Events Flashcards
Council of Nicea
- First ecumenical council met to discuss Arian controversy(nature of Son). Determined that Jesus was God, co-eternal, and eternally begotten from the Father.
Council of Chalcedon
- Fourth ecumenical council met to discuss heresies of Nestorianism and Eutychianism. Maintained two natures of Christ without confusion or change, separation or division.
Reformation
- Luther nailed Ninety-five theses to the door at Wittenburg to combat abuses of Roman Catholic Church..
Counter-Reformation
1540’s. Council of Trent. A response to the protestant reformation. Affirmed that Catholic church was on par with Scripture, sacraments and transubstantiation, and justification is faith plus works.
Heidelberg Catechism
- Written by Ursinus at Heidelberg University at the request of Elector Frederick III, ruler of the most influential German province, the Palatinate, from 1559 to 1576. Separated into 52 weeks. Part of the Three forms of Unity.
Belgic Confession
- Written by Guido de Bres who died a martyr in 1567. Written to King Phillip II in hopes of tolerance for his protestant subjects. Part of the Three forms of Unity.
Synod of Dort
- Met to combat Arminianism. Came up with TULIP. A gathering of Reformed thinkers to answer the assertions of the Remonstrants.
Westminster Assembly
1643-1652. The Westminster Assembly was a gathering of Puritan divines, assembled by the British Parliament in 1643 with the charge of producing a Confession of Faith to unite the United Kingdom ecclesiastically. These would become the standard of faith and practice for the Presbyterian, Congregational and Regular Baptist churches in Scotland, England and America.
Pietism
1600’s. Primarily based in Germany, it was a movement against dead orthodoxy in the Lutheran Church. The common emphasis was on individual conversion and living orthodoxy that lead to a changed life. The duo of Spener and Franke at Halle University began the movement which was later carried by Zinzendorf and the Moravians. The movement played a large influence in the development of the modern missionary movement.
First Great Awakening
First Great Awakening: 1741-1745. The Great Awakening was a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit that swept through New England colonies. Through the Reformed preaching of George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards, thousands were truly converted to Christ. There were however, many instances of abuse that accompanied the outpouring prompting the able mind of Edwards to defend the true nature of the Awakening in such works as ‘‘Distinguishing Marks” and “Treatise on the Religious Affections.” Tennet: “Danger of an unconverted ministry .”
Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening 1800-1825. After the First Great Awakening steady religious decline brought the country to a new religious low by the 1800’s. Unlike the First Great Awakening this revival went in to the frontier as well. It was also characterized by a longer duration and more fervor than concern for theology. This awakening led to significant church growth, improvement of morals and national life, checking of the growth of Deism, growth of missions, and social reform movements. It left a permanent mark on the American evangelical scene with its revivalistic emphasis and Arminian theology.
Old School/New School
- This was the controversy over the Second Great Awakening. There was an effort to create a cooperative plan for reaching the frontier out of which emerged a debate over seeming doctrinal indifference. The Old School were strict subscriptionists, and skeptical about the excesses of the Cane Ridge revivals and the New Measures of Finny. The New School was, at best, lax subscriptionists, and often Arminian or rationalists. This controversy would split the Presbyterian Church into two denominations in 1837, a division that would last until the reunification–only to split again along North-South line in the Civil War Era.
Auburn Affirmation
- Issued by a group of Presbyterians meeting in Auburn, New York this was designed to safeguard the unity and liberty of the Presbyterian Church. The affirmation was intended to display tolerance, but became a marker on the battlefield between conservative and liberals in the church. The Affirmation denied the need of ordained Ministers to commit to the five essentials: Inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture; The virgin birth; Substitutionary atonement, Christ real and historical resurrection and Jesus working of miracles.
Scholasticism
11-14th Century. Developed in European university contexts during medieval period. Relied on philosophical methods and the use of reason to make clear divisions and distinctions within a body of knowledge. Some notable scholastics include: Thomas Aquinas, Peter Abelard, Anselm of Canterbury, Peter Lombard and Duns Scotus.
Babylonian Captivity
1309-1377. Also known as the Avignon Papacy. Period in the 14th century when popes lived in Avignon, France, due to the political situation. Coined by Luther in the 16th century to describe the Roman Catholic Church’s “captivity” to the papacy and need for gospel liberation.
