modern German territorial city where religion and civil culture entered into a long-lived symbiosis. This article follows Leipzig’s church history from the first arrival of the Wittenberg Reformation after 1519 to the middle of the nineteenth century. It was not before the end of the sixteenth century that orthodox Lutheranism, based on the formula of concord, was firmly established as the city’s official form of protestantism. Lutheran confessional culture reached its zenith during the seventeenth century. Religion was considered as a constituent part of public welfare. But Leipzig ran through a phase of de-confessionalization in the later eighteenth century. Religion was now understood as part of the private life, and confessional boundaries became increasingly obsolete. With respect to sociability, Lutheranism made a considerable contribution to the social life of the Leipzigers, but it had little to do with their leisure time habits.
10
Žilys, Saulius. "Parishes Registers and Lists of Parishes Residents in the Wróblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences: Genesis and Confessional Singularity." Bibliotheca Lituana 2 (October 25, 2012): 123–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.15388/bibllita.2012.2.15583.
Full textAbstract:
The article treats baptismal, matrimonial and death parish registers in 17th–20th centuries, also lists of confirmees and lists of converts to Roman Catholic Church or Orthodox Church, lists of parishes and parishes’ residents of territories in Lithuania, Belarus, Poland and East Prussia. Manuscript materials used in article belong to various Christian and non-Christian confessions: Roman Catholic, orthodox, uniate, evangelical reformers, evangelical Lutheran, Karaite, Jew/Hebrew, Tartar. The article treats origin of parishes’ registers chronology, how parishes’ registers were written, and which information was in them also defines confessional singularity. Focus on 17th–18th century parishes registers – mostly Roman Catholic.Church parishes registers at first were started to write in Italy (1396) and in Provence. The Council of Trent of Roman Catholic Church in 1563 obligated fill in baptismal and matrimonial parish registers, ordinary “Rituale romanorum” in 1614 obligated to fill in death registers and lists of parishes residents. Filling of parishes registers in Roman Catholic and Protestant churches became overall in 17th century, in Orthodox and Uniate churches – in 18th century. The first information about parishes’ registers in Lithuania was introduced in visiting-round of Samogitia bishop in 1579, but the oldest known parish register is baptismal register of Joniškis church and it begins in 1599.The article treats evolution of parishes’ registers in Lithuania. Noticeable that death registers were started to fill only in 17th century and involved only part of departed.
11
Birecki, Piotr. "The Lutheran Church in Rodowo as a Place of the Spiritual Meeting of Three Social Strata." Entangled Religions 7 (July 27, 2018): 109–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.46586/er.v7.2018.109-136.
Full textAbstract:
The article presents the hitherto unknown decoration of the furnishing of a little Protestant church in Rodowo in Ducal Prussia, founded by the local aristocratic family ofthe Schack von Wittenaus. After firstly providing an overview of the complicated confessional history of the region, the church, and its patrons, the second part of this article presents the emblematic decoration of church benches based on the “Four Elements,” with models for tapestries designed by Charles Le Brun and published in Paris in 1668 (and later in Germany). The original emblems, with descriptions by Charles Perrault, refer to King Louis XVI as the ideal ruler, but in Rodowo they emphasize the position of the Prussian nobility as the most important social group in the country. The second part of the article presents four unknown easel paintings on the church walls, with a symbolic presentation of Lutheran piety connected with Pietism in Ducal Prussia. The entire artistic ensemble in the church refers to the role of noblemen as leaders in the social and religious life of Ducal Prussia.
12
Grane, Leif. "Grundtvigs forhold til Luther og den lutherske tradition." Grundtvig-Studier 49, no. 1 (January 1, 1998): 21–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.7146/grs.v49i1.16265.
Full textAbstract:
Grundtvig's Relations with Luther and the Lutheran TraditionBy Leif GraneGrundtvig’s relations with Luther and the Lutheran tradition are essential in nearly the whole of Grundtvig’s lifetime. The key position that he attributed to Luther in connection with his religious crisis 1810-11, remained with the Reformer until the very last, though there were changes on the way in his evaluation of the Reformation.The source material is overwhelming. It comprises all Grundtvig’s historical and church historical works, but also a large number of his theological writings, besides a number of his poems and hymns. Prior to Grundtvig’s lifelong occupation with Luther there had been a rejection of tradition as he had met with it in the Conservative supranaturalism. After the Romantic awakening at Egeløkke and the subsequent »Asarus« (the- ecstatic immersion in Nordic mythology), over the religious crisis 1810-1811, when Grundtvig thought he was »returning« to Luther, it was a different Luther from the one he had left a few years before. Though Grundtvig emphasizes the infallibility of the Bible, it is wrong to describe him as »Lutheran-Orthodox« in the traditional sense. In Grundtvig’s interpretation, Luther is above all the guarantee of the view of history he had acquired in his Romantic period, but given his own personal stamp, as it appeared in slightly different ways in the World Chronicles of 1812 and 1817. There already he turns against the theologization of the message of the Reformation that set in with the confessional writings. Ever since he maintained the view of the Reformation that he expounds in the two World Chronicles, though the evaluation of it changed somewhat, especially after 1825.The church view that Grundtvig presented for the first time in »Kirkens Gienmæle« (The Rejoinder of the Church), and which he explained in detail in »Om den sande Christendom« (About True Christianity) and »Om Christendommens Sandhed« (About the Truth of Christianity), was bound to lead to a conflict (as it did) with the Protestant »Scripturalism«, and thus to clarity about the disagreement with Luther. This conflict attained a greater degree of precision with the distinctions between church and state, and church and school, as they were presented in »Skal den lutherske Reformation virkelig fortsættes?« (Should the Lutheran Reformation Really Be Continued? 1830), but it was not really until the publication of the third part of »Haandbog I Verdens-Historien« (Handbook in World History) that the view of church history and of Luther’s place in it, inspired by the congregational letters in the Apocalypse, was presented, in order to be more closely developed, partly in poetical form in »Christenhedens Syvstjeme« (The Seven Star of Christendom), partly in lectures in »Kirke-Spejl« (Church Mirror).Grundtvig had to reject orthodoxy since the genuineness of Baptism and Eucharist depended on their originating from Christ Himself. Nothing of universal validity could therefore have come into existence in the 16th century.Thus the evaluation of Luther and Lutheranism must depend on how far Lutheranism corresponded to what all Christians have in common. Luther is praised for the discovery that only the Word and the Spirit must reign in the church. It is understandable therefore that Luther had to break down the false idea of the church that had prevailed since Cyprian, and Grundtvig remained unswervingly loyal to him. But he cannot avoid the question why Luther’s work crumbled after his death. The answer is that it crumbled because of »Scripturalism« which Grundtvig considers a spurious inheritance from Alexandrian theology. We must maintain Luther’s faith which centres on all that is fundamentally Christian, but not his theological method.Grundtvig believes that with his criticism of Luther he is really closer to him than those who are cringing admirers of him. Grundtvig confesses himself to having committed the mistake of confusing the Bible with Christianity, and he cannot exempt Luther from a great responsibility for this aberration. All the same, in Luther’s case the wrong Yet Luther was induced to want to make his own experiences universally valid since he did not understand that his own use of the Scriptures could not possibly be right for every man. Here Grundtvig is on the track of the individualism which to him is an inevitable consequence of Scripturalism: everybody reads as he knows best. It was not in school, but in church that he saw Luther’s great and imperishable achievement.So while Grundtvig cannot exempt Luther from some responsibility for an unfortunate development in the relation between church and school, he is very anxious to exempt him from any responsibility for the assumption of power in the church by the princes, which is due, in his opinion, to a conspiracy between the princes and the theologians with a view to tying the peoples to the symbolical books.In the development of Grundtvig’s view of church history it turns out that the interest in the national, cultural and civic significance of the Reformation has not decreased after he has given up fighting for a Christian culture. The Reformation must, as must church history on the whole, be seen in the context of the histories of the peoples. Therefore, if it is not to be pure witchcraft, it must have its foundation deep in the Middle Ages.Grundtvig points to what he calls »the new Christendom«: from the English and the Germans to the North. Viewed in that light, the Reformation is a struggle for a Christian life, a folkelig life of the people, and enlightenment.Though the 17th century wrenched all life out of what was bom in the 16th, and the 18th century abandoned both Christianity and folkelig life altogether, it was of great significance for culture and enlightenment that the people was made familiar with Luther’s catechism, Bible and hymn book. What was fundamentally Christian survived, while folkelig life lay dormant.The Reformation was unfinished, and its completion must wait until the end of time. But compulsion is approaching the end, and the force of the Reformation in relation to mother tongue and folkelig life manifests itself more strongly than ever before, Gmndtvig believes. What is fundamentally Christian in Luther must be maintained and carried onwards, while the Christian enlightenment, i.e. theology, depends on the time in question.Life is the same, but the light is historically determined. With this concept of freedom, which distinguishes between the faith in Christ as permanent and the freedom of the Holy Ghost that liberates us from being tied to the theology of the old, Gmndtvig may convincingly claim that it is he who – with his criticism - is loyal to Luther, i.e. to »the most excellent Father in Christ since the days of the Apostles«.
