English Dissenters Flashcards
Dissenters
English Separatists were Protestant Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 17th and 18th centuries.
A dissenter (from the Latin dissentire, “to disagree”) is one who disagrees in opinion, belief and other matters. English Dissenters opposed state interference in religious matters, and founded their own churches, educational establishments and communities. Some emigrated to the New World, especially to the Thirteen Colonies and Canada. Brownists founded the Plymouth colony. English dissenters played a pivotal role in the spiritual development of the United States and greatly diversified the religious landscape. They originally agitated for a wide-reaching Protestant Reformation of the established Church of England, and they flourished briefly during the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell.
King James VI of Scotland, I of England and Ireland, had said “no bishop, no king”, emphasising the role of the clergy in justifying royal legitimacy.
Cromwell capitalised on that phrase, abolishing both upon founding the Commonwealth of England. After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the episcopacy was reinstalled and the rights of the Dissenters were limited: the Act of Uniformity 1662 required Anglican ordination for all clergy, and many instead withdrew from the state church.
These ministers and their followers came to be known as Nonconformists, though originally this term referred to refusal to use certain vestments and ceremonies of the Church of England, rather than separation from it.
Anabaptists
Name given to several currents + communities issued from the Radical Reformation
Anabaptist (literally, “baptised again”) was a term given to those Reformation Christians who rejected the notion of infant baptism in favour of believer’s baptism.
The Amish, Hutterites, and Mennonites are direct descendants of the early Anabaptist movement. Schwarzenau Brethren, River Brethren, Bruderhof, and the Apostolic Christian Church are Anabaptist denominations that developed well after the Radical Reformation.[4][5][6] Though all Anabaptists share the same core theological beliefs, there are differences in the way of life between them; Old Order Anabaptist groups include the Old Order Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, Old Order River Brethren, the Hutterites and the Old German Baptist Brethren.[4] In between the mainline denominations and Old Order groups are Conservative Anabaptist groups such as the Dunkard Brethren, Conservative Mennonites and Beachy Amish, who have retained traditional religious practices and theology, while allowing for modern conveniences.
Emphasizing an adherence to the beliefs of early Christianity, as a whole, Anabaptists are distinguished by their keeping of practices that often include nonconformity to the world, “the love feast with feet washing, laying on of hands, anointing with oil, and the holy kiss, as well as turning the other cheek, no oaths, going the second mile, giving a cup of cold water, reconciliation, repeated forgiveness, humility, non-violence, and sharing possessions.”[9][10][11][12]
The name Anabaptist means “one who baptizes again”. Their persecutors named them this, referring to the practice of baptizing persons when they converted or declared their faith in Christ even if they had been baptized as infants, and many call themselves “Radical Reformers”.[13] Anabaptists require that baptismal candidates be able to make a confession of faith that is freely chosen and so rejected baptism of infants. The New Testament teaches to repent and then be baptized, and infants are not able to repent and turn away from sin to a life of following Jesus. The early members of this movement did not accept the name Anabaptist, claiming that infant baptism was not part of scripture and was therefore null and void. They said that baptizing self-confessed believers was their first true baptism
Anabaptists were heavily persecuted by state churches, both Magisterial Protestants and Roman Catholics, beginning in the 16th century and continuing thereafter, largely because of their interpretation of scripture, which put them at odds with official state church interpretations and local government control. Anabaptism was never established by any state and therefore never enjoyed any associated privileges. Most Anabaptists adhere to a literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, which teaches against hate, killing, violence, taking oaths, participating in use of force or any military actions, and against participation in civil government. Anabaptists view themselves as primarily citizens of the kingdom of God, not of earthly governments. As committed followers of Jesus, they seek to pattern their life after his.[15]
Some former groups who practiced rebaptism, now extinct, believed otherwise and complied with these requirements of civil society.[b] They were thus technically Anabaptists, even though conservative Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, and many historians consider them outside true biblical Anabaptism. Conrad Grebel wrote in a letter to Thomas Müntzer in 1524: “True Christian believers are sheep among wolves, sheep for the slaughter … Neither do they use worldly sword or war, since all killing has ceased with them.”[16]
Reformation
Réforme en français
Term designated in the Medieval epoch the treturn of an institution (for example a monastic order) to the original principles of its foundation and thus its regeneration.
From the 16th century, the term designated a vast movement to refound christianity by virtue of Martin Luther’s teachings who gave with this term birth to different forms of protestantism.
Three types are normally distinguished:
- The Magisterial Reformation (Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Bucer, etc)
- The Radical Reformation
- The Anabaptist Reformation, radicalizing certain protestant teachings
Radical Reformation
Magisterial Reformation
The Magisterial Reformation “denotes the Lutheran, Calvinist [Reformed], and Anglican churches” and how these denominations “related to secular authorities, such as princes, magistrates, or city councils”, i.e. “the magistracy”. While the Radical Reformation that gave rise to the Anabaptist Churches rejected any secular authority over the Church, the Magisterial Reformation argued for the interdependence of the church and secular authorities, i.e. “The magistrate had a right to authority within the church, just as the church could rely on the authority of the magistrate to enforce discipline, suppress heresy, or maintain order.”
In addition, the term magister relates to the emphasis on authoritative teachers. The theological schools that are collectively known as Magisterial Protestants include the Lutheran, Reformed, and Anglican traditions of Christianity.
Huldrych Zwingli
leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly center of Renaissance humanism. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln, where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus.
In 1519, Zwingli became the Leutpriester (people’s priest) of the Grossmünster in Zürich where he began to preach ideas on reform of the Catholic Church. In his first public controversy in 1522, he attacked the custom of fasting during Lent. In his publications, he noted corruption in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, promoted clerical marriage, and attacked the use of images in places of worship. Among his most notable contributions to the Reformation was his expository preaching, starting in 1519, through the Gospel of Matthew, before eventually using biblical exegesis to go through the entire New Testament, a radical departure from the Catholic mass.[9] In 1525, he introduced a new communion liturgy to replace the Mass. He also clashed with the Anabaptists, which resulted in their persecution. Historians have debated whether or not he turned Zürich into a theocracy.[10]
The Reformation spread to other parts of the Swiss Confederation, but several cantons resisted, preferring to remain Catholic. Zwingli formed an alliance of Reformed cantons which divided the Confederation along religious lines. In 1529, a war was averted at the last moment between the two sides. Meanwhile, Zwingli’s ideas came to the attention of Martin Luther and other reformers. They met at the Marburg Colloquy and agreed on many points of doctrine, but they could not reach an accord on the doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
In 1531, Zwingli’s alliance applied an unsuccessful food blockade on the Catholic cantons. The cantons responded with an attack at a moment when Zürich was ill-prepared, and Zwingli died on the battlefield. His legacy lives on in the confessions, liturgy, and church orders of the Reformed churches of today
Huldrych Zwingli
leader of the Reformation in Switzerland, born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system. He attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly center of Renaissance humanism. He continued his studies while he served as a pastor in Glarus and later in Einsiedeln, where he was influenced by the writings of Erasmus.
