Our Unitarian Heritage,” You May Find Assumptions That Are No Longer Generally Held Or Well Received
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The Arian Controversy, Its Ramifications and Lessons for the Ghanaian Church
International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 7714 www.ijhssi.org Volume 2 Issue 11ǁ November. 2013ǁ PP.48-54 The Arian Controversy, its Ramifications and Lessons for the Ghanaian Church IDDRISSU ADAM SHAIBU Department of Religion & Human Values, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast-Ghana ABSTRACT: The thrust of this paper is to explore the Arian controversy, the ramifications of decisions taken by the various councils on the body of Jesus Christ and the possible lessons that the Ghanaian Church can learn from these ramifications. This was done by reviewing literature on the Arian controversy. It came out that Arianism was condemned at the council of Nicaea. However, this did not end the controversy due to the inclusion of a word that was deemed unbiblical and the interferences of some Roman Emperors.The paper concludes that it is advisable that the church ought to have the capacity to deal with her internal problems without the support of a third party, especially those without any theological insight to issues of the Church. It seldom leads to cribbing, leads to negativity, breeds tension and sometimes fighting/civil war which then lead to destruction of lives and properties. I. THE GREACO-ROMAN WORLD Although, Christianity emerged in the Roman world, it matured in the world of Greek philosophy and ideas. The Greek world was one that paid much respect to philosophical sophistication. The Early Church was thus permeated and penetrated by this philosophical sophistication (Hellenism) (Weaver, 1987). The religion in its earliest form can be said to be a hellenistic movement that attracted hellenised people from different ethnic groups. -
The Legacy of Servetus: Humanism and the Beginning of Change of the Social Paradigm. on the Occasion of 450Th Anniversary of His Martyrdom
The Legacy of Servetus: Humanism and the Beginning of Change of the Social Paradigm. On the Occasion of 450th Anniversary of His Martyrdom Marian Hillar Center for Philosophy and Socinian Studies Published in A Journal from The Radical Reformation, A Testimony to Biblical Unitarianism, Volume 11, No. 2, 2003, pp. 34-41. Michael Servetus occupies a unique place in the annals of European history. He was a lonely scholar and a bold mind who left two great legacies.1 In the realm of intellectual inquiry he demanded a radical reevaluation of the entire ideological religious system of assertions and dogmas imposed on Western Europe since the fourth century. Servetus's theological inquiry initiated the study of scriptural tradition in an attempt to uncover the real religious doctrines contained in it. On the moral societal level Servetus demanded freedom of intellectual inquiry, thought, conscience, and expression that was denied to millions on doctrinal theological grounds. By his sacrifice Servetus set into motion a process of change in the entire social paradigm and recovery of the right to freedom of conscience. Establishment of an ecclesiastical paradigm. Servetus’s role as a central figure in history who initiated the process of recovering the social humanistic paradigm becomes obvious if we put it in a historical perspective. Greco-Roman pre-Christian society enjoyed toleration, freedom of religion, of conscience, and of thought. Ancient religions never demanded conversion. The ancient western world did not have the concept of "heresy" or "heretic." This was due to the lack of a state religion and state sanctioned theological doctrine, though the people and the centers of power were highly religious. -
A Manual of Church Membership
: ,CHURCH MEMBERSHIP THE LINDSBY PRESS This little book has been prepared by the Religious ; ;!.L ,,S&:, ' Education Department of the General Assembly of ' ,; Unitarian and Free Christian Churches to fill a gap in our denominational bookshelf. Many books and pamphlets have been issued to explain our history . and our theological position, but nothing has been published to state in simple language and as concisely as possible what is implied by membership . of a congregation in fellowship with the General' " Assembly. Our method has been to try to suggest the questions about church membership which need answers, and to supply the kernel to the answer, while leaving the reader to find out more inform- ation for himself. We hope the booklet wi! be found useful not only by young people growing up in our tradition (whose needs, perhaps, we have had chiefly in mind), but also by older men and if.+ ?( .%=. women, especially those who are new to our denominational fellowship, and by the Senior Classes of Sunday Schools, and study groups of branches of the Young People's League, and by Ministers' Classes preparing young people for ..;:L.-q-,:sy . .* Made and Printed in Great B~itailaby C. Ti~lifigG Co. U$&.- church membership. ..c:.' Liver$ool, Lofidon, and Prescot. .? 5 CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. OUR HERITAGE . 4 9 11. WHAT IS I%UR CHURCH ? . 12' 111. WHAT IS YOUR CHURCH FOR ? . I7 IV. WHAT IS THE DISTINCTIVE TEACHING ?. 24 V. SPECIAL OFFICES AND SACRAMENTS . 3 I VI. HOW IS YOUR CHURCH MANAGED ? martyrs who suffered for their faith. The meaning)"- of our history is revealed in the struggle of manylLC generations of mefi and women to win freedom of kfi: thought and speech in religious matters, while ri ..h. -