13
Лебедев, Владимир Юрьевич. "INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR DRIVERS IN THE SYSTEM OF CONFESSIONAL DYNAMICS." Вестник Тверского государственного университета. Серия: Философия, no. 1(55) (April 23, 2021): 106–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.26456/vtphilos/2021.1.106.
Full textAbstract:
Статья рассматривает разные аспекты процессов конфессиональной динамики на примере российского лютеранства, от предреволюционного периода до сегодняшнего дня. В системных процессах конфессиональной динамики выделяются две большие группы факторов: экстериорные и интериорные. К экстериорным относится прежде всего региональная, географическая миграция, приводящая к наполнению и демографическому перераспределению физического и социального пространства. Из интериорных факторов наиболее подробно рассматриваются процессы самоидентификации, которые, в свою очередь, сочетаются с религиозной идентификацией, для чего используется идентификационная модель, предъявленная обществу и закрепленная в социальной памяти. Отсутствие или размывание этой модели приводит к изменениям личной идентичности или затруднениям в ее определении. Сдвиги в коллективной идентичности современного российского лютеранства (фактические - например, ритуальные, или декларативные) ведут к идентфикационным сдвигам индивидуального плана. Прогностические возможности социальной аналитики в сфере религии подразумевают навыки системного анализа религии и религиозной ситуации. The paper examines various aspects of confessional dynamics through the history of Russian Lutheran Church from the prerevolutionary period to the present. The systemic processes of confessional dynamics rest on two major groups of factors: exterior and interior. Regional migration is the primary exterior factor bringing about the populating and demographic reshaping of physical and social fields. Processes of self-identification combined with religious identification are examined as the most influential interior factors. The identificational pattern is embedded in society and social memory. Personal identification can be diverted or complicated in absence or dilution of such a pattern. Diversions in the collective identity of the contemporary Russian Lutheran congregation (such as ritual or declarative) lead to identity diversions on an individual level. Prognostic potential of social analytics in religious sphere involves systemic analysis of religion and religious situation.
14
Bömelburg, Hans-Jürgen. "Reformierte Eliten im Preußenland: Religion, Politik und Loyalitäten in der Familie Dohna (1560–1660)." Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte - Archive for Reformation History 95, no. 1 (December 1, 2004): 210–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.14315/arg-2004-0109.
Full textAbstract:
ABSTRACT The archives of the Dohna family contain materials on the efforts at creating a “Second Reformation” in the Duchy of Prussia, where the early establishment of a Lutheran confessional foundation (the Corpus doctrinae pruthenicum| of 1567/68) and a solid ecclesiastical constitution prevented Calvinism from gaining a foothold. The Reformed creed found followers among the nobility through connections with the Reformed territories in the Holy Roman Empire, by close contact with Reformed theologians in royal Prussia, and by connections with the Calvinist church of the nobility in Poland and Lithuania. This network radiated into ducal Prussia, where the Dohnas became Calvinists. During the first three decades of the seventeenth century this led to a conflict between the Reformed party and the Lutheran majority among the theologians and the lower nobility. Drawing on the support of the Polish king, the Lutheran party succeeded between 1610 and 1620 in shutting out the Reformed officeholders by means of lawsuits and unequivocal oath formulas. The Reformed nobility were not helped by the connection they forged in 1613 with the equally Reformed territorial ruler because he had to take into account the Polish crown as well as ecclesiastical legal determinations in ducal Prussia.The Dohnas, who stood close to the Calvinist “party of movement,” tried nevertheless to introduce elements of the Reformed faith or to engage men who were inclined toward the Reformed creed into the churches within their patronage. In this context, the Dohnas argued with the noble concepts of patronage held by the Lithuanian Radziwiłłs, who used their rights of patronage to introduce Calvinist pastors. Repeated conflicts arose with the Ko¨ nigsberg consistory and neighboring Lutheran pastors, in the course of which both sides adhered to their positions. On the level of religious symbolism, the Dohnas removed images of saints and programmatically transformed older works of art to conform to Calvinism.The confessional disputes in the Duchy of Prussia are typologically similar to those in the Prussian cities (Elbing, Danzig, Thorn), except that in the former noble patronage and in the latter bourgeois patronage was contested. It is evident that in eastern Prussia, too, along with Lutheran confessionalization, numerous other religious influences were felt. Therefore, the region can be included more definitely than previously thought in the religious history of eastern central Europe.
15
Agafoshin, M. M., and S. A. Gorokhov. "Impact of external migration on changes in the Swedish religious landscape." Baltic Region 12, no. 2 (2020): 84–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.5922/2079-8555-2020-2-6.
Full textAbstract:
For most of its history, Sweden has been a country dominated by the Lutheran Church, having the status of the official state religion. Starting in mid-to-late 20th century, mass immigration to Europe had a considerable impact on the confessional structure of Sweden’s population. The growing number of refugees from the Balkan Peninsula, the Middle East, and Africa has turned Sweden into a multi-religious state. Sweden has become one of the leaders among the EU countries as far as the growth rates of adherents of Islam are concerned. Immigrants are exposed to adaptation difficulties causing their social, cultural and geographical isolation and making relatively isolated migrant communities emerge. This study aims at finding correlation between the changes in the confessional structure of Swedish population (as a result of the growing number of non-Christians) and the geographical structure of migrant flows into the country. This novel study addresses the mosaic structure of the Swedish religious landscape taking into account the cyclical dynamics of replacement of Protestantism by Islam. The methods we created make it possible to identify further trends in the Sweden’s religious landscape. This study adds to results of the complex sociological and demographic studies of the confessional structure of the Swedish population.
16
Müller, Johannes. "A Two- and a Threefold Cord." Church History and Religious Culture 99, no. 3-4 (December 4, 2019): 465–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/18712428-09903008.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Religious coexistence and even mixed marital unions were an undeniable reality in many parts of early modern Europe. Despite occasional harsh criticisms by the clergy, church authorities often had no choice than to silently accept religious diversity as an embarrassing fact of life. This article addresses the rare case of the Danzig Lutheran preacher Martin Statius (1589–1655), who tried to articulate well-balanced guidelines for the question of how to deal with religious diversity in public and private spaces. In order to create a theological framework for the discussion of this problem, Statius distinguished between three forms of human love: “natural, civic and spiritual.” Categorizing love and friendship in this manner enabled Statius to bridge the deep gap between theological ideals and the unruly reality of everyday life and offers an illuminating insight into confessional discourses and their relation to the social reality in multiconfessional cities.
17
Daija, Pauls. "The Development of Peasants’ Reading Habits in Courland and Livonia in the 18th Century*." Knygotyra 76 (July 5, 2021): 27–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.15388/knygotyra.2021.76.74.
Full textAbstract:
The article explores the development of peasants’ reading habits over the 18th century in the Latvian-inhabited Lutheran regions of Russia’s Baltic provinces Courland/Kurzeme and Latvian Livonia/Vidzeme. By analysing the transition from intensive to extensive reading patterns, as well as from loud and ceremonial to silent and private reading, insight into the available statistical sources and information from subscription lists is provided and the observations of contemporaries are scrutinized. The views on Latvian peasants’ reading habits expressed by Baltic-German Lutheran parsons Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß, Joachim Baumann, Christian David Lenz, Johann Friedrich Casimir Rosenberger, Alexander Johann Stender, as well as those published by Johann Friedrich Steffenhagen, are discussed within the context of urban and middle-class reading patterns. While the number of literate peasants in the 18th century was high, reaching one third in Courland and two thirds in Livonia by the turn of the 19th century, the motivation for reading and everyday habits differed, and while extensive reading increased, before the 1840s, the Baltic rural society did not see a phenomenon similar to the European middle-class reading revolution. The article focuses on differentiating among various types of readers, divided according to their confessional lines (Herrnhutian Brethren or Lutheran Orthodox Church), social standing (reading patterns were different depending on rural professions) or generation (the older generation tended to prefer loud and ceremonial religious reading while the younger generation more often adopted silent, private and secular reading). The collective reading of books has been explored by demonstrating how it allowed combining the reading of books with other activities and also performed a socializing function. The available sources demonstrate that quiet reading did not replace reading aloud, in the same way that extensive reading did not replace intensive, but all reading practices continued to co-exist alongside each other, creating an increasingly diverse and saturated reading experience.
