Church History - Definitions Flashcards
Scholasticism
The system and method of learning for philosophy and theology during the medieval period as developed in European university contexts. It relied on philosophical methods and the use of reason to make clear divisions and distinctions within a body of knowledge. The system flourished from the 11th-14th centuries. Some notable scholastics include: Thomas Aquinas, Peter Abelard, Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Lombard and Duns Scotus.
Babylonian captivity/Avignon schism
Period in the 14th century when popes lived in Avignon, France, due to the political situation. King Philip of France disputed with Pope Boniface VIII which resulted in the Pope’s imprisonment and later death. The new Pope, Clement V had ties with the French and moved to Avignon where the Popes resided from 1305-1378. The term, which referred to the Jews’ 70 year captivity in Babylon (586 BC), represented the exile of the popes from Rome.
Humanism
An intellectual movement in 14th-16th century Europe in which man became the center of philosophy and ethics. It sought to base education/learning on a return to the Greek and Latin classics. The religious humanists, led by Erasmus, sought to reform the church by returning to the church Fathers and using reason to live lives of modesty and discipline.
* In the end, it led to a lifting up of man above God.
Radical Reformation
Continuation of Anabaptists in post-Reformation Europe. Moved in a revolutionary direction. Including apocalyptic prophecies that they thought would be filled in Munster which led to a siege. Describes those who sought a radical approach, a return to early Christian precedents for the nature and government of the church, rejecting national or state churches.
Puritanism
16th and 17th century Protestant religious movement that sought to “purify” the Church of England in more Reformed Protestant directions. The movement was Calvinistic in theology -and Presbyterian or Congregational in church government. The church reform impulses were continued in America, primarily in New England where it was a major cultural force. Puritans stressed theology as leading to ethical action while ethics is grounded in true theology.
Modernism
A theological movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries among Protestants and Roman Catholics who sought to interpret Christianity in light of modern knowledge. Use rationalism and scientific exploration to find truth, valued objectivity, independence, and insisted on the physical as primary. It was condemned by Pope Pius X in 1907. Major proponents include: Schliermacher, Fosdick.
Fundamentalism
Sought to defend supernatural doctrines taught by Scripture over against the rising Ritschlian liberalism of the early 19th c. They held to the 5 Fundamentals (inerrancy, virgin birth and deity of Jesus, substitutionary atonement, bodily resurrection, Christ’s miracles) which were denied by the 1924 Auburn Declaration.
Neo-Orthodoxy
Post Ritschlian liberal movement that employed lang. of post-Reformation scholasticism. Nevertheless, it reinterpreted orthodox theological categories. Following Barth (1886-1968), the Scriptures only become the Word of God as they are individually revealed to us, thus denying orthodox inspiration and infallibility. He also removes God’s saving acts from history itself instead placing the saving acts solely in our subjective reception of them. See also Bruner.