Calvinism Vs Wesleyan Arminianism
The Comparison of Calvinism and Wesleyan Arminianism by Carl L. Possehl Membership Class Resource B.S., Upper Iowa University, 1968 M.C.M., Olivet Nazarene University, 1991 Pastor, Plantation Wesleyan Church 10/95 Edition When we start to investigate the difference between Calvinism and Wesleyan Arminianism, the question must be asked: "For Whom Did Christ Die?" Many Christians answer the question with these Scriptures: (Failing, 1978, pp.1-3) JOH 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV) We believe that "whoever" means "any person, and ...that any person can believe, by the assisting Spirit of God." (Failing, 1978, pp.1-3) 1Timothy 2:3-4 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, (4) who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (NIV) 2PE 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (NIV) REV 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (NIV) (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. -
ABSTRACT the Apostolic Tradition in the Ecclesiastical Histories Of
ABSTRACT The Apostolic Tradition in the Ecclesiastical Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret Scott A. Rushing, Ph.D. Mentor: Daniel H. Williams, Ph.D. This dissertation analyzes the transposition of the apostolic tradition in the fifth-century ecclesiastical histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. In the early patristic era, the apostolic tradition was defined as the transmission of the apostles’ teachings through the forms of Scripture, the rule of faith, and episcopal succession. Early Christians, e.g., Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen, believed that these channels preserved the original apostolic doctrines, and that the Church had faithfully handed them to successive generations. The Greek historians located the quintessence of the apostolic tradition through these traditional channels. However, the content of the tradition became transposed as a result of three historical movements during the fourth century: (1) Constantine inaugurated an era of Christian emperors, (2) the Council of Nicaea promulgated a creed in 325 A.D., and (3) monasticism emerged as a counter-cultural movement. Due to the confluence of these sweeping historical developments, the historians assumed the Nicene creed, the monastics, and Christian emperors into their taxonomy of the apostolic tradition. For reasons that crystallize long after Nicaea, the historians concluded that pro-Nicene theology epitomized the apostolic message. They accepted the introduction of new vocabulary, e.g. homoousios, as the standard of orthodoxy. In addition, the historians commended the pro- Nicene monastics and emperors as orthodox exemplars responsible for defending the apostolic tradition against the attacks of heretical enemies. The second chapter of this dissertation surveys the development of the apostolic tradition. -
Winter 2017 Newsletter
Kensington Unitarians Newsletter: December 2017 / January 2018 What’s On… Hospitality Newsletter:rd December 2014 / January 2015 Sunday 3 December, 11am-noon A Message from our Minister ‘Welcoming the Other’ Led by Jeannene Powell Winter is nearly with us. The daylight is Wednesday 6th December, 12.30pm diminishing, chill winds are blowing and we live ‘Nia Dance’ with Sonya Leite in a part of London where 47% of householders live alone. Many of us are well used to our own Thursday 7th Dec, 6.45 for 7-8pm company and rather enjoy our privacy and ‘Heart & Soul: Hospitality - In or Out?’ independence. But we are social beings and the Led by Jane Blackall forced jollity of Christmas advertising can heighten the isolation experienced by the most Sunday 10th December, 11am-noon committed of hermits. So here’s a suggestion. ‘Radical Hospitality: Let’s be radical in our hospitality this winter. Welcoming the Difficult’ What might radical hospitality look like? Led by Rev. Sarah Tinker Sunday 10th December, 12.30-1pm Well, it’ll probably demand that we reach out more than we usually do. It’ll suggest we Inclusive Communion connect with others, to ask questions maybe or offer invitations. It might involve a simple Led by Mark Franklin Bowen offer of a cup of tea or the gentle suggestion that we sit down and have a chat for a while. Radical hospitality might heighten our awareness of habitual ways of being. It’s normal to th Wednesday 13 Dec, 12.30pm gravitate towards those who are similar to us. -
Aspects of Arminian Soteriology in Methodist-Lutheran Ecumenical Dialogues in 20Th and 21St Century