18
Balabeikina, O. A., N. M. Mezhevich, and A. A. Iankovskaia. "Official Reporting of Religious Organizations as a Source of Empirical Data on the Activities of the Church: Some Questions of Theory and Practice of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden." Administrative Consulting, no. 10 (November 27, 2020): 135–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.22394/1726-1139-2020-10-135-145.
Full textAbstract:
The relevance of any material offered to the scientific and expert community depends on many factors. Objectively, the presence of this or that issue in the center of public attention has a positive effect on the actualization of this or that article. However, there is an obvious danger. Academic approaches that accidentally find themselves in resonance with global trends can fall victim to political conjuncture. Relevance in this case can fall victim to the political moment. Moreover, this or that topic, being in the center of public discussion, negatively affects the academic understanding of the problem. All this fully relates to the question of the relationship between the state and the church in modern Europe and Russia.A few words about global trends. Their essence boils down to the growing confrontation between supporters of new ideological approaches and traditionalists, among whom are many adherents.The relationship between religion and the state testifies to the fact that states and societies have not yet learned to draw an effective line between their interests and those of adherents. This fact presupposes careful state and public participation in the affairs of the church. However, acknowledging this circumstance is not enough. The state must clearly know what, where and how is happening in the church sphere of the life of society in cases where church affairs can affect public and state security.It is also known that almost all the leading churches, to a greater or lesser extent, provide official reporting to the state. However, working with this reporting, its scientific analysis is not always representative.Objective. The presented article is aimed at a partial solution of the problem of increasing the effectiveness of academic research of the church` activities. Moreover, it is made based on official church statistics.The author’s position is the following. States and societies have no right to let go of this vital sphere of life. The functions of the state, in this case, are at least controlling. The ineffective execution of its functions by the state can be revealed in many countries of the world. The situation in France is nothing more than a reference case of a problem that, to one degree or another, exists in most of the countries of the world, which are distinguished by ethnic and confessional heterogeneity.
19
Karttunen, Tomi. "The Lutheran Theology of Ordained Ministry in the Finnish Context." Ecclesiology 16, no. 3 (October 12, 2020): 361–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/17455316-bja10001.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract Martin Luther’s ordination formulary (1539) followed the early Church in its essential elements of the word, prayer, and the laying on of hands. Ordination was also strongly epicletic, including the invocation of the Holy Spirit. Although Luther did not understand ordination as a sacrament, he affirmed its effective, instrumental character. The Lutheran Reformation retained bishops, but the Augsburg Confession’s article concerning ministry did not mention episcopacy. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s ordination is by a bishop through the word, prayer, and laying on of hands. Ordination is not merely the public confirmation of vocation but an instrumental and sacramentally effective act, in which benediction confers the ministry. If the Church is Christ’s presence and the incarnate Word is the basic sacrament in Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue, is a differentiated consensus possible concerning the ministry of word and sacrament, and ordination within this context, as a means of grace indwelt by God?
20
Kotliarov, P. "THE MELANCHTHONIAN SCHOOL REFORM: A HUMANIST PARADIGM." Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. History, no. 133 (2017): 32–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.17721/1728-2640.2017.133.2.07.
Full textAbstract:
In this paper, we focused on the plan for the school of Eisleben (1525) by Philipp Melanchthon, which reveals the main trends of the Melanchthonian school reform in the early 16th century. We have outlined several important tasks set by Melanchthon to create a special educational space based on pietas and erudition. It is important also to clarify correlation between religious and Humanist elements in school plans and to highlight requirements for teachers in the newly founded schools. As we have found out, religious studies were scheduled only for for Sunday. Students were not expected to pass any tests; they only had to listen to the teacher’s explications. It was shown that, firstly, this school plan is essential for understanding of the young Melanchthon-humanist’s ideas, who renounced the former church school system and tried to restore inherent to school functions: to provide education and ethical upbringing. This is why the humanist take distance from theology – as from a Catholic one, so from a Lutheran. Secondly, Melanchthon tried to protect school from theological disputes, which were inevitable in confessional heterogenic Germany. This is why it was important to separate school from church. Melanchthon envisaged a careful integration of the religious component in school plans. The humanist supposed that this reduced religious lessons were provide future politicians, officials, teachers and pastors with pietas alongside studia. Melanchthon also assigned an important place to an individual approach to education and upbringing of students, which would take into consideration their psychophysical and intellectual peculiarities. In our opinion, it can be regarded as beginnings of the pedagogical psychology.
21
Russell, William R. "The Theological “Magna Charta” of Confessional Lutheranism." Church History 64, no. 3 (September 1995): 389–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3168946.
Full textAbstract:
The breakup of Western Christendom in the sixteenth century gained momentum when an academic theologian called into question the theology of the church in his day. Martin Luther wanted to discuss theology when he posted his Ninety-five Theses in 1517. In the ensuing years, Luther and the “Lutherans” were forced to forge their theology in the heat of an intensely polemical and conflict-ridden environment. They responded to the theological issues raised by their opponents, as well as to the real pastoral concerns of the emerging evangelical church in Protestant lands.
22
LYUBASHCHENKO, Viktoriya. "CROATIAN HUMANIST MATIJA VLAČIĆ AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT OF THE EARLY MODERN AGE." Problems of slavonic studies, no. 68 (2019): 54–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.30970/sls.2019.68.3071.
Full textAbstract:
Background: The 500th Anniversary of the Reformation has caused the emergence of many new publications in Ukraine dedicated to this phenomenon. Biographical research were taken quite modest positions among them. The focus was on the figures of the Western European Reformation, whose biographies are widely represented in world historiography. However, many Slavonic reformers still undervalued. In particular, a little known in Ukrainian studies remains a Croatian humanist of the 16th century Matija Vlačić (Matthias Flacius Illyricus). Purpose: The author put forward the task to acquaint the Ukrainian reader with the biography and creativity of the Croatian thinker, as well as to reveal his role in church processes, the development of theological and scientific knowledge in Early Modern Europe. To achieve this, the article is divided into several thematic blocks. The first covers the main pages of life and activity of Matija Vlačić as a Lutheran theologian, polemicist, enlightener, and scholar, the second – summarizes the early and modern studies devoted to Vlačić. The following two thematic blocks relate to his scholarly heritage in the fields of Biblical exegesis and hermeneutics (based on his “Clavis Scripturae”), сhurch history, and critical study of sources (based on “Catalogus testium Veritatis” and role of Vlačić in the creation of “Ecclesiastica Historia” – “Magdeburg Centuries”). Results: The author pays tribute to the scientific achievements of many scholars who have done important work in the study of personality of Matija, and supports the opinion expressed in contemporary historiography of his role in protection of Martin Luther’s reform. The article confirms significant of Vlačić contribution to the development of new principles of exegetics and its rise on the level of Biblical studies, and to the laying down the foundations of scientific hermeneutics and textology. The author traced use by Matija Vlačić his methods of exegetics in the study of historical documents and the comprehension of church history. An attempt at such use is his historical work “Catalogus testium Veritatis”, which can be regarded as an early experience which found a more serious incarnation in “Magdeburg Centuries”. Despite the obvious for the 16th century scientific achievements of “Catalogus” and “Centuries” polemical and ideological tendentiousness of their authors made church-historical science an element of confessional confrontation in Post-Reformation Europe. Scientific methods of Vlačić were used by Andrzej Węgierski – theologian and historian in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the author of the chronicle “Slavonic Reformation”, which became factual material for the historical works of many scholars of Eastern Europe. Key words: Reformation, Croatia, Matija Vlačić (Matthias Flacius Illyricus), exegetics, hermeneutics, сhurch history, “Clavis Scripturae”, “Catalogustestium Veritatis”, “Magdeburg Centuries”.