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto ASPECTS OF ARMINIAN SOTERIOLOGY IN METHODIST-LUTHERAN ECUMENICAL DIALOGUES IN 20TH AND 21ST CENTURY Mikko Satama Master’s Thesis University of Helsinki Faculty of Theology Department of Systematic Theology Ecumenical Studies 18th January 2009 HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO − HELSINGFORS UNIVERSITET Tiedekunta/Osasto − Fakultet/Sektion Laitos − Institution Teologinen tiedekunta Systemaattisen teologian laitos Tekijä − Författare Mikko Satama Työn nimi − Arbetets title Aspects of Arminian Soteriology in Methodist-Lutheran Ecumenical Dialogues in 20th and 21st Century Oppiaine − Läroämne Ekumeniikka Työn laji − Arbetets art Aika − Datum Sivumäärä − Sidoantal Pro Gradu -tutkielma 18.1.2009 94 Tiivistelmä − Referat The aim of this thesis is to analyse the key ecumenical dialogues between Methodists and Lutherans from the perspective of Arminian soteriology and Methodist theology in general. The primary research question is defined as: “To what extent do the dialogues under analysis relate to Arminian soteriology?” By seeking an answer to this question, new knowledge is sought on the current soteriological position of the Methodist-Lutheran dialogues, the contemporary Methodist theology and the commonalities between the Lutheran and Arminian understanding of soteriology. This way the soteriological picture of the Methodist-Lutheran discussions is clarified. The dialogues under analysis were selected on the basis of versatility. Firstly, the sole world organisation level dialogue was chosen: The Church – Community of Grace. Additionally, the document World Methodist Council and the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification is analysed as a supporting document. Secondly, a document concerning the discussions between two main-line churches in the United States of America was selected: Confessing Our Faith Together. -
Century Historiography of the Radical Reformation
Toward a Definition of Sixteenth - Century habaptism: Twentieth - Century Historiography of the Radical Reformation James R. Coggins Winnipeg "To define the essence is to shape it afresh." - Ernst Troeltsch Twentieth-century Anabaptist historiography has somewhat of the character of Hegelian philosophy, consisting of an already established Protestant-Marxist thesis, a Mennonite antithesis and a recent synthesis. The debate has centred on three major and related issues: geographic origin, intellectual sources, and essence. Complicating these issues has been confusion over the matter of categorization: Just who is to be included among the Anabaptists and who should be assigned to other groups? Indeed, what are the appropriate categories, or groups, in the sixteenth century? This paper will attempt to unravel some of the tangled debate that has gone on concerning these issues. The Protestant interpretation of Anabaptism has the longest aca- demic tradition, going back to the sixteenth century. Developed by such Protestant theologians and churchmen as Bullinger, Melanchthon, Men- ius, Rhegius and Luther who wrote works defining and attacking Ana- baptism, this interpretation arose out of the Protestant understanding of the church. Sixteenth-century Protestants believed in a single universal church corrupted by the Roman Catholic papacy but reformed by them- selves. Anyone claiming to be a Christian but not belonging to the church Joitnlal of Mennonite Stitdies Vol. 4,1986 184 Journal ofMennonite Studies (Catholic or Protestant) was classed as a heretic,' a member of the mis- cellaneous column of God's sixteenth-century army. For convenience all of these "others" were labelled "Anabaptists." Protestants saw the Anabaptists as originating in Saxony with Thomas Muntzer and the Zwickau prophets in 1521 and spreading in subsequent years to Switzerland and other parts of northern Europe. -
Anabaptist Influences on World Christianity
Anabaptist Influences on World Christianity Howard F. Shipps* The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century had many sources. Some of these, like springs and streams leading toward a grand river, may be found several centuries before the time of Martin Luther. Such beginnings may be seen in the Cathari and the Walden- ses of the twelfth century. During the succeeding centuries of the late middle ages, similar movements of revolt and insistence upon purification of the established church continued to multiply and grow. More and more these new forces attracted the attention of all Europe. They arose in widely scattered geographical areas and represented various cultures and different levels of medieval society. There were the Christian mystics of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Eckhart, Tauler, Suso, Merswin and the "Friends of God," seeking earnestly for life's greatest reality�the knowledge of God's presence in the soul of man. Likewise there were the Brethren of the Common Life of the fourteenth century, Groot, Ruysbroeck, Radewyn and a' Kempis, who were seeking to find God amidst the common ways of secular pursuits and by a daily practice of His Presence. During the same century, but across the English Channel, John Wy- cliffe was delivering the Word of God from the enslavement of tradi tion and the prison house of the so-called sacred Latin language, preaching and printing it in the tongue of the common man. He also made this living Word incarnate by committing it to men who would declare it throughout the by-ways of England. Thus for more than a century the Lollards carried the torch of truth which would urge the masses throughout England toward one of their greatest awakenings. -
Celio Secondo Curione a Cura Di Chiara Lastraioli