23
Marshall, Bruce. "Lutherans, Bishops, and the Divided Church." Ecclesiology 1, no. 2 (2005): 25–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1744136605051885.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractLutheran teaching on ministry, as embodied in the Lutheran Confessions, includes a strong preference for the traditional episcopate and threefold ministry of the Western church, while granting that the church can, if necessary, live without them. This teaching permits Lutheran churches that do not have episcopal succession to adopt it from churches (whether or not Lutheran) that do. As the ongoing controversy over the Lutheran/Anglican agreement in the US exemplifies, however, Lutheran churches have been highly resistant to this step. The reasons for this are not peculiar to Lutheranism, but lie in the assumption of denominational self-sufficiency which affects virtually all modern ecumenism.
24
Van Der Pol, F. "Eentfoldich End Kortt Discours Van Henlegginge Der Huiden Riligionssverschillen, So Hier Alss Anders-Swaer in Der Evangelische Christenheitt Van Langerhandt40 Erressen." Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis / Dutch Review of Church History 74, no. 2 (1994): 216–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/002820394x00174.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractThe archives of the town of Kampen in Overijssel (the Netherlands) contain an early 17th-century manuscript by an unknown author. The manuscript is about an ecclesiastical conflict in the period preceding the Synod of Dort (1618-1619). The document might be related to peace efforts as also made by Hugo Grotius in the dispute between Remonstrants and Contraremonstrants. The author does not aim at a doctrinal decision or strict definition, but at accommodation and tolerance. The idea of an evangelical-Lutheran contribution to solve the party conflict in order to reach a conciliation between Lutherans and Reformed also strikes one as 'Grotiaans'. Another feature which makes this document look like the efforts of Grotius is the link between political and ecclesiastical peace. People should accept each other as citizens, despite their religious differences. The document contains a couple of indications which provide a profile of the author. This profile is applied to the border province of Overijssel, with concentration on the town of Kampen. The author may have been the headmaster of a Latin School. In 1617, this school in Kampen was run by Marcus Gualtherus, a scholar from Weinheim in the Lower Palatinate, near Heidelberg. He studied at Heidelberg. His scholarship, his Palatine origin, his many-sided contacts, all this corresponds with features of the treatise. The author shows familiarity with theological issues within the Lutheran Church in Germany. In his proposal, the five articles of the Remonstrants should be approached with the help of the Palatine experience. The writer of the treatise refers to the 16th-century Lutheran creeds and reformers like Luther, Bucer and Zwingli. He indicates the important role of the CA in achieving unity among Lutherans in Germany. This confession is quoted repeatedly as a model for the Protestants in the Netherlands. At the synod a final draft could be formulated with the aid of the Book of Concord. A final text might be endorsed by all evangelical churches. With the acceptance of this document upon which all parties agree, a general concordia of the whole of evangelical Christendom will have been established.
25
Kroczek, Piotr. "Diocesan Synod from the Catholic and Lutheran Perspectives." Ecumeny and Law 8 (December 29, 2020): 7–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.31261/eal.2020.08.01.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of the article is to verify the hypothesis that the institutions of diocesan synod in the perspective of the Roman Catholic Church and that of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Poland are very similar. The method to achieve the aim is the comparable analysis of the legal provisions of the fundamental laws of the Churches which refer to diocesan synod. The general conclusion is that the institutions of diocesan synod seen in the two perspectives are completely incompatible. They are different institutions.
26
Spinks, Bryan D. "A Seventeenth-Century Reformed Liturgy of Penance and Reconciliation." Scottish Journal of Theology 42, no. 2 (May 1989): 183–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s003693060005643x.
Full textAbstract:
In the Babylonian Captivity, 1520, Luther launched an attack on the number of ordinances which the medieval Western Church labelled ‘sacraments’. According to Luther, only three were worthy of the title sacrament: baptism, the bread, and penance. Although critical of the prevailing penitential system, Luther not only defended the sacramental status of penance, but also the practice of auricular confession:As to the current practice of private confession, I am heartily in favor of it, even though it cannot be proved from the Scriptures. It is useful, even necessary, and I would not have it abolished.
27
Landry, Stan M. "That All May Be One? Church Unity and the German National Idea, 1866–1883." Church History 80, no. 2 (May 13, 2011): 281–301. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0009640711000047.
Full textAbstract:
Despite the political unification of the German Empire in 1871, the longstanding confessional divide between German Catholics and Protestants persisted through the early Wilhelmine era. Because confessional identity and difference were pivotal to how Germans imagined a nation, the meaning of German national identity remained contested. But the formation of German national identity during this period was not neutral—confessional alterity and antagonism was used to imagine confessionally exclusive notions of German national identity. The establishment of a “kleindeutsch” German Empire under Prussian-Protestant hegemony, the anti-Catholic policies of the Kulturkampf, and the 1883 Luther anniversaries all conflated Protestantism with German national identity and facilitated the marginalization of German Catholics from early Wilhelmine society, culture, and politics. While scholars have recognized this “confessionalization of the German national idea” they have so far neglected how proponents of church unity imagined German national unity and identity. This paper examines how Ut Omnes Unum—an ecumenical group of German Catholics and Protestants—challenged the conflation of Protestantism and German national identity and instead proposed an inter-confessional notion of German national identity that was inclusive of both Catholics and Protestants.
28
Wien, Ulrich A. "Flucht hinter den „Osmanischen Vorhang“. Glaubensflüchtlinge in Siebenbürgen." Journal of Early Modern Christianity 6, no. 1 (April 26, 2019): 19–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jemc-2019-2001.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract The article deals with several periods and phenomena of migration to Transylvania behind the “Ottoman curtain” and its impacts between the first half of the sixteenth to the midst of the eighteenth century. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century the mental, political and confessional diverted or inhomogeneous frame conditions preordained the region as an area which was open minded for heterogeneous thinking, experiments and individuals or groups. Especially the dominance of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans enabled adopting the reformation without Habsburg renitancy as a laboratory for religious heterogeneity. First, we notice that the later Reformer of Braşov (Johannes Honterus) imported the German Reformation to Transylvania after the end of his political exile in several centres of Reformation. After an expulsion order by the Habsburg King Ferdinand I, the Wittenberg minded reformer Paulus Wiener from Ljubljana (Slovenia) settled in Sibiu and became in 1553 the first superintendent and fortified the reform. Italian deviant preachers travelled through the realm of Queen Isabella Jagiellonica and King/Prince János II Zsigmond Szápolyai. After expulsion from Poland because of antitrinitarian ideas, the court physician Giorgio Biandrata tried to establish an open-minded protestant country. Freedom of preaching the gospel without hierarchical control – perhaps the aim of a Unitarian established regional church in the Principality – opened the border for antitrinitarian thinkers who had flown from Heidelberg, Italy and other parts of Europe. In the seventeenth century – in the 30 years’ war – the Calvinist Gábor Bethlen founded an ambitious university Academy in Alba Iulia and offered resort to Calvinist professors of central Europe. At the same time (1622), the Diet of Transylvania provided refuge to Hutterites (handcrafters called Habaner) from Moravia to settle in Transylvania – interdicting mission. Their Anabaptist behaviour attracted 130 years later some of the “Transmigrants” who were expelled by the counterreformation minded Charles VI and Maria Theresia from Austrian, Styria and Carinthian underground Protestants. About 3000 persons were exact relocated to the “heretic corner” of the conquered province of Transylvania – the former Ottoman vassal – where the Habsburgs had to respect the Basic Constitutional Law (by the Diploma Leopoldinum) including religious freedom of 1595. The religiones receptae were Roman-catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist and Unitarian, but also the “tolerated” Rumanian-orthodox churches. There has to be some research to the question of Ottoman-Christian interplay, motives and strategies of the heteronomy of the estates and the problem whether the non-absolutistic governance and policy was an advantage.
29
Jackson, Robert. "SOURCES OF UNITY OR DISRUPTION? A REFLECTION ON SOME MID-SIXTEENTH CENTURY REFUGEE CHURCHES." Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 42, no. 3 (March 7, 2017): 161–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/2412-4265/2083.
Full textAbstract:
The sixteenth century refugee churches in “Germany” show a near universal tendency towards disputation and discord. While this rather depressing picture can be placed at the door of Lutheran hostility, it is sad to record that the refugee churches themselves were not without fault in heightening the conflict between Lutheran and Reformed – making unity between the two confessions increasingly unlikely. The refugee churches were also a product of the circumstances in which they lived, the intimacy of which often gave rise to tension and argument. From these churches can be traced the seeds of congregationalism that took root in the following century. The London Stranger churches present a somewhat different picture. While not free from internal dispute, the social work of their consistories played a large part in the integration of refugee communities into late sixteenth century London. This can be counted as one of the more positive aspects of the sixteenth century refugee church.
30
David, ZdenĚk V. "Utraquists, Lutherans, and the Bohemian Confession of 1575." Church History 68, no. 2 (June 1999): 294–337. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3170859.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this article is to address the controversial issue of the status of the Utraquist Church in the Kingdom of Bohemia in consequence of the drafting of the Bohemian Confession in 1575. The chronological scope is limited to the period up to 1609, when the issuance of the Letter of Majesty in 1609 formalized the gentlemen's agreement of 1575 and altered the ecclesiastical structure accordingly. According to Czech historiography, the parliamentary action of 1575– which granted toleration, albeit tacit and conditional, to the Lutherans and the Bohemian Brethren—represented a moment of truth for traditional Utraquism, which dated to the original Bohemian Reformation. On the one hand, the Utraquists' choice was to reaffirm its late medieval reformist tradition that preserved the traditional liturgy (including the seven sacraments), a belief in the sacramental episcopate and priesthood in a historic apostolic succession, and the belief in the efficaciousness of good works in the drama of salvation. On the other hand, their choice was to embrace the Lutheran Reformation, which rejected all the doctrines just enumerated.
31
Hintz, Marcin. "Synod as the Embodiment of the Church — the Evolution of Lutheran Understanding of Synodality." Ecumeny and Law 7 (November 24, 2019): 77–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.31261/eal.2019.07.04.
Full textAbstract:
The concept of the synod plays a special role in the Evangelical ecclesiology. In the 20th century, the synod was radically defined as “the personification of the Church.” In the Evangelical tradition, however, there are equal Church management systems: episcopal, synodal-consistory, presbyterian (mainly in the Evangelical-Reformed denomination), and to a lesser extent congregational (especially observed in the so-called free Churches). Reformation theology understands the Church as a community of all saints, where the Gospel is preached purely and the sacraments are properly administered (Augsburg Confession — CA VII). The system of the Church does not belong to the so-called notae ecclesiae. An important theological doctrine of the Reformation is the teaching about the universal priesthood of all believers, which is the theological foundation of the idea of the synodal responsibility of the Church. In the 19th century synods concerned mainly clergy. In the 20th century, in the course of democratisation processes, most Evangelical Churches raised the importance of the synod in the overall management of the Church, and the Polish Lutheran Church introduced a provision into her law which stipulates that the synod is “the embodiment of the Church” and its supreme authority.
32
Markkola, Pirjo. "The Long History of Lutheranism in Scandinavia. From State Religion to the People’s Church." Perichoresis 13, no. 2 (October 1, 2015): 3–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/perc-2015-0007.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract As the main religion of Finland, but also of entire Scandinavia, Lutheranism has a centuries-long history. Until 1809 Finland formed the eastern part of the Swedish Kingdom, from 1809 to 1917 it was a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire, and in 1917 Finland gained independence. In the 1520s the Lutheran Reformation reached the Swedish realm and gradually Lutheranism was made the state religion in Sweden. In the 19th century the Emperor in Russia recognized the official Lutheran confession and the status of the Lutheran Church as a state church in Finland. In the 20th century Lutheran church leaders preferred to use the concept people’s church. The Lutheran Church is still the majority church. In the beginning of 2015, some 74 percent of all Finns were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. In this issue of Perichoresis, Finnish historians interested in the role of church and Christian faith in society look at the religious history of Finland and Scandinavia. The articles are mainly organized in chronological order, starting from the early modern period and covering several centuries until the late 20th century and the building of the welfare state in Finland. This introductory article gives a brief overview of state-church relations in Finland and presents the overall theme of this issue focusing on Finnish Lutheranism. Our studies suggest that 16th and early 17th century Finland may not have been quite so devoutly Lutheran as is commonly claimed, and that late 20th century Finland may have been more Lutheran than is commonly realized.
33
Hill, Christopher. "The Nordic and Baltic Churches." Ecclesiastical Law Journal 3, no. 17 (July 1995): 420–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0956618x00000429.
Full textAbstract:
In October 1992 representatives of the British and Irish Anglican Churches, together with their counterparts from the Nordic and Baltic Lutheran Churches signed an historic agreement near Porvoo in Finland which, if accepted by all these churches, will bring about their closer communion. The Porvoo Common Statement and a supporting dossier of Essays on Church and Ministry in Northern Europe were published in 1993 (Together in Mission and Ministry, Church House Publishing, London). The Porvoo Common Statement is now being considered by the General Synod which will be asked to accept a core Joint Declaration. This begins by a mutual acknowledgement of each other's churches as part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. A second acknowledgement follows concerning the mutual presence of the Word of God and the Sacraments of baptism and the eucharist;then acknowledgements of the common confession of the apostolic faith and the ministry as both an instrument of grace and as having Christ's commission.
34
Thompson, Glen L. "The Daughter of the Word: What Luther Learned from the Early Church and the Fathers." Perichoresis 17, no. 4 (December 1, 2019): 41–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/perc-2019-0027.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract All the major sixteenth-century Reformers knew something about the early church and used the early Fathers. As an Augustinian monk and professor of theology, however, Luther’s knowledge and use of the great Father was both deeper and more nuanced. While indebted to Augustine, Luther went further in defining what it meant for theology to be ‘scriptural’. He saw history as the interaction of God’s two regimes, and the church of every age as weak and flawed but conquering through the cross of Christ. This led him to a free use of the Fathers without being constrained to always agree with or imitate them. The comfort he received from the Apostles’ Creed in particular led him to appreciate the early creedal statements, and so it was natural for him to use them as models when formulating the new confessions required in his own day. The sixteenth-century heritage of written confessions of faith is a heritage under-appreciated but still vital for church bodies today.1
35
Di Donna, Gianandrea. "Mixed-Marriages in the Liturgical Catholic Church Tradition." Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu 10, no. 3 (December 1, 2018): 412–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/ress-2018-0031.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract The question of inter-confessional marriages concerns all the Churches and has become much more urgent because of the great mobility of contemporary man. The Christian wedding is seen as a sacrament of Christ by the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, while the Churches born from the Protestant Reformation do not take this sacramental view, although Luther considers the divine blessing on the institution useful. The advantage of a sacramental perspective lies in the fact that the spouses, by virtue of the sacrament of marriage, become capable of “being married” according to the quality of Christ’s paschal love for his Church. In this way, according to the author, other theological perspectives open up, for example the sequela Christi, the idea of the vocation to Christian marriage, the foundation of the bond of indissolubility-fidelity and the foundation of sexual union-fruitfulness.
36
MCINTOSH, TERENCE. "PIETISTS, JURISTS, AND THE EARLY ENLIGHTENMENT CRITIQUE OF PRIVATE CONFESSION IN LUTHERAN GERMANY." Modern Intellectual History 12, no. 3 (March 19, 2015): 627–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1479244314000900.
Full textAbstract:
From the 1680s to the 1720s German Lutheran pastors’ use of private confession and suspension from Communion as a means of disciplining wayward parishioners generated seminal theological and intellectual debates. They were driven by Pietists and secular natural law jurists and concerned ultimately the purported corruption in the early Christian church that led to the abusive, unwarranted, and centuries-long intrusion of clerical power into secular affairs. By investigating these debates, this essay reveals in new ways the constructive collision of two different intellectual predispositions—one clerical, the other legal—that propelled the early Enlightenment in Germany. Letters from the 1680s and other writings of Philipp Jakob Spener, the father of German Pietism, show how he and fellow clergymen wrestled with specific pastoral challenges regarding the disciplining of allegedly unrepentant and incorrigible sinners. Christian Thomasius, a central figure in the early Enlightenment, and other secular natural law jurists vigorously rebutted the Pietists’ claims by critically examining the practice of confession in the primitive church, thereby exposing the historical origins of priestcraft. In doing so, Thomasius highlighted affinities between his work and that of the radical Pietist Gottfried Arnold, who had indicted the clergies of Christian churches for their unjust and inveterate persecution of religious dissidents. But Thomasius also faulted Arnold for weaknesses in his biblical scholarship. Thomasius's criticism points to the special form of biblical scholarship that secular natural law jurists had helped to develop and that predisposed them to embrace radical interpretations of Scripture, a potent stimulant of early Enlightenment thought.
37
Lunkin, R., and S. Filatov. "Christian Churches and the Antiidentist Revolution." World Economy and International Relations 65, no. 8 (2021): 97–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2021-65-8-97-108.