“Cinquecento plurale” BIBLIOGRAFIA Celio Secondo Curione a cura di Chiara Lastraioli aggiornato al 28 maggio 2018 Con la presente bibliografia curioniana si tenta di tracciare un panorama per quanto possibile completo e coerente delle opere del Piemontese e dei princi- pali studi ad esso dedicati. Data la complessa vicenda editoriale dei volumi pasquineschi, la rarità di certe edizioni e la scarsa affidabilità di alcune fonti bibliografiche, nella sezione Testi pasquineschi si è ritenuto opportuno asso- ciare ad ogni riferimento bibliografico la localizzazione e la segnatura di al- meno un esemplare conosciuto. Devo a Davide Dalmas, oltre all’attenta rilet- tura del testo, la segnalazione di alcune edizioni e di svariati suggerimenti bi- bliografici. TESTI PASQUINESCHI o Pasquino in estasi. Ragionamento di Marforio, e di Pasquino, Stampata in Ro- ma, a instantia di Mro Pasquino, s. d. [British Library 1080.h.22.(1) – (uni- cum?)] o Der verzucket Pasquinus. Auß Welscher Sprach inn das Teütsch gebracht, Rom [Augsburg], Pasquinus [Philipp Ulhart d. A.], 1543 [Münich UB, 8° Thol 2151] o Pasquilli extatici seu nuper e coelo reversi de rebus partim superis, partim in- ter homines in christiana religione passim hodie controversis cum Marphorio colloquium, multa pietate, elegantia, ac festivitate refertum; Suivi de: Rhythmi; Epigrammata, [s.l., ca. 1543?] [Bibl. Cantonale et Universitaire de Dorigny, LL 3741 (esemplare non consultato)] o Caelij Secundi Curionis Pasquillus ecstaticus, unà cum alijs etiam aliquot san- ctis pariter et lepidis Dialogis, quibus pracipua religionis nostrae Capita ele- gantissime explicantur. Omnia quam unquam antea, cum auctiora, tum emen- datoria. quorum Catalogum uersa pagella indicat. Adiectae quoque sunt Quae- stiones Pasquilli, in futuro Concilio à Paulo III. -
Bernardino Ochino of Siena
202 BERNARDINO OCHINO OF SIENA BERNARDINO OCHINO OF SIENA: CAPUCHIN AND REFORMER (1487-1564). BY JOHN KNIPE. " False Christians desire a Christ after their manner, rich, proud and magnificent."-OcHINO. 0CHINO THE FRANCISCAN. OR thirty years the most famous of Italian preachers, the F personality of Bernardino Ochino has been compared to a defaced portrait in the gallery of the great men of the Later Renais sance. His name has been blotted out for centuries by the deliberate malice of an unforgiving Church. It is a local nickname. Siena was divided into Contrada (Quarters). One was called" Oca" (Goose). It extended from the Dominican Church to Dante's Fonte Branda, and here there stands to this day the house of the Dyer's daughter, Caterina. We know his father's name by an item in the Account Book of the Cathedral Treasury: "January I540. Was paid 32 Lire to Fra Bernardino son of Domenico Tommasini called Ochino." It is the preacher's modest fee. He was still a lad when he joined the Observants, a Reformed Order of the Franciscans, whose monastery was some two miles from the City Gate, and it is quite possible that he had been influenced by Savonarola's preaching. Ochino declared in later life that he never regretted his decision, which had kept him from many temptations and sins of the world, and given him the oppor tunity to study the Scriptures and contemplative theology. Bible study was then only permissible in the Cloister. He took the cowl, hoping thus " to gain Paradise, though not without the aid of Divine Grace," and he concluded "that the Observant Rule, being the most austere, should best represent the example of Christ." There is a doubtful statement that he left the Order for some years to study medicine in Perugia. -
Anabaptism in Historical Perspective
EDITORIAL Anabaptism in Historical Perspective Kenneth Cain Kinghorn* Perhaps one of the most glaring injustices in ecclesiastical historiography has been the frequent failure to see the responsible and worthwhile elements in the dissenting movements within Prot estantism. The prevalent attitude toward Anabaptists may be regard ed as a classic illustration of this phenomenon. For centuries the Anabaptists have been lumped together with the irresponsible "spiri tualists" of the Reformation, the radical Anti-Trinitarians, and other fringe movements. Many church historians have seen only evil in any movement which has not been consistent with Wittenberg, Zurich or Geneva. The Anabaptists have frequently been regarded as only a negation of the gains of the Reformation. This attitude has tended to persist in a widespread way because of the paucity of writing on the Anabaptists by sympathetic schol 1 ars. However, since the mid-nineteenth century, this traditionally negative view has been greatly modified. (This changing mood is often seen as beginning with Max Gobel in his Geschichte des christleichn Lebens in der rheinisch-westfalischen. Kirche.) This leads one to a basic question as to the meaning of the term "Anabaptist." The late Harold S. Bender, a distinguished Anabap tist scholar, points out the difference between the original,evangel ical and constructive Anabaptist movement and the various mysti cal, spiritualistic, revolutionary, or even antinomian groups which have been concurrent. 2 The former is represented by the Mennonite and the latter maybe represented by such as the Schw'drmer, Thomas * Associate Professor of Church History, Asbury Theological Seminary. 1. See John Christian Wenger, Even Unto Death (Richmond: John Knox Press, 1961), pp.