Full textAbstract:
The article analyzes the ideological contradictions of liberal democracy, or neoliberalism (antiidentism), and traditionalism (identism) on the example of Christian churches. Antiindentism considers traditional religiosity to be hostile: it should be reformed to conform to neoliberal values, and it should be banished from public space. At the same time, antiidentism does not want to eliminate religion, because it is one of the identities that have to be redone like other human identites. The article examines anti-Christian movements (like the “Black Lives Matter”) as well as conservative and liberal movements within various confessions. The authors emphasize that the antiidentist demands are based on the Christian values of respect for any person, for women and men, regardless of anything, for humane methods of raising children, mercy for any categories of people, regardless of their sexual orientation, etc. On the other hand, the demands of antiidentists go far beyond Christian principles and even common sense (not to quote inconvenient passages of the Bible, to change the rules of church life and the appointment of clergy). The article proposes a classification of confessions by direction and by territorial feature, depending on specifics of divisions based on the attitude to antiidentism (American Churches, the Catholic Church, Lutherans and Anglicans as well as diversity of Orthodox churches that are also touched by the antiidentist wave). The authors conclude that the Christian churches, despite the existence of liberal factions, are primarily a traditionalist force in modern politics. Because of fundamental ideological differences, the consolidation of diverse Christian forces is a difficult task. However, there is some progress in this direction. Evangelicals, traditional Catholics, who make up the majority of the Catholic Church, as well as the majority of Orthodox Christians, are a serious political and, what perhaps more important, ideological force.
38
Van Eck, Xander. "De decoratie van de Lutherse kerk te Gouda in de zeventiende eeuw." Oud Holland - Quarterly for Dutch Art History 105, no. 3 (1991): 167–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/187501791x00029.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractIn 1623 the Lutherans formed a community in Gouda. They appointed a minister, Clemens Bijleveld from Essen, and held their services in private houses at first. In 1640 'Dc Drie Tafelkaarsen', a house on the Lage Gouwe, was converted into a permanent church for them. Thanks to the Groot Protocol, in which the minutes of the church administration were recorded from this donation until the end of the eighteenth century, it is possible to reconstruct the history of the community. The manuscript also documents important gifts of works of art and church furnishings. In 1642 and 1643 seven large paintings were donated. As we know, Luther did not object to depictions which served to illustrate the Word of God as preached in the sermon. The Dutch Lutheran churches, although more austerely furnished than, say, their German or Norwegian counterparts, were certainly more richly decorated than they are today. The Lutheran church in Leiden houses the most intact ensemble of works of art. Of the seven aforementioned paintings in Gouda, one was donat ed by the preacher himself. It is by the Gouda painter Jan Duif, who depicted Bijleveld as a shepherd (fin. I). The iconography and the biblical captions show that he was presenting himself as a follower of Christ in his quality of a teacher. Two figures in the background, likewise gowned, might be Bijleveld's successors: his nephew (minister from 1655 to 1693) and his nephew's son, both of whom were called Clemens Bijleveld. They were probably added to the panel after the latter's premature death in 1694. The other six paintings were donated bv members of the community and churchwardens. In some of them the donors can be identified with characters in the illustrated episodes from the bible. From the spinsters of the parish came a work depicting the parable of the wise and foolish virgins; the churchwardens, evidently seeing themselves in the guise of the apostles, gave a pedilavium. The widow Hester Claes van Hamborg donated a painting of Simon in the Temple (in which the widow Anna figures prominently), and Catharina Gerdss Rijneveld, probably also widowed, gave Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. The unmarried men of the community presented a painting with a more general subject, the Last Judgment, perhaps intended to be hung above the pulpit. The wealthy Maria Tams gave a work described as 'cen taeffereel of bort van de christ. kercke' la scene or panel of the Christian church]. Exactly what it depicted is unclear. The same Maria Tams was a generous donor of church furniture. She presented a brass chandelier, two brass lecterns (fig. 4), a bible with silver fittings and a clock to remind the preacher of the limited time allotted to his sermon. Important gifts of ecclesiastical silver were made from 1655 on. The most striking items are an octagonal font of 1657 (fig. 5) and a Communion cup of 1661 (fig. 6), both paid for by the proceeds of a collection held among the unmarried men and women of the parish. The decorations on the font include a depiction of Christ as the Good Shepherd. There is also shepherd on the lid of the Communion cup. This element (in view, too, of the indication of the shepherd 'als 't wapen van de kerk' [the church arms] in the Groot Protocol) came to occupy a special place in the imagery of the Lutheran community. More space was required for the growing congregation, In 1680 there was an opportunity to purchase from the municipal council St. Joostenkapel, a mediaeval chapel used as a storeroom at the time. The building, situated on the river Gouwe which flows through the old town centre, was ready for the inaugural service in 1682. It was given ten staincd-glass windows, the work of the Gouda glass painter Willem Tomberg. The glass (along with six of the seven paintings) was sold during the course of renovations in 1838, but thanks to the later secretary of the community, D.J. van Vreumingen, who madc drawings of them and copied the inscriptions, we have an approximate idea of how they looked. Their original positions can also be reconstructed (fig. 13). The windows were largely executed in grisaille, except for the second and eighth, which were more colourful. The seven side-windows with scenes from the life of Christ and the Passion (figs. 8-11) were presented by the minister, his wife and other leading members of the community. The inscriptions on these windows referred to the bible passages they illustrated and to the names of the donors. The three windows at the front were donated by the Gouda municipal council (window 10, fig. 12) and the sympathetic Lutheran communities of Leiden and Essen (windows 8 and 9, figs. 11 and 12). The depiction on the window from Leiden was a popular Lutheran theme: John's vision on Patmos. The candle-stick featuring in this vision was a symbol (as in a print of 1637, for instance) for the Augsburg Confession, on which the Lutheran church was founded. In the eighteenth century occasional additions were made to the inventory, but the nineteenth century was a period of growing austerity. However, the Groot Protocol and Van Vreumingen's notes facilitate the reconstruction of the seventeenth-century interior to a large extent. The iconography of the works of art collected in the course of the years underlined the community's endeavour, in following the teachings of its earthly shepherd, to live according to the Holy Word.
39
Korzo, Margarita A. "On the Selfname and Identity of the 16th–17th century Polish Reformed Churches." Study of Religion, no. 2 (2019): 17–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.22250/2072-8662.2019.2.17-22.
Full textAbstract:
The article questions the legitimacy of use of the terms “Calvinist” and “Calvinism” as applied to the polish adherents of the emerging Evangelical-Reformed Church in the second half of the16th – at the beginnings of the 17th centuries and their doctrinal writings. The author analyzes various versions of the self-names of these Protestant follows, and the names given to them both by adherents of other branches of Protestantism and by Catholics. The author comes to the conclusion, that the theological legacy of John Calvin exerted its influence only to an insignificant degree on catechisms of the polish Reformed of that epoch, and with much more reason can be said about the existence of many other sources of theological inspirations (from Lutherans, Bohemian Brethren, follows of Johannes Oecolampadius, others), which had a significant impact on the confessional identity formation of the Polish Reformed churches.
40
Nogueira, Sandra Vidal. "A tradiçao luterana e comunitária nas escolas da IECLB: Aproximações com os ideais de democratização da educação." REFLEXUS - Revista Semestral de Teologia e Ciências das Religiões 10, no. 15 (July 18, 2016): 35. http://dx.doi.org/10.20890/reflexus.v10i15.356.
Full textAbstract:
O texto aborda a tradição luterana e comunitária nas escolas da Igreja Evangélica de Confissão Luterana no Brasil (IECLB), destacando a Reforma Protestante para os ideais de democratização da educação. Parte-se do pressuposto que essas comunidades, cuja membresia é, por razões histórias, delineada a partir da etnia, têm contribuído sobremaneira para o incremento da educação, principalmente no Sul do Brasil. Entendida num sentido mais amplo, o conceito de educação que subjaz ao ideário luterano possibilita o domínio e a compreensão da “palavra” e a sua prática cria condições para “o livre libertado”, nas palavras de Martin Lutero. Em síntese, consta-se que o grande desafio enfrentado nacontemporaneidade consiste em buscar a centralidade dos ideais da Reforma que foi sendo construído, alicerçado nas seguintes diretrizes pedagógicas: 1) Reciprocidade e interação entre escola e comunidade; 2) Liberdade de expressão, autonomia de pensamento e igualdade de oportunidades; 3) Desenvolvimento integral do serhumano.The text covers the Lutheran tradition and community schools the Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB), highlighting the Protestant Reformation to the ideals of democratization of education. This is on the assumption that those communities whose membership is by stories reasons outlined from the ethnic group, have contributed greatly to the growth of education, especially in southern Brazil. Understood in a broader sense, the concept of education that underlies the ideology Lutheran enables mastery and understanding of the "word" and its practice creates conditions for "free released" in the words of Martin Luther. In summary, it stated that the major challenge facing nowadays is to seek the centrality of the ideals of the Reformation that was being built, based on the following educational guidelines: 1) Reciprocity and interaction between school and community; 2) Freedom of expression, freedom of thought and equal opportunities; 3) full development of the human being.
41
White, Robert. "Oil and Vinegar: Calvin on Church Discipline." Scottish Journal of Theology 38, no. 1 (February 1985): 25–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0036930600041600.
Full textAbstract:
Despite the excessive claims sometimes made for the unity and consistency of Calvin's thought, there is no evidence to suggest that he ever varied his views on the distinctive marks of the church. From the first edition of the Institute to the last, the formula remains unchanged: ‘Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to Christ's institution, there, it is not to be doubted, a church of God exists.’ It has long been recognized that the notion of the two marks of the church is not original to Calvin, but derives from the Augsburg Confession of 1530, in which the faithful teaching of the gospel and the proper administration of the sacraments are said to designate the assembly of all believers (art. 7). Like Luther and Melanchthon, but unlike the framers of the Scots and Belgic Confessions, the French Reformer does not make discipline an explicit mark of the church. Nevertheless, so central an element is it in his ecclesiology that it is always found in the closest relationship with Word and sacraments. The Word is not only to be preached but ‘reverently heard’; it is a ‘royal sceptre’ to which all hearts and minds are to be brought in willing submission. Similarly the sacraments are, through the Spirit, manifest signs of God's work within us, ‘softening the stubbornness of our heart, and composing it to that obedience which it owes the Word of the Lord’.
42
Щітова, С. А., and Г. О. Савонюк. "Scripture – source of composerʼs inspiration (to the 500year of Reformation)." Музикознавча думка Дніпропетровщини, no. 13 (August 15, 2018): 117–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.15421/221811.
Full textAbstract:
The aim of this article is retracing stage-by-stage development of passions and to argue actuality of genre on the modern stage, defining text biblical basis as invariable and significance. Bible became an uniting factor for all times, for believers of confessions and creations of different forms and genres, among that liturgies, masses, spiritual concerts, passions. The genre of passions has centuries-old history. The most ancient reminiscence about passions are related yet to the rituals of resurrection of Egyptian God Osiris. In the article the value of activity of М. Luther reveals not only for forming of new church confession; his musical reforms, that became the important stage in development of many genres are retraced too, including passions. Methodology of research is based on comparatively-historical method, methods of induction, genre-style analysis, that allows to consider the certain standards of modern passions and defines their place in cultural space. Scientific novelty is research of genesis of genre with the weighty role of М. Luther in claim of protestant chorale as the basis of passions in XVI – XVII. Scientific novelty is appeal to the standards of modern musical creation, which are not insufficiently studed and require the proper analysis. In the article it is suggested to classify passions on the text filling as „classicˮ („biblicalˮ), „mundaneˮ, „mixedˮ. Conclusions. In the article the historical process of development of passions from sources to contemporaneity is retraced. Activity of M. Luther that first translated Scripture into German became a great incitement. In-process from the protestant chorale by Luther a parallel is conducted to modern western (John Debney) and Ukrainian passions (Alexander Коzаrеnко), in which the catholic model of genre is indicated by a composer only in the title of work, and old church slavonic antibackgrounds become the basis of all composition with their Оstrozhskiy tune.
43
Mnozhynska, R. "Towards a History of Ukrainian-German Confessional Relations (1st half of XVI century)." Ukrainian Religious Studies, no. 49 (March 10, 2009): 174–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.32420/2009.49.2010.
Full textAbstract:
Figures that caused in the first half of the sixteenth century. pan-European resonance, were known as Martin Luther (Martin Luther; 1483 - 1546) - the great reformer of the Church, the founder of the Protestant movement and Philipp Melanchton (1497 - 1560) - the German humanist, theologian and teacher, the evangelical reformer and systematist theology. Stanislav Orikhovsky-Roksolan (1513 - 1566), a well-known Ukrainian-Polish humanist, polemicist, philosopher and historian, who in the opinion of Polish scholar Jozef Lichtenstuhl, was "well-known in his time" , will not stand at the very end, but even in the philosophy of law in the sixteenth century Poland will occupy even the main place ...; which, even in such an enlightened noble environment, remained illuminated. "
44
Shackelford, Jole. "Paracelsianism and the Orthodox Lutheran Rejection of Vital Philosophy in Early Seventeenth-Century Denmark." Early Science and Medicine 8, no. 3 (2003): 210–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157338203x00071.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractParacelsian medicine and natural philosophy was formed during the Radical Reformation and incorporated metaphysical propositions that were incompatible with the Lutheran confession as codified in the Confessio Augustana and elaborated in the ultra-orthodox Formula of Concord. Although Paracelsian ideas and practices were endorsed by important philosophers and physicians in late-sixteenth century Denmark without raising serious alarm, the imposition of strict Lutheran orthodoxy in the Danish Church and a concomitant resurgence of Aristotelian philosophy drew attention to the religious heterodoxies inherent in Paracelsianism. Unacceptable theological and religious propositions, which reached Denmark in Rosicrucian texts and were implicit in certain medical and philosophical treatises, were in many cases inseparable from core Paracelsian concepts, with the result that Danish academic philosophers, physicians, and theologians rejected Paracelsian ideas except where they could be accommodated to acceptable Galenic and Aristotelian interpretations. When this was done, such ideas are arguably no longer Paracelsian in any meaningful way.
45
Marynchak, A. V. "Marian Theme in Music: Aspects of History and Genre Stylistics (a Case Study of the Works byKonstanty Antoni Gorski)." Aspects of Historical Musicology 18, no. 18 (December 28, 2019): 213–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.34064/khnum2-18.12.
Full textAbstract:
The objectives of the research. The article is devoted to the study of the main parameters of the Marian theme embodiment in the art of music, with highlighting the aspects of history and genre stylistics. It is noted that the choice of the topic is related to the study of the works by the Kharkiv composer of Polish origin Konstanty Antoni Gorski, who worked in Kharkiv for many years (1880–1910) and belongs to the founders of his academic musical culture. The article lays the methodological basis for studying interpretation of the Marian theme in the works by this author, for that the analysis of the relevant sources (theological, musicological, etc.) has been carried out to derive the genre-stylistic classifications for this phenomenon (confessional, genre, national classifications). The results of the study. It is noted that the Marian theme in music can be classified as one of its central themes. This is due to the general ethical and natural content of the European music of the academic layer, which itself, as it is known, originated from the Church music and retained the features of high contemplation inherent in the cult genres, which determined the prospect line for the subsequent development of the Christian world music. The study emphasizes that the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary acts as a part and an important component of the New Testament, where two her main hypostases are presented. The Virgin Mary is honored and praised, firstly, as the Mother of the Son of God, who experienced suffering with him for the good of humanity, and secondly, as the intercessor and guardian of people who believe in her divine power and destiny. Here, the two interpretations of the Blessed Virgin’s image should be borne in mind, which are implemented at the confessional level – in the Catholic and Orthodox liturgical service. The whole branch of knowledge, called Mariology, is devoted to the study of these issues in the European theology and art history. The musical aspects of this field, presented in the monograph by O. Nemkova (2013), are closely related to religious teachings, as well as to their secular reflection at the level of the genre, style and stylistics of the musical works. The musical interpretation of the Blessed Virgin’s image, coming from Catholicism is based on the postulates of Her Divine destiny, which is reflected in the canonical texts in Latin, among which two main ones stand out – “Stabat Mater” and “Salve Regina”. These texts are realized in the cantata genre, the basis of which is the style of da chiesa, that is, the concerto itself in the church that accompanies the service in honor of Virgin Mary. The latter takes place in such holidays: Conception of Mary by Her mother Anna, Nativity of Mary, Presentation of Mary, Annunciation, Dormition of the Mother of God. The prayer “Ave Maria” is also very popular, and it has become for many European authors the basis of both applied religious and secular works, an example of which is the music of Early Baroque, Romanticism and Modern times. The secularization processes that began in the music of the Christian world on the turn of the Late Renaissance and Baroque (the watershed here is the 1600 year, the official year of the opera genre birth), called to life two groups of works on Marian themes: 1) the compositions nearby to the canonical original, as a rule, Latin texts (they were distributed among Catholics by religion and in Catholic countries); 2) the works modified, based on translations and free narrations of canonical texts given in the national languages and in suitable stylistics of one or another national culture (this is characteristic of Protestantism, as well as of Orthodoxy). There is also a deep line of interpretation of the Blessed Virgin’s image, personifying the eternal idea of motherhood and femininity, which is equally characteristic of many national musical cultures, in particular, the non-religious wave that manifested itself in Slavic music, first at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries, and then – during the last two decades of the 20th century. It is noted that Gorski, remaining a devout Catholic by the nature of his activity in such interfaith cultural center as Kharkiv in the late 19th – the first two decades of the 20th centuries, embodied in his work the traditions and demands coming from the Polish (Catholic) as well as the Ukrainian (Orthodox) and French and German (Lutheran, Protestant) musical cultures. On this basis, three of his opuses devoted to Virgin Mary arose: the Catholic cantata “Salve Regina” (for voice, violin and organ), the concerto-cantata in French “Salutation a la Sainte Vierge” (for soprano accompanied by choir, organ, string quintet and two French horns), and the choral concerto for the Orthodox mixed choir “Zriaszcze mia bezglasna” on the Old Slavonic text. Each of these works is a special genre form, with which Gorski works as with a standard model equipped with a lexical layer of a certain musical stylistics, primarily national. The Polish song and romanza sources are traced in the first of the works, along with the obvious influence of the opera arias. In the cantata on the French text, echoes of not only opera scenes are heard, but also the elements of the programme music, story-telling, characteristic of French musical style. Finally, the Orthodox choral Concerto on the Old Slavonic text demonstrates the typical genre of the Ukrainian music – the large form intended for collective choral performance that was the equivalent of a symphony in the Western European musical culture. Conclusion. It is proved that, guided by the world experience, Konstanty Antoni Gorski embodies all these models in three Marian works – the canonical church cantata, the larger-scale secular cantata, the a cappella choral concerto, while remaining a composer with original and unique intonational thinking. Gorski in these three compositions appears as a neoclassic, subordinating the original genres to his own creative intentions, which makes the music of these compositions comprehensible and accessible to a wide audience. It was that for the purpose to popularize the opuses by Gorski this article has been written.
46
Glebe-Møller, Jens. "Grundtvig og rationalisterne." Grundtvig-Studier 62, no. 1 (January 1, 2011): 81–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.7146/grs.v62i1.16580.
Full textAbstract:
Grundtvig og rationalisterne[Grundtvig and rationalist theology]By Jens Glebe MøllerAs is well known, Grundtvig disliked the Enlightenment and was a staunch opponent of the rationalist theology in his own days as well as in the 17th century. In this essay rationalist theology and its philosophical background is briefly presented as well as an article by Grundtvig from Theologisk Maanedsskrift 1825, in which he vehemently criticises the Enlightenment and, according to him, the widespread influence of rationalist theology in Denmark. A sermon from 1789, as well as the notes taken by Bishop Mynster in his Visitatsdagbøger (Journals of pastoral visitations), corroborate Grundtvig’s statement. However, Grundtvig himself was in more than one aspect an heir to the rationalists he so much despised. For one thing, in all his writings he revered the “truth-loving” reason and adhered to the principle of contradiction.Furthermore, like all the rationalist theologians he denied the dogma of the hereditary sin and devaluated the importance of the creeds of the primitive church as well as of The Augsburg Confession of the Lutheran Churches. While definitely a theologian in his own right, it would be wrong to completely sever Grundtvig from his rationalist heritage.
47
Kuha, Miia. "Popular Religion in the Periphery. Church Attendance in 17th Century Eastern Finland." Perichoresis 13, no. 2 (October 1, 2015): 17–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/perc-2015-0008.
Full textAbstract:
Abstract On the fringes of post-Reformation Europe, church and state authorities faced problems in enforcing church attendance. In the Swedish kingdom, religious uniformity was seen as vital for the success of the state after the Lutheran confession had been established, and absences from church were punishable by law. The seventeenth century saw significant tightening of legislation relating to church absences and other breaches of the Sabbath, and severe punishments were introduced. Despite considerable deterrents, it was sometimes difficult to control local inhabitants: absence cases were regularly brought before the local courts in Eastern Finland, where authorities were hampered by a combination of geographical distance and a highly mobile population. In this article, popular church-going practices are studied with an approach inspired by historical anthropology. In popular practice church attendance was required only on the most important holy days of the year, whereas on Sundays and prayer days, work or leisure were considered socially acceptable pursuits. Explanations of nonattendance should not only make reference to trying conditions: in certain situations people would travel long distances to church, despite the obvious difficulties they faced. Popular religious traditions and old conceptions of sacred time also affected behaviour among peasants. The great holy days of the year formed a ritual cycle, the aim of which was the maintenance of good relations with the supernatural. For the success of oneself and one’s household, it was more important to follow the norms of popular culture than the orders of the authorities.
48
Spinks, Bryan D. "An Unfortunate Lex Orandi? Some Comments on Episcopacy Envisioned in the 1979 ECUSA Ordinal." Journal of Anglican Studies 2, no. 2 (October 2004): 58–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/174035530400200205.
Full textAbstract:
ABSTRACTSince the Anglican Church has neither a teaching Magisterium of the Roman model, nor a binding Confession of Faith as in some Lutheran and Reformed traditions, it has become commonplace to invoke the dictum Lex orandi, Lex credendi and claim that Anglican doctrine is enshrined in its liturgy. This of course may have made some sense when all Anglican Prayer Books had not wandered far from the 1662, or even 1637/1764 texts, but it becomes much more problematic today, when, even with ‘guidelines’ issued by the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation (which have only the authority a Province wishes to give them), Provincial liturgies grow further and further away from any common prayer texts. This is particularly pertinent in an ecumenical context with regard to the Anglican understanding of its threefold ministry. The Preface to the Ordinal (1550, 1552 and 1662) stated: ‘It is evident unto all men diligently reading the Holy Scriptures and ancient authors that from the Apostles' time there have been these orders of Ministers in Christ's Church, Bishops, Priests and Deacons’.
49
Bedford-Strohm, Heinrich. "Poverty and Public Theology: Advocacy of the Church in Pluralistic Society." International Journal of Public Theology 2, no. 2 (2008): 144–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156973208x290017.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractThis article describes four models of connecting the biblical option for the poor with theological ethics. The charity model denies any political significance of this option. The fundamental critical model connects this theological option exclusively with a confessional critique of western capitalism and its market approach. The political advice model does not give an explicit account of its theological groundings but tries to present practicable political solutions. Finally the public theology model which is advocated in this article connects a clear theological profile with the involvement in the public debate on economic strategies which reflect the option for the poor. For this, public theology has to be bilingual, speaking a theological and a secular language; moreover, because of its involvement in the public debate public theology can be understood as a liberation theology for a democratic society. The article presents Martin Luther and Dietrich Bonhoeffer as public theologians who, in their time, have been advocates for the poor. The memorandum of the German Protestant churches of 2006 on poverty is presented as an example of public theological involvement of the church in our time. The article ends with a reflection on eschatological justice.
50
Denlinger, Aaron Clay. "“Men of Gallio's Naughty Faith?”: The Aberdeen Doctors on Reformed and Lutheran Concord." Church History and Religious Culture 92, no. 1 (2012): 57–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/187124112x621275.
Full textAbstract:
AbstractIn 1637 the Aberdeen Doctors, in response to a request by the irenicist John Dury, penned a treatise proposing fraternal peace between Reformed and Lutheran churches in Europe. Despite common recognition of the Doctors as early-modern irenicists if not forerunners of modern ecumenism, their treatise on Protestant unity has attracted little scholarly interest. The only modern scholar to comment upon that work perceived heteredox impulses at work in the Doctors' proposal. Through careful analysis of the Doctors' treatise and comparison of it to early modern Reformed works of the same genre, this article aims to shed greater light on the nature—the grounds, scope, and limits—of the Doctors' irenicism. Against the judgment that their proposal for peace marked some level of departure from the confessional orthodoxy of their day, their work is shown to be thoroughly consistent with, and very likely indebted to, programs for Protestant peace advanced by orthodox peers and predecessors in the international Reformed tradition.